I'm taking my first bbka module exam.

[Erichalfbee]

Yes, because surprisingly there are plenty of beekeepers who aren't that great at actually remembering to feed their bees

So are you implying that there are a surprising number of beekeepers who paint by numbers according to NBU emails?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Btw, those NBU guys giving the talks have all done all the BBKA modules!

No they haven't - and I know that for a fact

 

[North End Bees]

So are you implying that there are a surprising number of beekeepers who paint by numbers according to NBU emails?

I don't doubt there will be some. Like every avenue in life.

 

[North End Bees]

No they haven't - and I know that for a fact

Maybe you have inside knowledge.
But all the talks/practical days given by NBUs which I've attended have pretty much followed BBKA protocols.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

all the talks/practical days given by NBUs which I've attended have pretty much followed BBKA protocols.

Or maybe (probably) it's vice versa with the BBKA following NBU protocols - do you honestly believe that the BBKA advised the NBU on handling diseased colonies and frames?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Maybe you have inside knowledge.
But all the talks/practical days given by NBUs which I've attended have pretty much followed BBKA protocols.

Yes but that doesn’t mean the inspectors have taken any modules.
I know my last one ( now retired) hadn’t

I don't doubt there will be some. Like every avenue in life.

Yes some
Probably the ones following the BBKA syllabus

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

So are you implying that there are a surprising number of beekeepers who paint by numbers according to NBU emails?

Well there's plenty out there beekeeping by numbers according to BBKA dogma

 

[pargyle]

So attend two
As for the inspectors having done the modules that has absolutely nothing to do with handling frames.
Is this the same NBU that puts out starvation warnings a good month or so after everybody else has cottoned on, teaches that it’s good practice to sterilise hives every year? I could go on.
Take the modules by all means if that’s what you want but please don’t push the BBKA agenda here. The BBKA has its own forum.
This is my view not a moderator’s by the way

I agree .. I've looked at the Modules and the notes .. there is so much prescriptive beekeeping in there that I don't agree with and much of the required 'correct' answers include methods and ideas that are well past their sell by date that the whole thing needs a serious re-think.

There are commonalities in there but the whole thing of the modules appears skewed to beekeeping that is from a past age. I don't think passing exams is going to improve my beekeeping and at my age I don't feel the need to hang any more certificates on the walls ...

If taking the modules is what floats your boat then go for it - but don't turn into one of those 'close minded, I know everything' beekeepers with a string of certificates that have occasionally lambasted me for suggesting anything that is outside of Yates is heresy and should be put down and discouraged.

 

[North End Bees]

If taking the modules is what floats your boat then go for it - but don't turn into one of those 'close minded, I know everything' beekeepers with a string of certificates that have occasionally lambasted me for suggesting anything that is outside of Yates is heresy and should be put down and discouraged.

In some ways my bees are kept differently from yours. I don't have long hives or polys. I treat for varroa. But there are also many things we agree on, e.g leaving a super for the bees after extracting.

But never have I lambasted you for doing things your way or suggested that anything outside of Yates is heresy.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

the whole thing of the modules appears skewed to beekeeping that is from a past age.

I refer you to the comments of Dr Francis Smith in his 1960 book 'Beekeeping in the tropics'seems nothing much has changed since then,(or before)

 

[Apple]

I
Yes, it gives you a pretty piece of paper to hang on your wall!

I'm sorry, but when it comes to disease, holding the diseased frames and seeing it close up and speaking to people who see it in the flesh on a yearly basis beats reading about the theory of it and giving the answers required (please note I didn't use the word 'correct') by the BBKA

The BDI sponsored bee disease days are a bit of a curates egg
BUT once you have had to deal with the aftermath of EFB and AFB and had to destroy hives you realise that a 20minute peek at a few old diseased frames is no replacement for experience... and does not make you a ***
qualified*** Master Beekeeper.

The majority of Seasonal Bee Inspectors are not Master Beekeepers, just to put the record straight

*** a term reserved for those who have taken all the BBKA modules I presume.

 

[Mint Bee]

Unfortunately beginners hear 'masterbeekeeper' and assume that they know what they are talking about.

