Beekeeping for Beginners
Sat Jan 27, 2024 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Description
This is a 3 part webinar series with sessions taking place on: January 27, January 28, & February 4 from 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. All sessions will be recorded & the recordings shared with registrants. We will reserve February 10 as a snow date in case of power or internet outages.
This series has been priced on a sliding scale of $40-$100 for all three events to make the course as accessible as possible; please pay what you can afford. Registration is free of charge for BIPOC community members and current MOFGA journeypersons.
There are so many reasons to keep honeybees – to support pollinators, for the joy of observing them at work, and for the honey, propolis & beeswax that beekeepers can collect.
Join Master Beekeeper Karen Thurlow for three sessions to help you get ready for your first season keeping bees. She will begin by preparing you for the earliest decisions you’ll have to make when starting out: what equipment to get (and where), how to put together a new hive and where to situate it, and what bees to order and in what “form” (package or nuc). Then she will introduce you to the bees themselves – what their roles and basic needs are – as well as what you need to look for when inspecting your hive(s), and what each of the four seasons as a beekeeper will require of you. See below for a list of what will be covered in each session.
Karen Thurlow is a Master Beekeeper and Master Gardener. Karen started beekeeping on her farm in 1978 after a class with the Essex County Cooperative Extension Service in Massachusetts. In 1995 Karen moved to Maine and her apiary grew to over 100 production colonies. Her experience includes raising queens, nucleus colony production, package bee sales, and wholesale and retail honey sales. She teaches beekeeping management classes, disease and microscopy classes, and serves as a consultant to organizations and beekeepers throughout North America. She is dedicated to raising healthy bees and sharing her know-how with other beekeepers. Currently, Karen works as the Chief Apiary Inspector for the province of New Brunswick. She has a small apiary of her own along the beautiful Chaleur Bay in northwestern New Brunswick.
Questions? Please email events@mofga.org