BACKYARD BEEKEEPING – NECTAR FLOW AND PARASITES

Location: Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary Apiary, 8 Commerce Rd., Newtown, CT 
Cost: $50 per class
Time: 12-2pm
Ages: 12 and up (children ages 12 -17 must have parent/guardian sign waiver and provide emergency contact information)

*For the safety and comfort for all, no pets are allowed.

Requirements: Students must bring and wear beekeeping jacket with hood -OR- full beekeeping suit with hood. Gloves, long pants, and closed toe shoes are also required. 

Have you heard the buzz? Back by popular demand, Backyard Beekeeping classes are returning to the sanctuary! There’s never been a better time to learn the time-honored tradition of keeping and caring for bees and we’ve got the expert to show you how. Ryan Griffeth of Necker’s Farm will guide participants through spring, summer and fall beekeeping with the last class instruction focusing on winterizing your colonies. Explore what’s happening in the hive, how to provide optimum care for the bees, and how to extract your own honey. Each class is tailored to what is happening real time with the sanctuary hives and our 1 million bees, ensuring topics stay relevant to the many variables within each season. 

Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned apiarist, classes are tailor made for you! Plus, each student can text the instructor outside of class for guidance or questions. Sign up for individual classes or enjoy all eight for a fully immersive education into beekeeping! 

Class Three – May 9: Nectar flow and parasites

We are now seeing the start of the nectar flow at peak swarm season. This class can get off track quickly depending on what we see and the react spectrum. We currently have 17 active colonies at the sanctuary so this will likely mimic several situations other bees are currently going through. We will also be administering our first varroa mite treatment. This class will have a lot of information on bee parasites and how to treat them. In addition, we may also be adding our first honey supers. (This class may go long so be prepared) 

Class Four – May 30: Maintaining a healthy colony

We are still in peak swarm season, but now at peak nectar flow. This class will be more focused on maintaining a healthy colony through the nectar flow to get the largest crop possible. We will be focused on keeping the colonies in the hives and working at optimal performance. There will also be tastings of fresh honeycomb and pollen. A fun class with a lot of newbie worries behind us!

Class Five – June 20: Honey harvest

This will be our first harvest! We will be going through colonies and pulling supers together. Learn how to harvest and what to harvest. We will also be extracting honey on site. This will be a sticky but sweet class. Lots of information will be given on extraction of liquid gold.

Class Six – July 18: Summer heat and dearth

It’s hot and we are in DEARTH! This is the most important month for beekeepers. We often get lazy in the summer days and feel the bees are on autopilot. This is furthest from the truth. The nectar flow has stopped, often throwing colonies into a regression of strength. This is time to act depending on what we see. Feeding during dearth, mite treatments, hive beetle treatments and ventilation will be primary focuses. A healthy and strong colony in July is the best way to overwinter. 

Class Seven – Sept 12: Summer clean-up

It’s been six weeks since our last class so a lot can happen. We will be focused on summer clean-up. This is more to do with accessing each colony’s strength and making critical choices before winter prep. We will be doing mite counts and checking for nutrition. We will also be checking to see if we possibly have a potential fall flow. 

Class Eight – Oct 24: Winter prep

We will be in full winterization mode. This past year we did have a fall flow that went through the entire month of October. This is very uncommon and was quite a surprise. Despite this luck we will demonstrate what needs to be done to winterize a colony. We will be covering mice, wax moths and other critters that see honeybee gear as a potential home. 

REMEMBER: All students will have access to instructor, Ryan Griffeth, throughout the year via text. This can be a game changer when stumped or simply nervous on what to do!