Situation of the Apiary and the hives. Apiary hygiene.  Apiary ‘etiquette’.  Clothing and equipment.  Attitude towards opening hives. Demonstration of bee space and the moveable frame hive principle.  Identify the 3 castes of bees, honeycomb, pollen, open and capped brood, etc.   Appearance of normal healthy brood & chilled brood.  Foraging activity of bees.  Organisation of the colony, division of labour, worker’s various tasks, dance communications, wax making & comb building, storing nectar & pollen. Identify nectar sources from pollen loads.  Inspecting a colony, handling bees & record keeping. Temperament and productivity of different strains of bee. Marking Queens.

Question & Answer session on things covered.

High Weald membership / Booking on to the Main Course

Tutors;  KO, AS, CC, CS.