2007 Chatham County Beekeeping School

Photos by Debbie Roos, Agricultural Extension Agent.

Date: Mondays, 7:00-9:00 pm January 8-February 26, 2007
Location: Agricultural Building Auditorium, Pittsboro, NC
Cost: $30.00 for 8-week course to cover materials (book and resource notebook)

Deadline for registration: December 22, 2006

Download a registration form

For more information: Call 919-542-8202

Course Outline

Week One: January 8, 2007

Introduction to Beekeeping

Speakers: Debbie Roos, NC Cooperative Extension, Chatham County Center and Jim Williams, Chatham County Beekeepers' Association

• Course overview/the "big picture"
• Resource list (web, bibliography, organizations, equipment suppliers, listservs)
• Importance and benefits
• Brief history
• Introduction to Chatham Chapter

Week Two: January 15, 2007

Biology and Life Cycle of the Honey Bee

Speaker: Dr. David Tarpy, North Carolina State University

• Ecological context; Hymenoptera
• Anatomy and physiology
• Individual caste life cycles, duties
• Hive life cycle (brief intro to what bees do in each season)
• Communication: pheromones, dancing
• Brief intro to races
• Master Beekeeping Program

Week Three: January 22, 2007

Equipment and Frame Assembly

Speakers: Michael Almond and Colleen Kendrick, Chatham County Beekeepers' Association

• Smoker, hive tool
• Basic hive parts (bottom boards, hive body, supers, frames, inner cover, lid)
• Other (queen excluders, feeders, hive straps, moving frame, staples)
• Plans for making own hive bodies and supers
• Frame assembly demo
• That Saturday, have 1st field day for those who wish to learn how to light smoker, build frames and perhaps, if a mild winter and weather permits, peeking at someone’s hive.

Week Four: January 29, 2007

Starting a New Hive

Speaker: Jennifer Keller, North Carolina State University

• Site considerations: location, neighbors, ordinances
• Getting your own: package bees, nucs, swarms, buying an existing colony or split
• Installing bees
• Making a nuc
• Caring for the girls (more to be covered in Spring Management)
• Sources

Week Five: February 5, 2007

Spring and Summer Management

Speaker: Will Hicks, North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

• Late winter/early spring
• Honey flow prep
• Post honey flow
• Summer

Week Six: February 12, 2007

Fall and Winter Management and Honey Plants

Speaker: Bill Sheppard, North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

• Fall
• Winter
• Honey plants: nectar and pollen sources

Week Seven: February 19, 2007

Honeybee Pests, Diseases, and Integrated Pest Management

Speaker: Don Hopkins, North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

• Diseases: AFB, EFB, chalkbrood, sacbrood and nosema
• Pests: varroa mites, tracheal mites, SHB
• IPM strategies: resistant breeds, screened bottom boards, proper maintenance, checking population, proper use of pesticides, mechanical controls

Week Eight: February 26, 2007

Getting the Honey and Course Review

Speakers: Jack Tapp, Busy Bee Apiary, and Chatham Beekeeper Panel

• Extraction and processing
• Marketing
• Course review, intro to other associations, advanced courses, Spring meeting

Return to Beekeeping Homepage

This page last updated January 2, 2007.

URL: www.growingsmallfarms.org

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