Can a 10 year old learn beekeeping?

[Paddyg]

I am a mentor to a 10 year old who has completed the beginners course. There is no evidence he has learned much during the course and his parents did not engage in the course. If he gets hives/bees etc I do not sense he will be self sufficient. Any thoughts appreciated.

 

[Worldsend]

I am a mentor to a 10 year old who has completed the beginners course. There is no evidence he has learned much during the course and his parents did not engage in the course. If he gets hives/bees etc I do not sense he will be self sufficient. Any thoughts appreciated.

Mine did

I sat in the car whilst somebody else did the teaching- as they got older they tut -tutted my methods

Now grown up they will climb for swarms and help me lift and shift but cars have more appeal

 

[masterBK]

I became fascinated with honeybees aged 10 after discovering an observation hive at Dudley Zoo. Undertook a beginners course in 1958 aged 11yrs and joined my school beekeeping club which had half a dozen colonies all housed in white WBCs . In early summer of 1959 I passed the BBKA preliminary exam (now called the Basic) and someone kindly donated me my first colony (I had to buy a hive to house it and got a 2nd hand WBC for £5 = alot of money for me at that age). That colony produced 90lbs of honey that year which I extracted using the school extractlor and I sold the honey at three and six pence a lb to friends and family. So gained a profit within a matter of months and as a result I became totally hooked into this hobby and still am 62yrs later. The wax cappings were turned into a block and I won 1st prize in the local association honey show. In 1960 won several prizes at the show so became very keen on showing, becoming a show judge 30 yrs later. I attended meetings of Stourbridge BKA and was on their committee whilst still in my teens. I learnt loads from the other members and even more from my mistakes and hands on beekeeping. Didn't buy or read any beekeeping books until I was in my twenties.

So it is quite possible for youngsters to successfully look after bees but with the backing of older and wiser mentors to turn to when needed.

 

[B+.]

I am a mentor to a 10 year old who has completed the beginners course. There is no evidence he has learned much during the course and his parents did not engage in the course. If he gets hives/bees etc I do not sense he will be self sufficient. Any thoughts appreciated.

If, as his mentor, you don't believe he is competent to "go solo", none of us should disagree with you:
1. You know the person. None of us do.
2. He is a child, therefore, he is in your care
3. The beginners course covers the absolute minimum necessary to manage a colony but falls far short of what is required to keep it alive.
4. Is he strong enough to lift a brood box/super? I doubt it. Therefore he requires help.

When I first read this question, I thought it was blindingly obvious but I am always being told that I assume too much knowledge in other people.

 

[Amari]

I am a mentor to a 10 year old who has completed the beginners course. There is no evidence he has learned much during the course and his parents did not engage in the course. If he gets hives/bees etc I do not sense he will be self sufficient. Any thoughts appreciated.

Do you mean you are his guardian or do you mean you are his beekeeping mentor? Of course he won't be self sufficient age 10 after a beginners' course but no other experience. That's why he needs a mentor, Shirley?

 

[B+.]

Do you mean you are his guardian or do you mean you are his beekeeping mentor? Of course he won't be self sufficient age 10 after a beginners' course but no other experience. That's why he needs a mentor, Shirley?

Either way, he's the responsible adult so he's responsible for his safety

.....and don't call him Shirley ;-)

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Of course he won't be self sufficient age 10 after a beginners' course but no other experience.

There's some around with decades more on him, with all the courses not just the basic and are still not capable of wrangling bees

 

[Gilberdyke John]

I am a mentor to a 10 year old who has completed the beginners course. There is no evidence he has learned much during the course and his parents did not engage in the course. If he gets hives/bees etc I do not sense he will be self sufficient. Any thoughts appreciated.

