Bob Bee
House Bee
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2011
- Messages
- 428
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- Cornwall
- Hive Type
- National
- Number of Hives
- 20 plus a few 14x 12s, nukes and apidea
Improving Bees by Raising Your Own Queens-Two Day Course in Cornwall
Tutors: Roger Patterson, Jo Widdicombe, Nick Bentham-Green, Dave Ledger
Saturday, 14 May & Sunday 15th at Harrowbarrow. Monday 16th and Tuesday 17th at Mt Edgcumbe start time 09:30 (BST) on all days.
Event Details
2 Two day courses:
Course 1 - Saturday 14th May and Sunday 15th; 09:30 to 16:30 both days.
Course 2 - Monday 16th May and Tuesday 17th ; 09:30to 16:30 both days
Costs: £75.00 for 2 days. BipCo and BIBBA members will receive a £10 discount.
You will have to find your own accommodation, but there is a wide variety in the area including campsites, B&Bs and hotels.
This area of Cornwall is ideal for a short break, so why not make an extended stay?
The improvement of bees is an important part of beekeeping. The suitability of bees to the environment and their temper are issues that concern the caring beekeeper, but are not often included in tuition.
This course will cover many of the topics and techniques that will suit the “ordinary” beekeeper, with a large practical element that is easy to understand. It is intended to be fun, not intense technical information.
Below are further details:-
Who is it aimed at?
This course is aimed at beekeepers who have several colonies, are involved in a bee improvement group or are considering starting one. It will suit those who want to raise good quality queens by using “artificial” methods in batches of 6 or more in controlled conditions. The information gained should prepare attendees for producing many more queens on a regular basis if required.
Attendees should know the “basics” of beekeeping, i.e. the life cycles, swarming procedure of a colony, disease recognition, etc., and be able to see eggs and young larvae. This is not a course for raw beginners, although it may suit fairly inexperienced beekeepers who know the “basics”, can handle bees reasonably well and are capable of learning quickly.
It will be an advantage for attendees to have attended one of the BIBBA “Bee Improvement for All” (BIFA) days, though not essential.
Note: If you suffer reactions to being stung by honey bees you are advised not to attend this course. Circumstances vary, where some locations may not be in an area that enjoys a speedy ambulance service. It is also unlikely there will be tutors or attendees who are able to deal with an emergency.
Why should we improve our bees?
Many older beekeepers agree that bees are not as tough or as suitable for our climatic conditions as bees once were. This could be for a number of reasons, including the continued importation of bees and queens, “treatments” and “supplements” that mask problems and the failure of beekeepers to cull the poor doers.
When we look to “improve” our bees, perhaps we should take into account the characteristics that have served honey bees so well since their re-colonisation of Britain following the last ice age.
To help make our beekeeping more pleasurable we can select for characteristics that we prefer, such as gentleness. This is a much more rewarding and sustainable approach than simply buying replacement queens that may be imported, which have the added risk of introducing diseases.
What will be covered?
There will be both practical and theoretical elements, with time spent at a number of colonies of bees.
Amongst the topics we hope to cover are:-
Colony handling techniques.
Making up and managing queen mating colonies and nuclei.
Discussing and demonstrating Q/C building methods.
Clipping and marking queens.
Q/C raising colonies.
Assessing colonies and deciding which to raise queens from and which to cull.
Selection criteria.
Recording.
Working with other beekeepers.
Setting up and running a bee improvement group.
Equipment required – buying, making, improvising or modifying.
Drone production.
Q/C distribution.
Queen introduction.
Mating control.
Some of the myths.
What equipment is needed?
There will be some time spent at the bees, so you will need clean protective clothing. It is asked that leather (or similar) gloves aren’t worn, firstly to avoid the possibility of spreading foul brood and secondly to be able to handle and “feel” the bees without being clumsy. If gloves are worn they should be new and lightweight, such as disposables, because queens and bees may be handled.
Apiaries at some locations may be in rural areas with rough ground, so may require stout footwear.
Magnifying aids, if required, to see eggs and young larvae.
All equipment that is brought on site should be cleaned beforehand.
