Beekeeping exam

Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum

Help Support Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Jordy

New Bee
Joined
Oct 28, 2009
Messages
40
Reaction score
0
Location
Teesside
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
2
AS a newbie to the art of successful beekeeping I would like to expand my knowledge by studying for & taking the basic beekeepers examination. Does anyone have any links to sites or know where I can view previous question papers so I can gain some idea of what I need to be reading about/learning to do? Cheers in advance. :bigear:
 
Basics would include these sorts of questions.

1 colour codes for each year 0-9
2 explain the role of drone, worker & queen
3 spot each of the above in a hive
4 know the difference between egg - larvae - sealed worker - sealed drone brood
5 spot each of the above
6 basic location of queen cells - supersedure
7 Put a frame together
8 spot honey capped, nectar, pollen & eggs
9 demonstrate an inspection
10 give a verbal account of the state of the colony and any issues seen and possible course of action required if any
11 Pest management
12 seasonal differences spring/summer and winter within the hive
13 personal safety and basic hygiene
14 basic course of action if minor / major disease is found in your hive

plus one or two more I may of forgotten about.

Once you are reasonably comfortable with these the exam should be a breeze even if you make one or two mistakes. Its not like a driving test that you will fail if you make several mistakes, most examiners will help you out and point you in the right direction if you are unsure.
 
Basics would include these sorts of questions.

1 colour codes for each year 0-9
2 explain the role of drone, worker & queen
3 spot each of the above in a hive
4 know the difference between egg - larvae - sealed worker - sealed drone brood
5 spot each of the above
6 basic location of queen cells - supersedure
7 Put a frame together
8 spot honey capped, nectar, pollen & eggs
9 demonstrate an inspection
10 give a verbal account of the state of the colony and any issues seen and possible course of action required if any
11 Pest management
12 seasonal differences spring/summer and winter within the hive
13 personal safety and basic hygiene
14 basic course of action if minor / major disease is found in your hive

plus one or two more I may of forgotten about.

Once you are reasonably comfortable with these the exam should be a breeze even if you make one or two mistakes. Its not like a driving test that you will fail if you make several mistakes, most examiners will help you out and point you in the right direction if you are unsure.

agree, it more a exam you have to try to fail, rather than swot to pass

the BBKA do a pdf files of old article on their webb site about ther exam ,search their site, they also sell an expensive CD for waht it is worth for £10

[ i posted the link but the auto thought police program did not like it ]
 
Last edited:
first thing you need to do is keep bees for a year!
 
Okay.....thanks for the guidance Mike, Tony & Muswell. Appreciate your quick replies. :)
 
BBKA exam section is Here and the Basic Assessment Syllabus can be found here

The basic is a practical assessment. Could be on your own bees or at your association apiary or the Assessor's for that matter.

It's a pretty straightforward exam to get through, know your bees, times from egg to larvae to capped to emerging. Have a read up on honey labelling recommendations and know your diseases. Believe the fickle might want to know the latin names, but know the 4 notifiable conditions (AFB, EFB, Small Hive Beetle and Tropilealaps), what the signs are, what to do if you think you find it. Have a general idea what the local forage is in your area and what treatments you're applying for Varroa and why and you should be fine.
You might be asked to make up a frame, demonstrate you can keep your smoker alight and take a sample of about thirty bees (matchbox, jar or any other container will do).

[edit] if you can't link to websites, why not just disable the URL feature?

its at britishbee dot org forward slash examinations_and_assessments.php

There are written exam modules too, I did the General Husbandry module this year. One of our associations ran a workshop where we all worked through the syllabus together, if yours is doing something similar I recommend it, I found it very helpful.
 
Last edited:
If you want to take a look at the written exam, I've scanned this year's module 1 paper for you:

Click for full size images.



 
Sorry misread the title of the exam. I thought it was the basic exam and thought ouch thats tough...
 
Last edited:
I didn't find it too hard, but we covered everything in a group pretty comprehensively with a very experienced beekeeper "moderating" affairs which definitely helps. I know they're fixated on frame and hive types and sizes so just gambled that it'd be one of the questions in the multiple choice section and I'd be so clued up on whatever the alternative was that I'd be ok :D

Frankly I don't see the point in being able to recite hive dimensions or frame sizes or why that has any relevance to your ability as a beekeeper but hey ho, you can pretty much guarantee it'll crop up.
 
If you want to take a look at the written exam, I've scanned this year's module 1 paper for you:

Click for full size images.




Wow! Thanks very much for your efforts Nellie, these are just what I was looking for. Much appreciated. Also a big 'cheers' to all other responders. Some interesting reads.
 
Can I just get some one to clarify.
Those two papers are not the basic exam is it?
My understanding was it part practical, part questions from the examiner.

Whats shown is the next level up?

Not taken the exam myself but was told what to expect that looked reasonable enough to complete but I wouldn't call it a basic exam.
 
Can I just get some one to clarify.
Those two papers are not the basic exam is it?
My understanding was it part practical, part questions from the examiner.

Whats shown is the next level up?

Not taken the exam myself but was told what to expect that looked reasonable enough to complete but I wouldn't call it a basic exam.


correct it is the next level up module one...the basic is not the same
 
correct it is the next level up module one...the basic is not the same

Thanks, I thought it looked a little brutal for a basic exam. However I would of been reasonably confident answering those papers and scoring well.

Thanks Mus :cheers2:
 
You can post links to websites.
Just not to the British beekillers association..

Very mature, I respect your argument a lot more when you use stupid terms like that.

Honestly it's like trying to discuss with children, grow the f[edited by admin] up.
 
Last edited:
Thanks, I thought it looked a little brutal for a basic exam. However I would of been reasonably confident answering those papers and scoring well.

Thanks Mus :cheers2:

Yep, the modules are written papers while the Basic Assessment is entirely practical demonstration or face to face questioning. Plus you need to have done the Basic Assessment to be able to pass the written modules, i.e. the Basic is your entry point.
 
You can download the syllabus.

Can't post a link but I'm sure you can find it.
 
You can post links to websites.
Just not to the British beekillers association..
I can understand your wish to disassociate this forum from er! the dark side ,but remember the great wall of China didn't keep everyone in or out for that matter :smash:.
Couldn't the sortware allow the bbka home page which gives access to loads of useful information ,downloads etc ? whilst barring the forum .
I'm sure you know that to find directions to the bbka forum (from the home page that is ) a little obscure anyway .

As it is it's becoming a bit like the North /South Vietnamese divide .
Volunteers required for the construction of cyber tunnels :biggrinjester::biggrinjester:

John Wilkinson
 
British Bee Killers!!!:laughing-smiley-014:laughing-smiley-004

I know the admin on BBKA a bit, Steve, he helped me when I was a beginner and getting into an absolute panic.... There are lots of lovely people like him on that forum.

The whole endorsing pesticides and then the way that was dealt with were tedious though.... please, please, please, let's not talk about that again.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top