Overview:

Honey production is by far the preponderant management objective of beekeepers, whether that production be for home consumption or for sale. The methods employed for harvesting are crucial to the quality of the product and are a major point of consideration for a beginning beekeeper. A honey extractor can greatly improve the quality and quantity of honey produced in an apiary. However, they can be costly to purchase but are of only moderate difficulty to make for an experienced handy-person. Participants should be aware of the basic design in order to better make a decision about the type of hive, and the contingent extraction method, that they might wish to adopt.

Objectives:

• To extract and process ripe honey
• To process beeswax for market

Saturday, October 16, 10 am to 2 pm

Session 2: field trip to jinglepot apiary

Overview:

A field to a local apiary will serve as an introduction to the equipment and systems required in small-scale commercial beekeeping.

Objectives:

• To identify the sizes of langstroth boxes.
• To identify three ways in which honey can be packaged.
• To list three ways in which wax can be marketed.
• To list three hive products other than honey and wax.

Overview:

It is necessary for all beekeepers to develop a knowledge of the functional biology of the honeybee and what aspects of that biology can be manipulated.

Objectives:

• To identify the three castes, anatomy and life cycle of bees.
• To discuss the role of each caste in the colony.
• To list the resource needs of the colony.
• To examine the life cycle stages of honey bees and discuss how age-class cohorts can be manipulated for management objectives.

The next meeting of the nanaimo division of the bc honey producers association will be held at 7:30pm on October 27 '99, at quesnel school annex at 420 selby street, nanaimo (entrance is at the rear of the building). Slide show and shop talk-- come meet your soon-to-bee-colleagues

Overview:

The discovery of the bee-space made possible the movable comb hive. Moveable comb hives, in turn, make hive management much more practical and productive. The type of hive that will appropriate for any given beekeeper depends on a number of environmental, cultural and economic variables.

Objectives:

• To discuss the bee space and how it allows for the construction of movable comb hives.

• To discuss the design considerations of moveable comb hives.
• To review the concepts of bee-killing or hunting, bee-having and beekeeping.
• To examine from an environmental, economic and cultural standpoint, the pros and cons of various hive types (fixed-comb, moveable-comb and moveable frame)
• To look at some problems using langstroth hives for small- scale beekeeping
• To participate in building a Kenya Top Bar Hive.
• Put on a bee veil
• Light a smoker and done basic hive revisions.
• Identify the basic components of a langstroth hive

Overview:

The yearly fluctuation of nectar and pollen is the essential phenomenon influencing the growth and diminishment of the hive's population and, correspondingly, the availability of stores including harvestable honey. A proper understanding of this relationship is the basis for proper management.

Linked with the beekeeping cycle the foraging session focuses on how bees fulfill the resource needs of the colony. The quantity, quality and location of the forage have important consequences for the behaviour of the colony, and therefore for the beekeeper.

Objectives:

Overview:

The phenomena of swarming, supersedure and absconding have a marked influence on the goals of the beekeeper. If not understood and managed correctly these can have negative impact to the harvest; conversely if they are handled properly they may even benefit the beekeeper.

Overview:

A quality product will go a long way to developing the confidence that encourages return-customers and the efficient production of a product is the keystone to any marketing scheme. "value-added products" such as baked goods using honey, creams or ointments made from wax, etc. Can greatly increase the value of the raw materials that go into their manufacture.

Objectives:

* to process beeswax for market

Overview:

Aside from the inherent damage of any disease or pest a hive thus affected will become more irritable and less easily managed. This session will introduce the symptoms, treatments and above all prevention of disease organisms and pests.