Two of EDBA’s senior beekeepers are once again looking to help train new beekeepers in 2023.
The course offered by Malcolm and Craig is not part of EDBA but with their mentorship program and years of experience, there is no better course in all of Alberta. We can’t recommend it enough! They will be running beginner beekeeper courses for the 8th year in NE and NW Edmonton.
The complete course costs $140 and will be given on 5 different occasions in 2022. You only need to attend one day. The dates are:
January 21, Saturday, 8:30am to 3:00pm
February 18, Saturday, 8:30am to 3:00pm
March 25, Saturday, 8:30am to 3:00pm
April 22, Saurday, 8:30am to 3:00pm
May 13, Saturday, 8:30am to 3:00pm
Graduates of the course can take part in the optional free mentoring sessions on most weeks from late May to early August. You can register for the course at www.naturalelementshoney.ca
Topics covered include:
Urban beekeeping regulations
Location choices and Equipment
Installing bees and queens
What to check inside of a hive
Swarm prevention/creating extra queens
Basic Bee Biology
Mentoring opportunities
Wintering and Treatments
12 pages of information is provided to go along with slides (powerpoint) presented in class.
Along with an EDBA membership, you are sure to learn enough to be a very responsible beekeeper and attending the mentoring sessions will give you the confidence needed.
JA special field trip with Rassol Bahreini , an Apiculture Research Scientist from the Crop Diversification Centre North! He will be testing some hives for mites and demonstrating the recommended ways to treat for mites eg. apivar strips, formic acid and oxalic acid vaporization.
The amount of swarms to catch this year has been very high! During its peak as many as 10 swarms reported a day. There has been so much rain that it’s even been hard for beekeepers to get to their beeyards on muddy roads. That and the strong honey flows have made for a very different year.
Our Swarm Catchers List is up to date and these brave volunteers will do their best to help find homes for all the swarms. A straight-forward swarm catch, by putting them in a box from a low spot on a tree, can take an hour. Be warned that catching a swarm from very high locations or inside of a wall can take many days and might cost money.
Its more of a “who done it?” real life crime documentary mixed with food sources but the first episode focuses on Honey so you might find it interesting. I like how it gives some insight into the bigger world of honey production and the import/export world.
With demand for honey soaring just as bees are dying off in record numbers, hidden additives, hive thefts and other shady tactics are on the rise. (55minutes)
This docuseries travels deep into the heart of the food supply chain to reveal unsavory truths and expose hidden forces that shape what we eat.
Its very interesting to see how they test for the sources of honey to make sure its not fake! Looking for pollen is old school! Imagine testing and sampling thousand of varieties:
Did you want to know a bit more about bees, hornets and wasps from around the world? It might help answer those questions all your friends and family ask about.
Follow the link to an amazing info-graphic with great pictures in an easy to read format. Most people think they are just jerks but did you know the difference between a hornet and a wasp?
A big thanks to a little junior beekeeper to be who passed along the information. Great find Garrett!
You might already know that there are different types of bees out there, but which ones are important to our ecosystems, which ones are endangered, which ones make honey?
This workshop is best suited for people who have been keeping bees for a few years and are planning to turn a hobby into a sideline or a sideline into a business. But every year, attendees also include non-beekeepers who are considering starting and are wondering about beekeeping profitability and are looking for ideas to get moving towards a second career or a retirement income.
Neil and Ron are offering their ‘Making Money from Honey‘ course in Edmonton this fall on Sunday, November 5.
Neil Bertram and Ron Miksha have been working bees for decades. Between them, they have experience in hobby and commercial beekeeping, queen rearing, pollination, and production of a few million pounds of honey.
This overview of beekeeping economics is an all-day program. Here are some of the topics which will be covered: – growing from backyard/hobby beekeeper to sideliner to commercial; – equipment choices and shop/honey house considerations; – finances, projections, expectations, difficulties, setbacks, and success; – how much money to expect from bees in a typical year; – handling and marketing your products; – case histories of good and bad beekeeping businesses; – the beekeeper personality and lifestyle.
The Camrose Wildlife Stewardship Society is having our president, Craig Toth, present on the basics of beekeeping and showing off the materials needed to take a peek into a hive.
Thursday, June 22nd 7pm at the Stoney Creek Centre in Camrose
You might already know that there are different types of bees out there, but which ones are important to our ecosystems, which ones are endangered, which ones make honey?