Local club had a lecture by a 'masterbeekeeper' recently. Mentioned a number of topics, including questionable winter preparation and ventilation, but being a 'masterbeekeeper' convinced some beginners to follow his path.

At the end of the day its a qualification you can study for. Would you rather take advice from some one with a qualification from the BBKA and plays with a few hives, or a livestock farmer who relies on their bees for a living? Yes, the beefarmer may not have time for some of hobbyist niceties and pampering, but they have experience of what works rather than theory

 

[Apple]

ates is heresy

Yates.... outmoded rubbish bearing little resemblance to modern beekeeping... has no reference to Flow's hives at all!

 

[user 819]

BBKA exams ideal for those who can read and maintain in ones little grey cells all stuff learnt by rote. Simply recall and answer as dictated by the BBKA exam board, a little backwards and no deviating from their set ways.
A one or two year old beek or any one who isn't adverse from swotting and sitting exams will likely do far much better then I at sitting exams which I abhor.
Some folks are born or drawn to academia and rote learning others are simply practical hands on learners and gain from that which they learn.

Last time I sat an exam was 30 years or so ago to gain my PPL in lighter then air, exams simply not for me and also I expect quite a few others.

Last time I visited or was at the local Assoc apiary no matchsticks were seen in use, as most colonies still had open escape holes in the crown board for all year round use.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Last time I visited or was at the local Assoc apiary no matchsticks were seen in use, as most colonies still had open escape holes in the crown board for all year round use.

Some of us do take the rise out of the BBKA but even so stuff like this is all too common.
If we were on the BBKA forum eulogising the advantages of any beekeepingforum.co.uk qualifications a moderator would have shut the thread down long ago.
Let’s leave Curly to his books and the BBKA to its members?

 

[user 819]

No issue for those who want to take these exams, it's a personal choice.
Some simply like to do so whilst others don't.

 

[Curly green finger's]

I agree .. I've looked at the Modules and the notes .. there is so much prescriptive beekeeping in there that I don't agree with and much of the required 'correct' answers include methods and ideas that are well past their sell by date that the whole thing needs a serious re-think.

There are commonalities in there but the whole thing of the modules appears skewed to beekeeping that is from a past age. I don't think passing exams is going to improve my beekeeping and at my age I don't feel the need to hang any more certificates on the walls ...

If taking the modules is what floats your boat then go for it - but don't turn into one of those 'close minded, I know everything' beekeepers with a string of certificates that have occasionally lambasted me for suggesting anything that is outside of Yates is heresy and should be put down and discouraged.

Sorry to say I've looked as well and got as far as the first page Philip
"A man that thinks he knows everything knows nowt at all" that's my belief.

 

[North End Bees]

It's unfortunate that the thread turned into a theatre for bashing exam-taking.
It started out with a request by someone who had already decided to do one of the modules and wanted opinions from those who had. If people don't agree with exams they don't have to answer.

At no point did I suggest that exams were a substitute for practical experience. In fact, I said several times that different learning environments complement each other.

If someone wants to learn about e.g. bee anatomy, they could read up about it from any number of books. But the BBKA module facilitates that learning by offering a structured framework. Reading, by itself, can be a very passive activity with information quickly forgotten. The study groups offer opportunities for people to discuss the topics and benefit from each other's learning.

And the end result isn't just a piece of paper to hang on the wall (although I don't know anyone who even does that). The end result is improved beekeeping by understanding the theory behind the practice.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

The end result is improved beekeeping by understanding the theory behind the practice.

Only if the 'theory' is correct in the first place.

 

[North End Bees]

Only if the 'theory' is correct in the first place.

In my example I was talking about bee anatomy. In what ways is the anatomy taught on the modules not correct??

Perhaps you want me to dissect a few (thousand) bees and learn about them from first-hand experience? But then I'd have to learn microscopy, etc. There'd be book-learning involved along the way. Surely if someone has already done that in painstaking detail, I can learn from their written experience.
And in learning about 'how bees work' , I can better understand how to keep them and so manage/avoid disease.