West Cornwall Beekeepers Association

in partnership with the Duchy College

The Association offers Basic Beekeeping courses in partnership with the Duchy College, Cornwall College’s Agricultural Faculty, based at Rosewarne, which hosts the Asssociation apiary, where practical teaching takes place.

Basic Beekeeping Part 1

This 2 term course of 36 hours provides all the basic information you will need to keep bees. It is aimed at those who have not yet got their bees, but will be useful to those who already have them and may explain many of the questions the bees have given you. We recommend that you join your local Beekeepers Association during the course (WCBKA student members do not pay a fee) so that you have the opportunity to learn from and consult with other experienced beekeepers. After 12 months of keeping your own bees a second course is available – Part 2, which leads to the Basic Certificate in Beekeeping, awarded by the British Beekeepers Association.

All teaching will be at Rosewarne. The ten classroom sessions take place on Thursdays from 19:00 to 21:00, beginning on January 5 2012. The eight two hour practical sessions take place on Saturdays from April 2012 in the afternoons or alternatively on Thursday evenings. Enquiries and applications to should be made to Admissions (Rosewarne) 01209 722100 or email rosewarne.enquiries@duchy.ac.uk.

The cost of attending the Part 1 course will be £140.

Basic Beekeeping Part 2

Following on for those who have completed Part 1 and have at least a years experience of keeping bees, this course will deal with preparation for the basic exam and reinforce your knowledge of diseases, husbandry skills, swarming and manipulation of the bees,honey preparation and legal requirements. The course will also examine the BBKA Basic Syllabus.

Part 2 will begin on Thursday 3rd May 19.00 to 21.00 and will consist of six two hour sessions, some classroom and some practical, culminating in the BBKA Basic Exam, the cost of which is included in the course fee. Enquiries and applications to should be made to Admissions (Rosewarne) 01209 722100 or email rosewarne.enquiries@duchy.ac.uk.

The cost of attending the Part 2 course will be £60.

These courses will equip you with the knowledge and practical skill to start your own apiary if you so wish and to carry out all necessary operations with confidence. It will also help beginners to revise and extend their knowledge and skill. The course will help you aim for the highest standards of beekeeping and anticipate some of the pitfalls of the early years. Beekeepers with experience will be as welcome as those with no knowledge at all.

All teaching will be at Rosewarne. West Cornwall Beekeepers’ Association has both an outdoor apiary and a bee-house at Rosewarne as a cornerstone of their developing partnership with the Duchy College. WCBKA provides the majority of the course teachers, for both background knowledge and practice. It is a presumption of the course that students will develop better beekeeping practices in the long term if their activities are firmly based on an understanding of how bees function, best practice from modern research and guided by selected experienced local beekeepers.

Topics that will be covered include

Purchasing healthy colonies

Siting colonies safely

The year’s work in the apiary

Opening a hive and assessing a colony

Swarm prevention, control and management

Keeping your colonies healthy

Keeping varroa under control

Maximising your honey crop

Taking, storing and presenting honey

Marketing the hive products

Modern hives and their maintenance

The life cycles of the honeybees

Helping to pollinate seed and fruit crops

NB: All dates and prices ae provisional at this stage. Please contact the college for up to date information.