Course Description

This course aims to improve the confidence and competence of colony manipulation by beekeepers with 2-3 years or more of practical beekeeping experience. This is not recipe beekeeping - we will not be teaching specific manipulations - but we will practice a number of underlying skills such as

• Queen finding, handling, and introduction
• Working efficiently with large colonies
• Dealing with difficult colonies
• Making nucleus colonies
• Colony destruction

Hands-on activities are key to the course, as is discussion of planning, options, and contingencies.

We assume that students are familiar with the principles and basic-level practice of annual colony management techniques such as routine inspections, artificial swarms, and uniting of colonies.

This course will be of great interest to anyone considering the BBKA General Husbandry or Advanced Husbandry assessments.

Course Fees

Fees for students from England and Wales are generously subsidised by the Defra Healthy Bees Plan. Early-bird bookings are discounted to £88, standard bookings are £103. Fees for students from other areas (inc. Scotland) is £240. This fee includes all consumables, course handouts, refreshments and a light lunch on both days. For expert tuition by highly-qualified tutors, this represents very good value for money.

Instructions and venue information

Joining instructions with course outline, what to bring, and venue information will be sent to students upon booking.

Target Audience

The NDB Short Courses can provide valuable discussion, learning, and hands-on experience for those planning to take the BBKA Assessments above Basic level. The Short Courses are aimed at those beekeepers with some experience of the craft; they are not aimed at novices. We can provide guidance to applicants as to the appropriateness of our Short Courses to their stage of beekeeping. We do ask that students respect this policy.

Students are welcome to apply on a first come, first served basis.

Cancellation Policy

The NDB reserves the right to reschedule or cancel advertised courses. Should this be necessary then you will be given the option of a refund or a transfer to another course/date. We will give as much notice as possible, but regret that we cannot be responsible for any other costs such as those relating to travel or accommodation that might result from this.

Students who have booked on courses may cancel and receive a full refund if notice of cancellation is received at least four weeks before the course start date. If notice of cancellation is received less than four weeks before the course start date, refunds will only be issued if the cancelled place(s) can be re-sold.

A course booking indicates an acceptance of this cancellation policy.