Beginners Course 2025

Are you interested in bees? Do you ever wonder how bees collect nectar and pollen  and turn them into honey? How do they know what flowers and plants to go to and where they are? If you would like to become a beekeeper and find the answers to these questions and many more join the  Louth Beekeepers Beginners Course.

Lectures on beekeeping:   This is a series of lectures starting with a practical class in our apiary on Saturday, 25th January 2025, where we'll explain all about the equipment. Subsequent theory lectures will be on Tuesday evenings from 7:30pm to 9:30pm in Teagasc, Dundalk.  The idea of these lectures is for you to be certain that you want to jump into beekeeping before having to purchase the necessary equipment. These lectures cover all aspects of beekeeping to include basic beekeeping equipment, the beekeeping year, etc., and will be delivered over a period of 8 weeks by experienced beekeepers.  You will receive a Certificate of Completion from our Association at the end. The list of topics is below.

We will be holding a Meet the Beekeepers event on Tuesday, 14th January at 7:30pm in Teagasc, Dundalk. This will be an opportunity to chat to the more experienced beekeepers and, if you have not already done so, sign up for the lectures. Soon after that we will organise practical training sessions to give you a chance to assemble hive parts yourself, guided by more experienced beekeepers. The idea is that you should learn how to do the basics correctly, rather than jumping blindly in to putting your own hives together.

The fee for the course is €180 (or €250 for a family). Under-18's are, as usual, free, although they must be accompanied by a responsible adult. The fee can be paid as described on our home page.

Beginners course beekeeping 2025

All theory lectures start Tuesday at 7:30 pm in Teagasc, Dundalk.

No

Dates 2024

Content course

Lecturer

1.      

14 Jan

1.        Introductory lecture – meet the beekeepers

·         Including natural history of the honey bee

Theory

2.      

25 Jan

2.        Beekeeping equipment

·         This lecture explains the parts and use of a modern hive in relation to beekeeping (i.e. the national hive, the model used by the LBKA), and

·         The use of beekeeping equipment, including personal protection equipment to manage the honey bee colonies and the production of honey.

 

Practical

Venue:

11 am

M1 Apiary

3.      

4 Feb

3.        Introduction to Beekeeping

·         This lecture provides a general overview of a year in beekeeping from month to month starting from August when the honey is taken off.

Theory

4.      

11 Feb

4.        Workings of a bee colony

·         This lecture allows the beginner beekeeper to understand the development of each caste in a colony, their function in the colony, the honey bee reproduction, and awareness of the existence of drone laying queens and laying worker bees.

Theory

5.      

18 Feb

5.        Pollen and nectar sources

·         This lecture covers the collection of nectar, pollen, propolis and water by the worker bees and its importance for the colony.

·         This lecture explains the conversion of nectar into honey.

·         It highlights the importance of honey bees as insect pollinators for agriculture crops and for wild plants.

Theory

6.      

25 Feb

6.        Controlling bees and working for honey

·         This important lecture provides a method of swarm control, and

·         Feeding honey bee colonies.

Theory

7.      

4 Mar

7.        Harvesting honey

·         Many beekeepers, including beginner beekeepers considers the harvesting of honey as the highlight of the beekeeping year. Honey is food.

·         This lecture explains the production process and basic hygiene rules, including traceability of honey.

·         In this lecture attention will be given to the use of other apiary products.

Theory

8.      

11 Mar

8.        Bee diseases and solving problems

·         Honey bees as any other animals are subject to bacterial, viral and fungal infections and can be infested with pests.

·         This lecture provides an introduction on the important brood diseases and pests, and diseases and pests of adult honey bees and how to deal with it.

Theory

9.      

18 Mar

9.        Varroa treatments and further education

·         This lecture is split in two parts:

·         The life cycle of the Varroa mite, authorised treatments in the Republic of Ireland and use of hive records.

·         Further education (practical training, workshops, honey shows and evening lectures).

Theory

 

TBC

10.     Practical lectures and purchase of bee colonies

·         Practical workshops e.g. frame building – no bees to see yet!

·         Practical training in the Association Apiary – working with bees

·         Evening lectures for Association Members

·         FIBKA Summer school

·         Honey Shows

·         Purchase of bee colonies

 

Practical lectures

Venue:

11 am

M1 Apiary
 Practical experience in beekeeping:  This part is for those of you who decide that they really do want to keep bees.  This part of the course will entail attendance at our Association Apiary which is situated outside Dundalk, for practical sessions. There you will be shown by experienced beekeepers how to look after your bees. These sessions will take place once a week during the Summer months and may be held on a weekend morning or an evening during the week.  

This year we plan on holding these practical sessions on Saturdays from 11:00, as well as on one wvening during the week. If the scheduled times at the apiary do not suit you, please let us know and we will try to accommodate you.

E-book for the old education system

We produced an e-book to help with the old FIBKA exams - you can download it here. It should help explain many beekeeping concepts, although it is not comprehensive. If you find anything that's insufficiently explained, or have any other comments, please email [email protected]
stage2.pdf
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