GALWAY BEEKEEPERS’ ASSOCIATION
CUMANN BEACHAIRÍ NA
GAILLIMHE
SYLLABUS FOR BEGINNERS’ CLASS
SEVEN TWO HOUR LECTURES AND ONE PRACTICAL APIARY
CLASS
The following
syllabus (which is also the Syllabus for the Preliminary Examination of the Federation of Irish Beekeepers’
Associations, FIBKA) will be covered in seven two hour lectures and one two hour apiary
practical)
MANIPULATION OF A COLONY OF HONEYBEES
The student will be:
aware of the need for care when handling a colony of honeybees,
aware of the reactions of honeybees to smoke,
aware of the personal equipment needed to open a colony of
honeybees.
The student will be able to:‑
open a colony of honeybees and keep the colony under control,
demonstrate the use of smoke,
demonstrate the use of the hive tool,
remove combs from the
hive and identify worker, drone and queen cells or cups if present and to comment on the state of the combs,
identify members of the three castes, identify brood at all stages,
demonstrate the difference between drone, worker, and honey
cappings,
identify stored nectar, honey and pollen,
catch a few worker bees and put them in a matchbox or carrying cage
for disease diagnosis.
EQUIPMENT
The student will be:
able to name the parts of a modern beehive,
aware of the concept of the bee space and its significance in the
modern hive,
able to assemble a frame and fit it with wax foundation,
aware of the reasons for the use of wax foundation,
aware of the various spacings of combs in the brood chamber and
super for both foundation and drawn comb.
NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HONEYBEE
The student will be:
able to give an elementary account of production of queens, workers
and drones in the honeybee colony,
aware of the existence of laying workers and drone laying queens,
able to specify the periods spent by each caste in the four stages
of its life cycle (egg, larva, pupa, adult),
able to give an elementary description of the function of the
members of each caste if the life of the colony,
able to give a simple description of wax production and comb
building by the honeybee,
able to give a simple definition of nectar and describe how it is
collected and brought back to the hive,
able to name the main local flora from which honeybees gather
pollen and nectar,
able to give a simple
description how nectar is converted into honey,
aware of the use of nectar and honey in the life of the colony,
aware of the collection of water and its uses in the
colony,
able to give a simple description of the collection of pollen and
its importance in the life of the colony,
able to describe the origins, collection, and use of propolis in
the honeybee colony,
able to give an elementary description of swarming in a honeybee
colony,
able to give an elementary description of the way in which the
honeybee colony passes the winter period.
BEEKEEPING
The student will be:
able to give an elementary description of the siting of colonies,
able to give an elementary description of the year's work in the
apiary and the management of a colony throughout a season,
able to describe how and when to feed bees and the preparation of
syrup,
aware of the need to add supers and the timing of the operations,
aware of the use of the queen excluder,
able to give an elementary account of one method of swarm control,
able to describe how to take a honeybee swarm and how to hive it,
aware of the condition of queenlessness,
able to describe the signs of laying workers and a drone laying
queen,
aware of the dangers of robbing and how robbing can be
avoided.
DISEASE AND POISONING
The student will:
be able to describe the
Varroa mite, know how to test for its presence in the hive and be aware of the main methods of
treatment,
be able to describe the signs of American Foul Brood (AFB.) and
European Foul Brood (EFB.) be able to describe the appearance of healthy brood and how it differs from
diseased brood or chilled brood,
be aware of acarine, nosema and amoeba and their effect upon the
colony,
know how to obtain expert assistance if any disease or poisoning by
toxic chemicals suspected.
HARVESTING
The student will be:
able to describe the methods used to clear honeybees from supers,
able to describe the process of the extraction of honey from
supers,
aware of the value of bees to farmers and growers and of the hiring
of colonies for pollination services,
able to describe a way in which comb can be stored to prevent wax
moth damage,
able to describe a way by which mice can be excluded from the hives
in winter.
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