Our next Beginner Beekeeper Course will commence on Saturday 23rd July at the Association Apiary in the grounds of National Trust Shugborough Estate. The course will provide you with practical skills and a basic knowledge and understanding of bees and beekeeping, which will enable you to handle bees safely. The course runs for 6 consecutive Saturdays from 10.00 – 12.30 and costs £120.00.
If you are interested in booking a place, please email ssbka-mail@southstaffsbeekeepers.com
Following the successful move to the new apiary location at Shugborough ‘The Kennels Paddock’, we look forward to all members joining us on Saturday mornings and Thursday nights, commencing in May.
On a Saturday morning, members are invited to support the apiary working group to undertake weekly inspections.
Thursday nights will be a mix of social and educational, Covid and weather permitting, where all members will have an opportunity to share their experiences and catch up socially.
The apiary and education teams will work closely to identify practical demonstrations deemed appropriate or necessary on our colonies and we will arrange subjects for discussion throughout the season.
If you have any suggestions on topics you would like to see covered or you would like to share your experience with other members, please get in touch with us.
Our education offer will continue with ….
Basic Assessment in Beekeeping:
open to all who have managed at least one colony of bees for a minimum of 12 months – 6 study group sessions, followed by at least 2 sessions in the apiary before the assessment in July.
Anyone interested, please let us know before the end of January 2022.
Honeybee Health Certificate: open to those who have passed the Basic Certificate and kept bees for at least 3 years – 6 study group sessions followed by at least 2 sessions in the apiary before the assessment in July.
Anyone interested, please let us know before the 28th of February 2022.
General Certificate in Beekeeping Husbandry:
Are there any members who have passed the Basic Certificate and have at least 5 years of beekeeping experience? If so, why don’t you consider joining our Beekeeping General Husbandry study group which will run during 2022, for assessment in 2023.
Study Groups:
We will be running BBKA module study groups throughout 2022 based on the demand from members. Study groups are a really good way of increasing your beekeeping knowledge and you don’t have to undertake the examination at the end.
We are currently running module 1 Honeybee Management, which takes place on the first Monday of the month via Zoom. If you would like to join this study group or undertake any of education opportunities above, please email Trevor on Trevorsmith_13@yahoo.com
If you would like any more information about ways in which you can get more experience of handling bees at the apiary, take part in any of the education offers, or if you would just like to help, please email us at ssbka-mail@southstaffsbeekeepers.com
Stay well and safe
Alan Greenman
Happy New Year to all members. This is what you can expect from the association in 2022.
Following the successful move to the new apiary location at Shugborough ‘The Kennels Paddock’, we look forward to all members joining us on Saturday mornings and Thursday nights, commencing in May.
On a Saturday morning, members are invited to support the apiary working group to undertake weekly inspections. Thursday nights will be a mix of social and educational, Covid and weather permitting, where all members will have an opportunity to share their experiences and catch up socially. The apiary and education teams will work closely to identify practical demonstrations deemed appropriate or necessary on our colonies and we will arrange subjects for discussion throughout the season.
If you have any suggestions on topics you would like to see covered or you would like to share your experience with other members, please get in touch with us.
Our education offer will continue with ….
Basic Assessment in Beekeeping:
open to all who have managed at least one colony of bees for a minimum of 12 months – 6 study group sessions, followed by at least 2 sessions in the apiary before the assessment in July.
Anyone interested, please let us know before the end of January 2022.
Honeybee Health Certificate: open to those who have passed the Basic Certificate and kept bees for at least 3 years – 6 study group sessions followed by at least 2 sessions in the apiary before the assessment in July.
Anyone interested, please let us know before the 28th of February 2022.
General Certificate in Beekeeping Husbandry:
Are there any members who have passed the Basic Certificate and have at least 5 years of beekeeping experience? If so, why don’t you consider joining our Beekeeping General Husbandry study group which will run during 2022, for assessment in 2023.
Study Groups:
We will be running BBKA module study groups throughout 2022 based on the demand from members. Study groups are a really good way of increasing your beekeeping knowledge and you don’t have to undertake the examination at the end.
We are currently running module 1 Honeybee Management, which takes place on the first Monday of the month via Zoom. If you would like to join this study group or undertake any of education opportunities above, please email Trevor on Trevorsmith_13@yahoo.com
If you would like any more information about ways in which you can get more experience of handling bees at the apiary, take part in any of the education offers, or if you would just like to help, please email us at ssbka-mail@southstaffsbeekeepers.com
Stay well and safe
Alan Greenman
In April, 5 members sat the online exam, the results being 3 distinctions and two credits. Kate Wilkes scored 90%.
In July the practical assessments took place at Shugborough.
Basic Assessment: 11 members took the assessment, the results being 1 distinction, 9 credits and 1 pass. Ben Bowen achieved a Distinction.
Honey Bee Health Certificate: 3 members took the assessment, all passed.
Thank you to Trevor Smith for all his hard work organising the education courses.
This year’s intake of new beekeepers had completed their six weeks theory sessions via Zoom and were ready to get to grips with the practical aspects of beekeeping by meeting the bees for the first time at Shugborough.
Because of Covid-19 we could only have a maximum of 30 people gathering together at the same time.
So the new beekeepers were split into a Tuesday evening group and a Saturday morning group.
This still allowed for a support team of tutors and helpers to be in attendance on both days.
June 1st was the first time that anybody other than the small apiary work group teams had attended the Shugborough apiary since late 2019.
We set up a makeshift camp of chairs on the small car park at the entrance to the apiary so that our new beekeepers could change into their bee suits and listen to the safety information and get their first try at lighting smokers.
It was a bit chaotic at times as we adapted to the new working conditions but everybody got stuck in.
The following Saturday we met up with the other group of beginners but this time we were a bit more organised and had more chairs thanks to Phil who collected them from our Hilton Green apiary.
Thank you to all the new beekeepers for bearing with us and a big thank you to the club members who supported and continue to support our new beekeepers.
The beginner practical sessions continue on Tuesdays and Saturdays for the next few weeks.
Given that we can meet together in bigger groups, the apiary will then be open to all members on Saturday mornings until the end of the season.
