BEEKEEPING SCHOOL 2020

Beekeeping School Response to Social Distancing Requirments

To help reduce the spread of the coronavirus through the general population the Stone Barns Center and the Greenwich Audubon Center will not be open to the public until April 30th, 2020 and possibly beyond that date. As such, we will not be able to meet at those locations. Our school runs over the course of seven months so we are hoping the threat associated with virus spread will have subsided by mid summer allowing us to salvage some of this years program. To that end, we are going to attempt to have the first four lecture classes online using the Zoom meeting platform. (See the amended schedule below) The online classes will be Tuesday evenings from 6:00 to 8:00PM. The classes will be recorded so if you miss you will be able to se the recorded version. Working with the live bees is a very important part of our school experience. We are hopeful we will be able to start using the apiaries at Stone Barns and Greenwich Audubon beginning in May. If this is not possible, arrangements have been made for class memebers to meet at a private apiary to get the hands on part of the school experience. We will work out these details as we get closer to May and know what the social distancing requirements are at that time. If you have not already enrolled in the school you are welcome to still do so. If you just want to check out what we will be doing we offer to have you join any of these first four sessions on a complimentary basis. Please email us to make arrangements and get the access codes for the Zoom lectures. Hopefully by midsummer we will be able to get back on track and return to Stone Barns and Greenwich Audubon. If you are planning on starting with honey bees this summer we are here to support you in your efforts and will make accomadations to give you the support you need. Please call to get additional details and information.
Schedule
Greenwich Audubon - Sundays 9:00A - 11:30A
Stone Barns - Tuesdays 6:00P - 8:30P
Sun Tues Topic

4/7 Intro / Safety - Beekeeping Overview

4/14 Equipment / Typoes of Hives

4/21 Package Installation - Beekeeping Resources

TBD Package Installation Demo - Hive Setup

5/5 Honey Bee Life Cycle

5/17 5/19 Honey Bee Reproduction / Swarm Control

5/31 6/2 Honey Bee Diseases

6/14 6/16 Colony Manipulations, Splits, & Requeening

6/28 6/30 Colony Collapse Disorder - Varroa Mites pt 1

7/12 Honey Harvesting (combined class)

7/26 7/21 Varroa Mite Control pt 2

8/9 8/11 Small Hive Beetle

8/23 Dealing with Agressive Bees (combined class)

9/13 9/15 Honey Bee Nutrition / Feeding Bees

10/4 Wax Moth Control (combined class)

10/18 10/13 Moving hives / Winter Preparation
We are very excited that the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture and the Greenwich Audubon Center will be hosting this year's beekeeping school. This is the 9th year the Beekeeping School is being offered.
Beekeeping School consists of a series of 16 - 2.5 hour training classes. Each class consists of an hour-long lecture pertaining to one particular aspect of beekeeping followed by an hour and a half practice session working with live bees in an apiary set up by the students.

Two sections of the school are being offered. One at Greenwich Audubon Center in Greenwich, CT on Sunday mornings and one at the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in Pocantico Hills, NY on Tuesday evenings. The exact same material is being presented at both locations. Because of scheduling conflicts at Stone Barns and the nature of the topics being discussed - three of the classes will be held jointly at the Greenwich Audobon Center. See schedule at the left.

The schedule and list of topics covered is at the left. The school is intended to help participants learn the basic information needed to make good decisions regarding the care and maintenance of a honey bee colony. Participants will follow the lives of several colonies of honey bees over the course of one growing season.

The classes at Stone Barns will be taught by Maggie Schwed, staff beekeeper at Stone Barns and D. J. Haverkamp. The Greenwich Audubon Center classes will be taught by D. J. Haverkamp.

Beekeeping is a skill that is built on knowledge that is gained from experience over a period of time. We believe the only way to learn the craft and skills needed for keeping honey bees is by practicing with live bees and a good mentor. Beekeeping School is designed to give our participants a wide variety of experiences that they can use managing and caring for their own honey bees.

Protective equipment consisting of a hooded bee jacket, leather gloves, smokers and hive tools will be provided for all participants. If a participant is more comfortable in their own safety gear they are free to bring their own. The use of bee jackets is required during the apiary sessions. Honey bees do sting and it is a possibility that as a participant you may be stung. Students take full responsibility for any allergic reaction that may occur.

Students will be asked to enroll at one of the two locations as their home location. Should a student not be able to attend a class at their home location they will be permited to attend at the other location. Students need to be 16 years of age or older to enroll. Minors under 16 will be allowed to attend with a parent or guardian. Couples choosing to enroll together will need to pay the enrollment fee individually.
Due to social distancing requirements that have been imposed in the fight to slow the spread of the coronavirus we are making adjustments to the program as noted at the top of the page.
The cost for the 16 sessions is $250.

For those interested in learning the basic skills of beekeeping this is a great way to begin developing your skills. If you are planning on having bees on your own for the first time this year we offer excellent guidance to help you through your first year of beekeeping.

For additional information about the Beekeeping School please call 914-525-1990.
Thanks for visiting our website
@ Bedford Bee Honeybee Service. All Rights Reserved. Please send comments or suggestions to beekeeper@bedfordbee.com Website operated by D. J. Haverkamp, 36 Revolutionary Road, Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510. Bedford Bee Honeybee Service is a commercial entity with educational, agricultural, and community service aims related to the practice of local beekeeping. The opinions in the online articles are those of the author only and any demonstrated errors of fact will be corrected. Contents may be freely reproduced off line for personal and educational use, with proper acknowledgement. Bedford Bee Honeybee Service embraces equal employment and educational opportunities for all people.