My apologies if I'm violating any list policies. FYI, we've seen a rapid
increase in small scale beekeepers in MT, a state that traditionally has
had lots of commercial beekeepers, few others.
The sudden interest in beekeeping has already spawned several bee clubs,
and the development and setting in to place of municipal ordinances that
allow urban beekeeping, set guidelines.
Last fall, the MT Beekeepers Association asked me to look into the new
interest, help establish some educational programs, set some standards.
As would be expected, they don't necessarily object to new beekeepers (some
of these folks will some day want to retire, and their own kids/grand kids
may not be interested in beekeeping as a career choice. After all
commercial beekeeping, especially migratory beekeeping, is hard work and can be
hard on families).
A growing pool of people trained in beekeeping would offer a local pool of
potential employees, and ideally, some of these newbies may some day want
to buy out a commercial beekeeping operation, letting the beekeeper retire.
All of this seems to me to be a good thing.
But, we're also seeing some newly minted 'experts' who have had a hive or
two for all of a year or two. The concern is that these new beekeepers
get appropriate training, for the good of all. Nothing wrong with broadening
a pool of 'trainers', but it would help if there was some form of training
and certification for them.
We also want to emphasize responsible beekeeping, respect for all forms of
beekeeping, and being a good neighbor to reduce conflicts, with neighbors,
other beekeepers, the public.
So, we put together our version of a Master's Beekeeping Course. Our
first offering will be May 21-June 11. The first course is intended to serve
as a basic beekeeping/apprentice course; with a fast track approach so
that the basics get set in place. We're also emphasizing hands on work with
bees, and a three-member teamof instructors, for a really good
student/teacher ratio, with lots of individual contact time.
I'm taking the lead, with 40 years of bee experience all over the US and in
many other countries. Scott Debnam is my bee manager, with close to 17
years of experience and specialized training such as Sue Colby''s
Instrumental Insemination. Phil Welch has over 20 years. Both Scott and Phil were
trained by us, and they have been mainstays in our research. Scott also has
sampled lots of CCD yards in many parts of the US. In other words, we've
all been working with bees and beekeepers for many years.
Registations are rapidly coming in, so we're planning on the next level,
follow on course to begin some time mid-summer. All of this has come
together remarkedly fast through our new University Extended and Lifelong
Learning program (we've a new Dean). In fact, I heard this morning that FOUR
University Deans are interested in taking the course - no pressure for us:).
So, with your permission, here's the link: _www.umt.edu/bee_
(http://www.umt.edu/bee) so you can see what we're doing. Expect the web page to
change a bit, we're still finding some typo's, may rephrase some topics.
Lots of good books have appeared in last few years. After lots of
deliberation, we finally chose Malcom Sanford's book - our Dean's wanted a real
course, with a text book. Kim, Keith, Dianna, all have good books, and these
are on our short list of related readings. The Canadian Beekeeping Manual
will probably be(e) part of the next level courses.
This is experimental for us - things will develop and evolve. Any input
regarding content, etc. welcome. WE are working on internet delivery of
lectures and short courses. Our objective is to provide context, with LOCAL
expertise adding hands on experience, refining guidelines to 'local'
beekeeping.
Thanks
jerry
***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html
Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at:
http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm
|