We strongly suggest a notebook and/or laptop.
A camera for practical sessions is always useful and its use will be encouraged, but please don’t use one to photograph the projector screen, as it annoys other attendees.
All other equipment will be supplied.
What can I expect?
A well run course with a limited number of attendees, so the tutors aren’t overstretched and we can give individual attention.
Experienced tutors who will be teaching from their own experience, not from books or the web. Please accept they may not have experience of all methods – few people have, however, there will be a number of options, so you can make your own mind up which you prefer.
This course will be fun, interactive and full of encouragement to explore the joys of raising your own queens that have the characteristics you want. The knowledge gained will help give you the satisfaction of producing your own queens and the confidence to assess and improve them.
Attendance is not intended to be a quick fix to improve your bees and that is it. Bee improvement is an ongoing part of beekeeping in the same way that honey production is.
We believe that beekeeping should be fun, not a chore. We don’t give attendees loads of information that is based on narrow thinking and difficult to absorb, but tried and tested methods that are simple to understand.
The order in which the course is presented may be adjusted to suit the weather (or the forecast!). If we expect our bees to make the best of our unpredictable climate, then so should we!
These courses are held in a number of locations. Local conditions, apiaries, bees, equipment, personnel and facilities may vary considerably. Please accept and respect that hosts may not keep bees in the same way that you do.
Course etiquette
In order to present this course, we rely on bees being provided by the hosts. It is therefore reasonable they are treated with the utmost respect.
All colonies are to be handled with care and by using the appropriate quantity of smoke to control them.
No smokers or hive tools are to be used, other than those supplied.
In order to identify stocks to raise queens from or for queen culling (we don’t expect to kill queens!) we will place them in order of preference. This is for instructional purposes only and not to be seen as criticism of the bees kept by our hosts.
Although not part of the course it is hoped that attendees will meet up for a meal on the first evening, so they can get to know each other and have a chance to relax in the company of others with the same interest.
The Tutors
Roger Patterson
Roger is a practical beekeeper who has kept bees since 1963. This was directly after the harsh 1962/3 winter when a large number of bees and queens were imported. He quickly realised these imports were not well suited to our climate and conditions. A chance meeting with Beowulf Cooper resulted in him joining VBBA (now renamed BIBBA) in 1965. At one stage he ran 130 colonies, but has now reduced to around 25. He concentrates on teaching the practical aspects of beekeeping at his local BKA where he is the Apiary Manager. He lectures and demonstrates widely and is a regular contributor to the bee press. Roger now owns and maintains Dave Cushman's website www.dave-cushman.net that is widely recognised as one of the world's most comprehensive beekeeping websites. He is the author of "Beekeeping. A Practical Guide". He is a BBKA Trustee and Vice President of Bee Diseases Insurance (BDI). Roger can often be seen in the company of his border collie Nell.
Jo Widdicombe
Born in Newtown Powys, Jo grew up in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire before moving back to Wales and then to Cornwall where he has lived for over 30 years. He worked in agriculture (organic vegetable production and dairy) before returning to studies. Graduated from Plymouth Polytechnic with B.Sc.(Hons) Environmental Science. Has been running his own business (shop selling greengrocery, wholefoods, flowers, plants etc.) with his wife since 1980.
Jo has been a beekeeper for over 25 years and currently runs about 50 hives. Member of BIBBA for over 20 years. Was Secretary of Cornwall BKA for 9 years and Chairman of Southwest Group of Bee Farmers Association for 2 years.
He believes that progress in bee improvement in Britain and Ireland is only likely to come from determined groups of beekeepers working together. Hence, wants to communicate with Groups, find out what they have been doing and their plans for the future.Groups can learn from each others successes and failures.
Nick Bentham-Green
Nick first started keeping bees in the early 90’s having between 2 and 5 colonies for many years. For most of that time he bred his own queens, quickly realising that there had to be a better way rather than importing queens. He chaired the Tavistock Branch of the Devon BKA for a few years and was also the Branch apiary manager. In 2009, whilst still in Devon, he joined BipCo (Bee Improvement Programme for Cornwall), which was under the Chairmanship of Jo Widdicombe. At this time Nick became very interested in bee improvement, realising that he had in fact been doing the same, with his own bees for a number of years.
