The beginner series mentorship is geared towards those that have 1 - 3 years' beekeeping experience.

This is an excellent series for those that have already taken a beginner course and who have a grasp on the basics of beekeeping and want to improve their ability to interpret what they see in their hives and work on their hive management strategy and techniques. Therefore, we do request prospective attendees have completed a beginner beekeeping course and or have been beekeeping for at least 1 full year. This includes overwintering a colony. Sessions are geared towards adult beekeepers, or those 18 years of age and older.

This series has sessions taking place almost every 2 weeks throughout the season with beekeeping mentor Julia Common, to help keep you on track and practicing throughout the whole beekeeping season.

The group sizes are at a maximum of 12 attendees, a size that will help ensure you get your hands in the hives and get a chance to ask questions. Every session is focused on the practical basics of beekeeping based on a general beekeeping year.

Weather permitting you will be out in the hives learning some of the very basics of handling colonies and making management decisions, proper handling and use of tools  like the smoker, how to handle bees frames, tricks to spot the queen, how to assess critical diseases/pests such as varroa mite levels, judging when to add a new box to a hive to provide the bees more room to grow, and similar skillsets. The progression of the beekeeping season will help guide the activities from each day, as long as it helps you get a better sense for being in the apiary and understanding honey bees.

However, these sessions will take place RAIN OR SHINE - if the weather just doesn't permit beekeeping, the session will become an informal Q&A seminar where attendees sit down in the comfortable heritage house on site with some tea/coffee overlooking our educational apiary, and talk about important beginner topics for beekeeping especially those most relevant for what is happening at this time of year. It is also a great opportunity to meet, discuss and network with other new beekeepers.

The format will be casual and relaxed, with the instructor leading inspections while giving opportunities to ask lots of questions. We have chosen this format and the class size to ensure everyone can receive individual attention, and because while theory is very important, often it is the practical hands-on beekeeping experience with a mentor which is hard to come by and which helps all the theory fall into place. Our apiary's purpose is to enable beekeeper learning, and we hope it helps provide a great start to your beekeeping journey.

Registration Details:

This page is intended for registrants who want to buy multiple session spots at once at a discount. If you would like to just register for 1 or 2 sessions, you can do so here using the links near the top of the page.

• Please check the calendar to make sure there are enough sessions left for the number of sessions you are buying.
• IMPORTANT: When checking out, please specify what sessions you would like to attend in your ORDER COMMENTS or EMAILS US to let us know which sessions you register in. For example, if you order 3 Sessions, please add to your comment which 3 dates you are interested in; ex: "June 7, Jul 19, Aug 9". We can then add you to those sessions in Eventbrite.
• Please ensure you provide an email if at all possible, as any updates will typically be sent through emails.
  
• Purchased sessions are valid for one attendee only including the purchase of multiple sessions. If you wish to attend with another person, a separate registration must be purchased for each attendee.
• Sessions missed non-refundable and non-transferable, including sessions purchased within a multi-session package. If you are unable to attend one or more sessions included in your package, your attendance for those sessions is forfeited. Substitutions or replacement attendees are not permitted.

Session Calendar:

Please note that all below dates are subject to change. Please note that dates may change on our Eventbrite page first before our website; if you would like to confirm the below dates still stand, please check here and click "Select a Date" to see the planned session: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/hands-in-the-hives-beekeeping-mentorship-series-beginner-beekeepers-tickets-1978912829544