Category Archives: Education & Courses

2023 Beginners Beekeeping Course

Beekeeping Course

A beginners course in beekeeping will be held at the Community Cabra Wetlands Centre, Holycross, Thurles, E41 T266 commencing February 27th 2023

Lectures

27th February          Life History of the Honey Bee

13th March   Siting an Apiary/ A year’s work with the bees         

6th March     Equipment and manipulation of the colony            

20th March   Beekeeping in the swarming season                        

27th March   Hygiene and Disease                                               

3rd April       Harvesting the crop                                                  

10th April     Review of Course and a Film on Beekeeping          

All Lectures will start at 8.00 sharp and will take roughly an hour with as much time for questions as required.

Following the course we will have a number of outdoor demonstrations at the hives where you will see full working colonies of bees and can handle the bees.

Cost €120 which includes membership of North Tipperary Beekeepers Association and all lecture handouts.

Contact Martina Maher (Hon. Secretary) 0861958442                                          

Please bring your Eir code as this is a requirement for posting the journal.

Beekeeping – why not  ?

It’s not rocket science, you know! People have been keeping bees for hundreds of years. In fact, our honeybees have been around for over 100 million years and man has been using their honey for thousands of years. Bees and honey had major significance in the Brehon laws where the ownership of a swarm of bees was defined by law.

Working with bees gives you an extra insight into the cycle of plants and weather throughout the year. You’ll never miss a flower from the early crocus or snowdrop in January right through to the ivy in September / October.

In recent years, the honeybee has hit the headlines with global reports of colonies collapsing and dying out – the finger being pointed at overuse of chemicals in farming or the progress of the Varroa mite around the world. In any case, the earth’s human population has been given the responsibility of protecting these valuable and very necessary pollinators. Bees, and pollinating insects in general play a huge role in the planets eco system and food supply chain – placing beehives close to apple orchards or a field of oilseed rape can lead to significant yield increases, up 20 -25%! Obviously, a beehive at the bottom of your garden will have a similar effect on wild plants in your local area – just think of the knock-on effect on birds and wildlife locally.

Beekeeping is all about keeping an eye on how the colony is developing through the year – typically the population of the hive will grow from about 7-8000 bees in springtime to approx. 60,000 bees in May/June. The beekeeper needs to maintain a well populated hive in order to get a good crop of honey in late summer – this is done by controlling the swarming impulse within a strong hive.

For the last number of years, North Tipperary Beekeepers Association has been providing a course for people interested in beekeeping. This year’s beginner’s course will include a series of lectures, 7 lectures over 7 weeks with open hive demonstrations later on when weather permits. The course will commence at the Cabra Wetlands Centre, Thurles E41 T266 on February 27th at 8pm.The course covers all the major topics, including

  • Life History of the Honeybee
  • Where to site your beehive
  • Handling bees and Swarm control
  • Equipment and Harvesting the honey crop.

It’s not all about honey – bees provide a useful pollinating service for much of our fruit crops. They also provide wax for candle making, furniture polish and cosmetics. Also, they provide propolis used to protect the hive from infection.  

People have taken part in the course for various reasons – many people just want to know about Honeybees and never intend keeping bees. Others want to enjoy the thrill of eating honey produced within a few yards of their own backdoor. Whatever the reason, now is the time to satisfy that curiosity about what’s going on in the beehive – it’s not rocket science, it’s much more important!

For further details ring 0861958442 or email northtippbees.secretary@gmail.com

North Tipperary Beekeeping Association is affiliated to the Federation of Irish beekeepers Associations (4FIBKA). FIBKA publishes a monthly magazine, An Beachaire, for members and also organises a summer Course each year.

North Tipperary Beekeepers Beginners Course 2018 details

North Tipperary Beekeepers will run it’s 2018 Beginners Beekeeping Course which is open everyone interested in honey bees. Starting Tuesday Feb 27h at 8pm, it will be held over six Tuesday nights during February, March and April in the Teagasc Offices, Nenagh Rd., Thurles. It will be followed by an outdoor demonstration where participants will be shown full colonies of bees and can handle them under supervision. The cost is €120 which includes membership, insurances and course materials.

