junior basic assessment - help please

[hedgehog66]

My daughter is sitting her junior basic assessment tomorrow
We are checking we have everything together
The sylabus refers to " a beekeeping diary"
I had it in my mind that this is hive records but now i am wondering if it is something completely different like what courses / talks/workshops she has attended
I have searched and found nothing ( on here, bbka site and googled)
Has anybody sat this assessment and can offer some help please
Thank you

 

[itma]

My expectation is that it would refer to what would be happening in the colony at different times of the year (and what the beekeeper should be doing or looking out for).


/// What is the context of the reference? Can you give the complete sentence?

 

[hedgehog66]

Thanks for replying itma
According to bbka site :

The Junior certificate consists of 4 elements
10 minutes of oral questions
A short written paper
Making a frame
Present your beekeeping diary

 

[itma]

New one on me!
That does sound more like "what did you do during school holidays?"

 

[hedgehog66]

She is taking a record dating back to june 2013 of inspections of 2 colonies.
Very brief notes but she and i understand them
I might suggest she adds in the talks we have attended and all the hives and frames we have knocked up
Hopefully that should get her the 20 marks for that element of the assessment
Fingers crossed

 

[itma]

Can't link to BBKA site pages.

But under Learn/Examinations/Junoir Certificate the text you quote appears on that web page.
Scroll to the bottom, and there are four links to downloadable documents.
One is the syllabus. Where I found -

THE EXAMINATION
The examination consists of four parts as follows:
(1) A written paper containing 20 questions calling for answers in only a
few words, the time allowed being 40 minutes. [40 marks]
(In cases where the individual candidate has reading limitations, the questions may be asked verbally)
(2) An oral consisting of individual questioning of the candidate for not more than 10 minutes. [30 marks]
(3) Submission of the written record of the beekeeping work undertaken during the active season. [20 marks]
(4) Assembly of a frame fitted with foundation. [10 marks]

 

[hedgehog66]

Hadnt spotted that
Thank you
I guess that means hive inspection records
But we have beefed it up with all the talks she came to with me and when we made frames and boxes up
Hopefully that will suffice
20 marks sems a lot
Dont know if they want to keep the records
She is taking the originals with her, not copies as there are too many pages
Only time will tell

 

[Mrs Webmuppet]

How did she do? Our mentor wants Little Miss Webmuppet to do her Junior certificate so I would be interested in how it went. We do have hive records for the end of last year and the beginning of this year.

 

[hedgehog66]

The lady assessor was lovely. She guided her through every step
She was quite suprised that my daughter was doing the junior cert and not the basic as most children go straight into the basic, but i didnt know that when i enrolled her for the assessment
If your child has handled bees, go straight for the basic
With regards to the diary, my daughter submitted hive records and dates of courses and talks attended. The assessor talked through thd diary with her and asked questions like "did you enjoy your first honey that you extracted" nothing too difficult.

Good luck if you decide to go for it
If yiu have any questions, just ask and ill try to answer them

 

[Mrs Webmuppet]

My daughter is used to handling bees .......she is less nervous than me! So maybe we should look at the basic. She does the inspections at home at the moment as my back has decided to play up so I sit on the bench supervising. She now has her own hive with a swarm she collected (they are from one of our mentors hives so of known temperament).

 

[masterBK]

Suggest she goes straight to the Basic but she will need to swap up a little more to answer the oral theory questions than is required at junior (especially on disease and swarm control). I wish her luck. I passed the preliminary (that was its name before it changed to Basic) in my first year at secondary school and I was hooked for life to all things to do with honeybees and 56 yrs later am still keen to learn more. The local exam secretary needs about a months notice to arrange things and she will need a responsible adult to accompany her to the test apiary allocated (usually the local association apiary)

 

[Mrs Webmuppet]

If she does her basic then so will I that way we can swot up together. Our mentor wants me to do my basic anyway. I can get my mentor to give us a refresher on pests and diseases....he has a set of gruesome pictures from the BBKA.

It's all my daughters fault we have bees ........she spent an absolute age in the beekeeping tent at the Suffolk Show last year and got an invite to an apiary then a bee safari and the rest is history as they say. We now have 3 hives at the bottom of the garden (two swarms and a nuc).

 

[chutalot]

If I remember correctly if you are under 18 and pass the basic your fee is refunded.

Time is running out for taking the basic this year - it has to be taken before 31st August - a chat with whoever organises you exams is called for.

 

[Mrs Webmuppet]

We have applied for the Junior exam for my daughter and the basic for me, we are just waiting for a date.....our mentor reckons my daughter will sail through the Junior and could easily do her basic next year.