In 2011 on retirement Nick became a full time beekeeper. He now runs about 30 colonies, and helps with the management of a number of BipCo mating apiaries. He is also Chairman of BipCo and one of the Directors of B4, (Bring Back Black Bees), which is a community interest company looking at conserving the remnant populations of Amm in Cornwall.
Nick has recently taken over the role as BIBBA Groups’ Secretary.
Dave Ledger
.
David remembers his Grandfather regularly taking a swarm of honeybees from an old chimney pot on his allotment in Surrey during the late ‘Fifties’, which marked the beginning of a lifetime interest in beekeeping. However, it was not until he took early retirement in 1994 and moved to South Devon that he was able to keep bees of his own, with a swarm moving into an empty WBC hive that he had rescued from a bonfire in Dean Prior.
After gaining an Honours degree BSc Environmental Science from the University of Plymouth in 2000 he found more time to devote to beekeeping and queen rearing and moved with 10 colonies of New Zealand Italian bees to Kings Orchard in The Tamar Valley in Cornwall in 2010.
David’s research in honey bee genetics led to a passion in preserving the Native Cornish Black bee, he now runs 35 colonies of Amm in an isolated valley along the banks of the River Lhyner; utilising the New Zealand stocks as surrogate queen cell finishers at his Home apiary.
He is Chairman of the Kit Hill Group of the Cornwall Beekeepers Association, a Bee farmers’ Association member, and has been a member of BipCo for 4 years.-
These courses are expected to be popular, therefore early booking is advised.
Bookings are taken on a first come first served basis. When full, a waiting list will be created.
If you cancel more than 14 days in advance you will have a refund.
If cancelled within 14 days of the event your fee will only be refunded if the place can be filled.
In both cases a £10 administration fee will be deducted.
BipCo and BIBBA members will receive a £10 discount when booking through BipCo
Do you have questions about Improving Bees by Raising Your Own Queens-Two Day Course in Cornwall?
Interested in attending either of the 2 day courses?
Then please contact:
The Treasurer BipCo
By e-mail – [email protected];
Or phone 01579326005
Tutors: Roger Patterson, Jo Widdicombe, Nick Bentham-Green, Dave Ledger
Saturday, 14 May & Sunday 15th at Harrowbarrow. Monday 16th and Tuesday 17th at Mt Edgcumbe start time 09:30 (BST) on all days.
Event Details
2 Two day courses:
Course 1 - Saturday 14th May and Sunday 15th; 09:30 to 16:30 both days.
Course 2 - Monday 16th May and Tuesday 17th ; 09:30to 16:30 both days
Costs: £75.00 for 2 days. BipCo and BIBBA members will receive a £10 discount.
You will have to find your own accommodation, but there is a wide variety in the area including campsites, B&Bs and hotels.
This area of Cornwall is ideal for a short break, so why not make an extended stay?
The improvement of bees is an important part of beekeeping. The suitability of bees to the environment and their temper are issues that concern the caring beekeeper, but are not often included in tuition.
This course will cover many of the topics and techniques that will suit the “ordinary” beekeeper, with a large practical element that is easy to understand. It is intended to be fun, not intense technical information.
Below are further details:-
Who is it aimed at?
This course is aimed at beekeepers who have several colonies, are involved in a bee improvement group or are considering starting one. It will suit those who want to raise good quality queens by using “artificial” methods in batches of 6 or more in controlled conditions. The information gained should prepare attendees for producing many more queens on a regular basis if required.
Attendees should know the “basics” of beekeeping, i.e. the life cycles, swarming procedure of a colony, disease recognition, etc., and be able to see eggs and young larvae. This is not a course for raw beginners, although it may suit fairly inexperienced beekeepers who know the “basics”, can handle bees reasonably well and are capable of learning quickly.
It will be an advantage for attendees to have attended one of the BIBBA “Bee Improvement for All” (BIFA) days, though not essential.
