Andrew: Good on you for participating in formal apiary education! The world
needs more bee-keepers, hobbyists included. Individual States recognise
this, and in the past decade, education domains have designed very formal
apiary training, and although some of the aspects seem risible to 'old
hands', such formal training, wherever it is delivered, has elements of
consistency, and will also include reference to legislative requirements.
The previously informal training, from experienced beeks, can be a matter of
chance, good luck and/or happenstance, as our own experience indicates.
Assumptive education can be misleading, and common sense is not as innate as
those of us who think we have it, think it might be. Striking a match
consistently safely is such an activity.
Here, in Oz, The federal government has initiated a Vocational Education &
Training scheme to equip modern Australia with a workforce trained for
specific industry employment, including apiary. The VET scheme needs
trainers, so I have been undertaking formal training to be a 'Trainer and
Assessor', and decided to base part of my study on designing a 'competency'
(as they are called) for NESB beekeepers (as is my Dear Husband), and
thought I'd keep it simple (as I thought it had to be), and use the base
competency of 'How to Use a Bee-smoker'. Gosh, what a Pandora's Box, but
that's another story!
Meanwhile, I think it's the nomenclature of your course that is problematic.
'Master' used to mean a higher tertiary qualification for university
graduates, or peer-recognised craftsmen (such as DH who, in his life-long
trade, is a Master Cabinetmaker). I, personally, as a university graduate,
with an ordinary degree in humanities, have always baulked at being called a
'Master Treegrower', but that's what the large plaque on our farm front gate
says. DH and I completed one of these new-fangled courses to help us move
from the Big Smoke to the bush, and show other sea- and tree-changers that
planting forests for profit can be done, even by city-slickers such as
ourselves. 10 years down the track, and all's well in the sugar-gum forest,
which is just coming into flower and will provide a much-needed fillip for
bees starved of traditional Summer florification this year. I still don't
have an alternative title for the Master Tree Growers course, save to drop
the word 'Master' all together.
WE have been encouraged and nurtured into apiary by several bee keepers, and
we will be forever grateful for their input into our apiary education. We
have assembled an old-fashioned bi-lingual library, have searched and joined
bi-lingual internet groups, so our knowledge base extends outside our
geographical parameters, allowing us to pick the eyes out of the advice and
informal education we have received, and so we are aware of the technical
limitations of our informal group, and the occasional hiding of knowledge,
and this became very evident when we were strongly encouraged by our State
apiary bureaucrats to complete an almost-compulsory Quality Assurance
course, which the federal government sees as an important step to help all
Oz beekeepers understand the importance of quality control, in the face of
invading pests, as readers of Trevor Weathehead's missives on this forum,
will realise we face.
Confidence can overshadow competence, and as inexperienced beeks as we still
are, after 7 years at it, I'm pleased to say we knew enough to be able to
advise suburban friends recently, desperate to 'make' their own honey, that
there were legislative requirements they needed to follow, and bee-line
issues of hive height and neighbour safety that had never occurred to them.
At community markets, where we sell freshly-cut slabs of honeycomb, I am
always amazed, when we offer tasting samples, direct from a frame, when
folks comment that they had no idea where honey really comes from, or that
it could be eaten, wax and all, right off the frame. Ignorance is not always
bliss. Education can empower - and improve sales!
So, Andrew, as an educator yourself, I hope you complete the Maine Master
Beekeeper's course, and go on to inspire others. I am sure that there are
local factors that have been incorporated into your Maine course that may
not be relevant in another geographical area, but the basics are the basics
are the basics...., and you will be better-positioned to critique and tweak
elements of the course as I have done for NESB learners, where I have
re-written some of the competencies in much simpler English to meet to level
of the learner, while still allowing a NESB student to reach the required
standard of competency for the unit if learning under study. I'm sure you'll
find your niche, and in turn, your students may find employment
opportunities with those same large apiarists in your region, while you
remain a hobbyist.
LIDA
BBC Apiary, Kangaroo Island,
3548s1374e
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