> I feel like I've been pranked. Tad's article was about MASTERCLASS, a cleverly marketed service, not as it was listed on the Bee-L Subject line as a commentary on a Master Class. A Master Class like a Master Gardening or Beekeeping class has little in common with MASTERCLASS.
Perhaps your master class has nothing in common with it, but I posted the item as a starting point for a discussion on what can be learned outside of an actual hands-on apprenticeship. This is the key issue, IMO. For example, I was plunged into commercial beekeeping in 1974, helping with the management of 2200 hives in New York state.
I moved to California that fall and looked for work. I probably knew more about commercial beekeeping than many but when I was interviewed for a job, I was asked about my ability to diagnose AFB. I honestly said I wasn't that sure about it yet, and didn't get the job. Fast forward to 2006, when I worked as a NY bee inspector. The first summer I found over 100 cases in a half dozen counties, all confirmed by Beltsville.
I visited the USDA lab a few years later where my reputation had preceded me. They said when a sample was sent in by me, they pretty much knew it would test positive. I had several arguments in the field over my diagnosis of very early stage AFB, but was always correct. And this is by ordinary visual inspection, often finding only a few cells in a large colony (which, in NYS, means the hive has to be deep sixed). That level of experience is the result of 30 years of looking at bee hives.
I have given some thought to "how long" it takes to become a competent beekeeper. I would say, working with a professional, probably 3 years. Working on one's own, the time is more likely ten years. Learning by oneself using books and youtube videos, probably never get there.
PLB
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