Workshop 2: inspections, splits and intro to queen marking - April 27th

We're going to the yard!

This session is for beginner to intermediate beekeepers, if you just bought bees, have had bees for a few years or just want to build confidence in your approach you will not be disappointed! We will start in the yard right from the start, how to perform inspections, take notes and how to plan for the next inspection.

During the workshop you can expect to:

1) Perform full inspections and mite counts:

Inspecting a few hives to get a feel for the variety of encounters you can expect in your own yards.

2) Perform splits

Whether we make a few nucleus (NUCs) or a new hive, we will go over what you need to grow your apiary and prevent swarming before it happens

3) Queen introductions

Hives will be prepared ahead of time to be ready for introductions. We will go over what was done, when to prepare, and what the next steps should be once the caged queen was accepted.  A queen marking demonstration can be added based on interest.

The Setting:

There are between 50 and 70 hives at the farm which is our home and mating yard, you will be exposed to a number varied personalities and size of hives. we can mirror what your inspections would look like!

The Outcome:

You will walk away from this workshop feeling confident about planning your inspections. Capable of identifying and managing a variety of situations in your own yard. Gaining an understanding of how inspections evolve through the beekeeping season.

Handouts will be provided at the end of the workshop to make planning, performing and recording your findings easy.

Additional considerations:

If you are attending the both the morning and afternoon sessions consider packing a lunch or plan to hit the village or some food. There will be an hour break between workshops.

To mitigate biosecurity issues, we will provide all the materials, tools and protective equipment, please do not bring any of your own equipment or protective gear.