2011 Chatham County Beekeeping School

The 2011 Beekeeping School is full
and we are no longer accepting registrations.

Date: Mondays, 7:00-9:00 pm January 3-March 7, 2011
Location: Agricultural Building Auditorium, Pittsboro, NC
Cost for 8-week course (includes resource notebook): $35.00 for members of the Chatham County Beekeepers Association (CCBA) $40.00 for general public (registration includes membership in the CCBA)

The school will include hands-on workshops and hive inspections as weather permits.

Deadline for registration: December 17, 2010*. To register, you must send in a registration form along with your check.

Download a registration form

* Register early - space is limited and we always fill up and have to turn people away! Due to the high demand for our school, first preference will be given to Chatham residents and/or current members of the Chatham County Beekeepers' Association. If there are still slots available after the December 17 deadline, we will admit students from outside the county on a first come, first served basis. We will send an email confirmation of registration on December 20. Checks will be returned for those who did not make it into the school.

For more information: Call 919-542-8202

Course Outline

[Week 1]: January 3, 2011

Introduction to Beekeeping

Speakers: Debbie Roos, NC Cooperative Extension, Chatham County Center; Colleen Kendrick, Chatham County Beekeepers' Association (CCBA); and Mort Matheny, CCBA

• 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, North Carolina State Beekeepers' Association, and the NC Master Beekeepers Program

[Week 2]:  January 10, 2011

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

No class on January 17 (MLK Holiday)

[Week 3]:  January 24, 2011

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
• Colony Collapse Disorder

[Week 4]: January 31, 2011

Equipment and Frame Assembly

Speakers: Mort Matheny (CCBA) and Members of the Chatham Beekeepers’ Association 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
• Sources for equipment
• Frame assembly demo

[Week 5]:  February 7, 2011

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

No class on February 14 (Valentine's Day)

[Week 6]: February 21, 2011

Bee Gardens; Certified Naturally Grown; Bee Stings

Speaker: Debbie Roos; Pat Weisbrodt (CCBA); Judy Pick (CCBA); and others TBA

• Honey plants and the principles of planting a bee garden
• The Certified Naturally Grown Standard for beekeeping
• Bee stings: what to expect, how to minimize them, medical responses, and how to treat

[Week 7]: February 28, 2011

Honey Bee Pests, Diseases, and Integrated Pest Management

Speaker: Nancy Ruppert, 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
• NCDA Hive Inspections

[Week 8]: March 7, 2011

Getting the Honey and Course Review

Speakers: Chatham Beekeeper Panel

• Extraction and processing, marketing products from the hive, and open discussion

Return to Beekeeping Homepage

This page last updated July 12, 2011.

URL: www.growingsmallfarms.org

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