2009 Chatham County Beekeeping School

Photos by Debbie Roos, Agricultural Extension Agent.

Date: Mondays, 7:00-9:00 pm January 5-March 2, 2009
Location: Agricultural Building Auditorium, Pittsboro, NC
Cost: $35.00 for 8-week course (includes resource notebook)

Deadline for registration: December 19, 2008

Download a registration form

For more information: Call 919-542-8202

Course Outline

[Week 1]: January 5, 2009

Introduction to Beekeeping

Speakers: Debbie Roos, NC Cooperative Extension, Chatham County Center and Colleen Kendrick, Chatham County Beekeepers' Association

• Course overview/the "big picture"
• Resource list (web, bibliography, organizations, equipment suppliers, listservs)
• Basic equipment (smoker, hive tool, protective equipment, etc.)
• Basic hive parts (bottom boards, hive body, supers, frames, inner cover, lid)
• Introduction to Chatham County Beekeepers' Association

[Week 2]:  January 12, 2009

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
• Colony Collapse Disorder

No class on January 19 (MLK Holiday)

[Week 3]:  January 26, 2009

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 4]:  February 2, 2009

Equipment and Frame Assembly

Speakers: Colleen Kendrick, Chatham County Beekeepers' Association, plus Chatham Beekeepers will lead small groups

• Review of basic equipment and hive parts (bottom boards, hive body, supers, frames, inner cover, lid)
• Other equipment (queen excluders, feeders, hive straps, moving frame, staples)
• Plans for making own hive bodies and supers
• Frame assembly demo

[Week 5]:  February 9, 2009

Hive Management

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

• Late winter/early spring
• Honey flow prep; post honey flow
• Summer management
• Fall and winter management

[Week 6]: February 16, 2009

Bee Gardens and Honey Plants

Speaker: Debbie Roos, NC Cooperative Extension, Chatham County Center and Bill Sheppard, North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

• Principles of planting a bee garden
• Honey plants: nectar and pollen sources

[Week 7]:  February 23, 2009

Honey Bee 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 8]:  March 2, 2009

Getting the Honey and Course Review

Speakers: Chatham Beekeeper Panel

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

Return to Beekeeping Homepage

This page last updated July 12, 2011.

URL: www.growingsmallfarms.org

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