I'm not convinced you understand the responsibilities of being a beekeeping mentor to a 10 year old. Some 10 year olds are information sponges and some aren't. Some are physically strong and again some aren't. I think this is a situation where a responsible adult mentor should introduce the child to hands on beekeeping acting as both teacher and assistant. Best done in the adults apiary or in an association teaching apiary. Show, explain, demonstrate but gradually transfer the actual handling to the trainee. Physical lifting of say a super or even a heavy roof may need you to step in as assistant even if the trainee knows what to do. It would be calamitous to drop a heavy item. Handling frames ought to be within the child's ability but may still be more effort than young hands are comfortable with.
If the first stages are carried out as above then if it all goes wrong and the child loses interest the colony will be in safe hands.
Mentoring some adults may need a similar approach.

 

[Buzzlodge]

I would expect a 10 year old who was genuinely interested in beekeeping to be extremely enthusiastic, to soak up information and to pepper you with tricky questions.
That this doesn't seem to be the case would make me question his real interest and wonder if he hasn't been sent to you by his parents to give him something to do.
I would suggest that he not get bees of his own yet, but can accompany yourself or others looking at hives, if he is still interested.

 

[elainemary]

I am a mentor to a 10 year old who has completed the beginners course. There is no evidence he has learned much during the course and his parents did not engage in the course. If he gets hives/bees etc I do not sense he will be self sufficient. Any thoughts appreciated.

I would take the opportunity to invite him to inspections and mentoring at your apiary with your gentlest bees. Definitely too young to have his own bees without his parents involvement. We’ve had other young boys on our beginners courses but always with a parent who was really engaged. Worth chatting through with his parents your thoughts and concerns, but offering encouragement to him.

 

[victor meldrew]

I would take the opportunity to invite him to inspections and mentoring at your apiary with your gentlest bees. Definitely too young to have his own bees without his parents involvement. We’ve had other young boys on our beginners courses but always with a parent who was really engaged. Worth chatting through with his parents your thoughts and concerns, but offering encouragement to him.

Also his he physically strong enough to hump full supers from a height ? Move full brood boxes around , have the finances to invest in the inevitable costs of expansion?
encourage the lad but don’t let him get out of his depth , this could put him off the craft ?

 

[Hedgerow Honey]

My now 12 year old started accompanying me at age six. She has had her own colonies for around four years which I manage periodically, but she is hands on and does things her way and I mostly follow her instructions, whether I feel its right or wrong, its the way they learn, similar to bees, we can only direct them in a certain direction.

 

[Peter Vanstone]

Mine did

I sat in the car whilst somebody else did the teaching- as they got older they tut -tutted my methods

Now grown up they will climb for swarms and help me lift and shift but cars have more appeal

A friend’s granddaughter was all for the bees full on,then sadly she discovered the quad bike.

 

[Garry R]

Doing a beekeeping course means knowing about bees. Handling them and you learn about bees. Learning more about bees comes with age. Knowing it all about bees is unattainable!!

 

[Ian123]

I am a mentor to a 10 year old who has completed the beginners course. There is no evidence he has learned much during the course and his parents did not engage in the course. If he gets hives/bees etc I do not sense he will be self sufficient. Any thoughts appreciated.

I started at 10 and passed by basic at 12 by 14 my mum became allergic to stings and threatened to sell the hives. I told them I’d carry on and had 15-20 at home and a nearby out apiary. Beer and trying to procreate with anything that moved took its toll late teens early 20s but I’m still here

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

and yet we have some who have 'kept' bees for years, hit retirement and still haven't a clue about beekeeping

 

[Ian123]

Should also add there was an old boy up the road who had about 12 who couldn’t manage to much on his own. I was up with him most weekends in the summer. Plus a youngish couple called John and Dinah Sweet who lived in a local village who where silly enough to let me practice queen rearing on there bees

 

[JamezF]

trying to procreate with anything that moved took its toll

practice queen rearing on there bees

Could explain a lot

James

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Plus a youngish couple called John and Dinah Sweet

Dinah is no longer with us unfortunately, she succumbed to Cancer at the beginning of lockdown

 

[Ian123]

Dinah is no longer with us unfortunately, she succumbed to Cancer at the beginning of lockdown

Yes I saw…………I traveled up and stayed with them some years ago and went to the Welsh convention they had Clive De Bruyn with them as well. It was a very nice weekend.