Queen Raising & Stock Improvement

The course has been developed by the National Diploma in Beekeeping Board as part of its series of Train-the-Trainer courses. It is part-funded by Fera as part of the Defra Healthy Bees Plan.

Course Content

In the climate of the British Isles, the honey bee faces a cyclical challenge: survival, build-up, harvest, decline, and survival once more. After a long winter confinement, colonies are stretched and stressed by the demands of brood raising in order to provide a foraging force for the relatively short window of forage abundance. Vigorous and viable queens are the keystone to this cycle of survival.

By selectively breeding queens from our best stocks, we can improve the health and resilience of our honey bees, their suitability and adaptation to local climate and forage, and other desirable characteristics.

As beekeepers we need to have an understanding of the potential for stock improvement, and the skills with which to achieve this so that our bees can become healthy, productive, and pleasurable to work with.

During this two day course, we will develop an understanding of the processes of stock selection and queen raising, utilising a mix of classroom and apiary tuition and exercises. Students will participate in all the key practical elements of a queen raising programme.

Topics covered will include:

• The structure and function of the sexual organs of the queen and drone
• How simple selection can improve honey bee colony viability
• Information and records required to inform on selection of breeding stock
• The different systems of queen raising
• Grafting young worker larvae into queen cells
• Preparing and maintaining a queen right colony for successive queen cell raising cycles
• The different systems for mating virgin queens
• Preparing, stocking, maintaining and re-using Apidea style mating nucs
• The requirements for transporting  queen cells
• Clipping, marking and packaging mated queens for sale or introduction
• Set up multiple nuclei using the 'Vince Cook ring' method
• An awareness of how to train others in these practices

The course will be limited to no more than 10 students at a time.  This classroom- and apiary-based course is intended to provide attendees with sufficient information and insight to establish or expand queen mating operations for an Association. Handouts will be provided to be used as tutor notes by attendees if they will be leading queen rearing groups, and as reminders of the processes and procedures practiced during the course.

This course will also be of great interest to anyone considering studying the BBKA Module 7 (Selection and Breeding of Honeybees, a.k.a. Queen Rearing) examination in March 2013.

About the Tutors

Ken Basterfield is a commercial beekeeper, having kept bees in Devon for 40 years. Ken holds the National Diploma in Beekeeping (NDB), is an examiner for the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA), and is a member of the BBKA Husbandry & Education Committee.

Dan Basterfield is a commercial beekeeper, raising circa 300 queens per year from selected stocks as part of an ongoing improvement programme and for sale to other beekeepers. Dan holds the National Diploma in Beekeeping (NDB), is an active member of Devon and Somerset Beekeeping Associations, and the Bee Farmers Association.

About the Venue

The venue address is: Blackbury Farm, Southleigh, Colyton, Devon, EX24 6JF

Blackbury Farm is our new purpose built Honey Farm, situated close to Honiton in East Devon. On site we have a teaching apiary, classroom, and laboratory, and being a working honey farm there are all the other facilities of a beekeeping operation to hand. The site is predominantly level and has good wheelchair access, with ample parking. We are easily accessible from the M5 & A30/A35; the nearest railway station is Honiton, 3 miles away, and Exeter Airport is twelve miles away. We have a list of good local accommodation for those travelling from afar.

Dates

Each date is a separate two-day course:

• 26th & 27th May 2012

• 9th & 10th June 2012

• 21st & 22nd June 2012

• 7th & 8th July 2012

Price

£140 per person, including home-made light refreshments and lunches on both days.

Eligibility

These courses prove popular and are usually over-subscribed. If booking online, an application form will be sent to you to allow you to provide a picture of your beekeeping experience. An online booking does not necessarily constitute acceptance onto the course, and your fee will be refunded promptly and in full if you are not accepted. Students will be accepted based upon their experience, involvement with training other beekeepers, or involvement in queen raising and stock improvement programmes.