Note: If you suffer reactions to being stung by honey bees you are advised not to attend this course. Circumstances vary, where some locations may not be in an area that enjoys a speedy ambulance service. It is also unlikely there will be tutors or attendees who are able to deal with an emergency.
Why should we improve our bees?
Many older beekeepers agree that bees are not as tough or as suitable for our climatic conditions as bees once were. This could be for a number of reasons, including the continued importation of bees and queens, “treatments” and “supplements” that mask problems and the failure of beekeepers to cull the poor doers.
When we look to “improve” our bees, perhaps we should take into account the characteristics that have served honey bees so well since their re-colonisation of Britain following the last ice age.
To help make our beekeeping more pleasurable we can select for characteristics that we prefer, such as gentleness. This is a much more rewarding and sustainable approach than simply buying replacement queens that may be imported, which have the added risk of introducing diseases.
What will be covered?
There will be both practical and theoretical elements, with time spent at a number of colonies of bees.
Amongst the topics we hope to cover are:-
Colony handling techniques.
Making up and managing queen mating colonies and nuclei.
Discussing and demonstrating Q/C building methods.
Clipping and marking queens.
Q/C raising colonies.
Assessing colonies and deciding which to raise queens from and which to cull.
Selection criteria.
Recording.
Working with other beekeepers.
Setting up and running a bee improvement group.
Equipment required – buying, making, improvising or modifying.
Drone production.
Q/C distribution.
Queen introduction.
Mating control.
Some of the myths.
What equipment is needed?
There will be some time spent at the bees, so you will need clean protective clothing. It is asked that leather (or similar) gloves aren’t worn, firstly to avoid the possibility of spreading foul brood and secondly to be able to handle and “feel” the bees without being clumsy. If gloves are worn they should be new and lightweight, such as disposables, because queens and bees may be handled.
Apiaries at some locations may be in rural areas with rough ground, so may require stout footwear.
Magnifying aids, if required, to see eggs and young larvae.
All equipment that is brought on site should be cleaned beforehand.
We strongly suggest a notebook and/or laptop.
A camera for practical sessions is always useful and its use will be encouraged, but please don’t use one to photograph the projector screen, as it annoys other attendees.
All other equipment will be supplied.
What can I expect?
A well run course with a limited number of attendees, so the tutors aren’t overstretched and we can give individual attention.
Experienced tutors who will be teaching from their own experience, not from books or the web. Please accept they may not have experience of all methods – few people have, however, there will be a number of options, so you can make your own mind up which you prefer.
This course will be fun, interactive and full of encouragement to explore the joys of raising your own queens that have the characteristics you want. The knowledge gained will help give you the satisfaction of producing your own queens and the confidence to assess and improve them.
Attendance is not intended to be a quick fix to improve your bees and that is it. Bee improvement is an ongoing part of beekeeping in the same way that honey production is.
We believe that beekeeping should be fun, not a chore. We don’t give attendees loads of information that is based on narrow thinking and difficult to absorb, but tried and tested methods that are simple to understand.
The order in which the course is presented may be adjusted to suit the weather (or the forecast!). If we expect our bees to make the best of our unpredictable climate, then so should we!
These courses are held in a number of locations. Local conditions, apiaries, bees, equipment, personnel and facilities may vary considerably. Please accept and respect that hosts may not keep bees in the same way that you do.
Course etiquette
In order to present this course, we rely on bees being provided by the hosts. It is therefore reasonable they are treated with the utmost respect.
All colonies are to be handled with care and by using the appropriate quantity of smoke to control them.
No smokers or hive tools are to be used, other than those supplied.
In order to identify stocks to raise queens from or for queen culling (we don’t expect to kill queens!) we will place them in order of preference. This is for instructional purposes only and not to be seen as criticism of the bees kept by our hosts.
Although not part of the course it is hoped that attendees will meet up for a meal on the first evening, so they can get to know each other and have a chance to relax in the company of others with the same interest.