  • 27 Feb             Life History of the Honey Bee
  • 06 Mar            Equipment and manipulation of the Colony
  • 13 Mar            Siting an Apiary/A Years work in the Apiary
  • 20 Mar            Hygiene and Disease
  • 27 Mar             Swarm Control
  • 03 Apr             Harvesting the Crop

Anyone interested in beekeeping is always welcome to attend our monthly meetings (see our events page www.northtippbees.com/events). Our association was setup over 60 years ago.

This course grows in popularity every year with so many people interested in beekeeping and enthusiastic to learn the skills of the beekeeper as well as maintenance of bees and hives, honey production and, the part we all love; honey harvesting.

Places are allocated on a first come basis and need to be booked and confirmed in advance. For further information please contact Jim Ryan, jimbee1@eircom.net or phone 087-9718494.

North Tipperary Beekeepers plans 2016 Beginner’s course

North Tipperary Beekeepers will run it’s 2016 Beginners Beekeeping Course which is open everyone interested in honey bees. Starting Monday Feb 29h at 8pm, it will be held over six Monday nights during February, March and April in the Teagasc Offices, Nenagh Rd., Thurles. It will be followed by an outdoor demonstration where participants will be shown full colonies of bees and can handle them under supervision. The cost is €100 which includes membership, insurances and course materials.

  • 29 Feb             Life History of the Honey Bee
  • 07 Mar            Equipment and manipulation of the Colony
  • 14 Mar            Siting an Apiary/A Years work in the Apiary
  • 21 Mar            Hygiene and Disease
  • 04 Apr             Swarm Control
  • 11 Apr             Harvesting the Crop

Anyone interested in beekeeping is always welcome to attend our monthly meetings (see our events page www.northtippbees.com/events). Our association was setup over 60 years ago.

This course grows in popularity every year with so many people interested in beekeeping and enthusiastic to learn the skills of the beekeeper as well as maintenance of bees and hives, honey production and, the part we all love; honey harvesting.

Places are allocated on a first come basis and need to be booked and confirmed in advance. For further information please contact Jim Ryan, jimbee1@eircom.net or phone 087-9718494.

Beekeepers Beginners Course starts 17th Feb 2014 8pm

A beginners course in beekeeping will be held at the Teagasc Offices, Nenagh Road, Thurles from Monday 17th February 2014 starting at 8pm each evening. The course will include lectures on the following topics:

  • 17 Feb             Life History of the Honey Bee                                    Jim Ryan
  • 24 Feb             Equipment and manipulation of the Colony           Gerry Ryan
  • 3 March           Siting an Apiary/A Years work in the Apiary           Tom Starr
  • 10 March         Hygiene and Disease                                                  Mary Ryan
  • 24 March         Swarm Control                                                             Jim Ryan
  • 31 March         Harvesting the Crop                                                    Gerry Ryan

Following the course all participants will be invited to an outdoor demonstration where they will be shown full colonies of bees and can handle them under supervision. Cost €100.00 which will include membership to North Tipperary Beekeepers Association, a book suitable for beginners and all hand outs.

For further details contact Jim Ryan (Thurles) 087-9718494

Intermediate Bee Study Class starts 11th Feb 2013

We have arranged an intermediate class for the large number of beginners who have joined our association over the past three years. The idea of the course is to improve beekeeping skills. The course will be based on the study group model, which has been used by various associations around the country with great success. The course will be based on The Beekeeping Study Notes by J.D. and B.D. Yates. It is recommended that each participant would have their own copy and we have secured 40 copies of the book which will be available on the first night at €15.00.

As we are looking at beekeeping in a much more detailed manner, it is not possible to cover everything. Participants will be expected to do additional reading between each session of the Yates book and the text book already provided.

The class will commence on February 11th next at 8.00 pm in the Teagasc Offices Thurles and will run on alternate Mondays at the same time. The cost of the will be €20.00 which will cover the cost of running the course over its duration. Class nights will be:- Feb 11th and 25th, March 11th and 25th, April 8th, 22nd and May 6th. May 6th is the end of the May bank holiday but we are hopeful that people will be able to attend. These classes will be followed by two outdoor practical sessions at the hives:- Inspecting a colony and Simple Queen Rearing.

The course is intended to take members who have started beekeeping in the past three years to a more advanced level of the craft. There is no substitute for experience but we hope that each participant will have the skills necessary to manage their apiaries for honey production.

For all those who have bees and are not currently members it is necessary that they renew their insurance which lapsed at the end of December.

If you intend participating please let Jim Ryan know by Thursday of this coming week as we would like to have an idea of how many we will be catering for.