The Tutors
Roger Patterson
Roger is a practical beekeeper who has kept bees since 1963. This was directly after the harsh 1962/3 winter when a large number of bees and queens were imported. He quickly realised these imports were not well suited to our climate and conditions. A chance meeting with Beowulf Cooper resulted in him joining VBBA (now renamed BIBBA) in 1965. At one stage he ran 130 colonies, but has now reduced to around 25. He concentrates on teaching the practical aspects of beekeeping at his local BKA where he is the Apiary Manager. He lectures and demonstrates widely and is a regular contributor to the bee press. Roger now owns and maintains Dave Cushman's website www.dave-cushman.net that is widely recognised as one of the world's most comprehensive beekeeping websites. He is the author of "Beekeeping. A Practical Guide". He is a BBKA Trustee and Vice President of Bee Diseases Insurance (BDI). Roger can often be seen in the company of his border collie Nell.
Jo Widdicombe
Born in Newtown Powys, Jo grew up in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire before moving back to Wales and then to Cornwall where he has lived for over 30 years. He worked in agriculture (organic vegetable production and dairy) before returning to studies. Graduated from Plymouth Polytechnic with B.Sc.(Hons) Environmental Science. Has been running his own business (shop selling greengrocery, wholefoods, flowers, plants etc.) with his wife since 1980.
Jo has been a beekeeper for over 25 years and currently runs about 50 hives. Member of BIBBA for over 20 years. Was Secretary of Cornwall BKA for 9 years and Chairman of Southwest Group of Bee Farmers Association for 2 years.
He believes that progress in bee improvement in Britain and Ireland is only likely to come from determined groups of beekeepers working together. Hence, wants to communicate with Groups, find out what they have been doing and their plans for the future.Groups can learn from each others successes and failures.
Nick Bentham-Green
Nick first started keeping bees in the early 90’s having between 2 and 5 colonies for many years. For most of that time he bred his own queens, quickly realising that there had to be a better way rather than importing queens. He chaired the Tavistock Branch of the Devon BKA for a few years and was also the Branch apiary manager. In 2009, whilst still in Devon, he joined BipCo (Bee Improvement Programme for Cornwall), which was under the Chairmanship of Jo Widdicombe. At this time Nick became very interested in bee improvement, realising that he had in fact been doing the same, with his own bees for a number of years.
In 2011 on retirement Nick became a full time beekeeper. He now runs about 30 colonies, and helps with the management of a number of BipCo mating apiaries. He is also Chairman of BipCo and one of the Directors of B4, (Bring Back Black Bees), which is a community interest company looking at conserving the remnant populations of Amm in Cornwall.
Nick has recently taken over the role as BIBBA Groups’ Secretary.
Dave Ledger
.
David remembers his Grandfather regularly taking a swarm of honeybees from an old chimney pot on his allotment in Surrey during the late ‘Fifties’, which marked the beginning of a lifetime interest in beekeeping. However, it was not until he took early retirement in 1994 and moved to South Devon that he was able to keep bees of his own, with a swarm moving into an empty WBC hive that he had rescued from a bonfire in Dean Prior.
After gaining an Honours degree BSc Environmental Science from the University of Plymouth in 2000 he found more time to devote to beekeeping and queen rearing and moved with 10 colonies of New Zealand Italian bees to Kings Orchard in The Tamar Valley in Cornwall in 2010.
David’s research in honey bee genetics led to a passion in preserving the Native Cornish Black bee, he now runs 35 colonies of Amm in an isolated valley along the banks of the River Lhyner; utilising the New Zealand stocks as surrogate queen cell finishers at his Home apiary.
He is Chairman of the Kit Hill Group of the Cornwall Beekeepers Association, a Bee farmers’ Association member, and has been a member of BipCo for 4 years.-
These courses are expected to be popular, therefore early booking is advised.
Bookings are taken on a first come first served basis. When full, a waiting list will be created.
If you cancel more than 14 days in advance you will have a refund.
If cancelled within 14 days of the event your fee will only be refunded if the place can be filled.
In both cases a £10 administration fee will be deducted.
BipCo and BIBBA members will receive a £10 discount when booking through BipCo
Do you have questions about Improving Bees by Raising Your Own Queens-Two Day Course in Cornwall?
Interested in attending either of the 2 day courses?
Then please contact:
The Treasurer BipCo
By e-mail – [email protected];
Or phone 01579326005
