Bee Schools are tough to do well and can take a year or two after the 
course to adequately assess their success.  I'm not aware of anyone 
taking the time to do the assessments.  So what a club or other 
sponsoring body is left with is an attempt to give new hobby beekeepers 
a leg up - my goal is to cover topics in such a way as to give students 
a basic foundation that will hopefully allow them to keep bees 
successfully while at the same time getting across the message that 
beekeeping is not something you learn completely by taking beekeeping 
101 but rather by working bees and being open to/seeking out new ideas 
and techniques.  My state association is working on a schedule of topics 
that should be included in a beekeeping 101 type class - they have not 
completed it, and I'm not sure it ever should be considered "final."

Getting qualified instructors to teach a bee school is not easy.  When I 
taught my first class it was in large part because the people who had 
been teaching the school in my club had died, retired from beekeeping or 
were no longer active in the club.  Bee School was a recruiting tool for 
the club and had to go on.  So we did the best we could, and reached out 
to experienced beekeepers outside the club to cover topics we didn't 
feel qualified to teach.  Having multiple instructors gives rise to its 
own set off issues - mostly differences in philosophy and approach - but 
on the whole I think it is better for the students than a class where 
all the sessions are taught by one individual.  Though I am sure too 
that students may well be more comfortable with a consistent message of 
"this is how you keep bees."

Karen's point about book educated teachers with little practical 
experience is well taken.  I ran into a situation last year where a 
relatively new beekeeper moved to town and put together a course with 
himself as teacher in large part because he wasn't aware that there were 
any other courses locally.  I became aware of it when my wife saw one of 
his posters.  I invited him and his wife to one of my yards.  That 
didn't go so well as his wife got her first ever sting and the feedback 
that reached me in a round about way that I was "too commercial" in my 
approach.  I manage about 30 colonies.  Knowing the community of 
beekeepers is important - unless the sole course instructor is expecting 
to set themselves up as the only "mentor" in the area.

I'll get back to lurking after this next thought: long time beekeepers 
ought to be recognized for their accomplishments, but simply having kept 
bees for five decades doesn't necessarily translate to being a good 
teacher.  I think of one wonderful man who sells packages, nucs and 
equipment.  He is a true old timer and a gem of a person.  But his 
experiences have led him to a "must treat" prophylacticly for everything 
philosophy  - which is not something I want the next generation of 
beekeepers to adopt.  Learning how to recognize the issues facing your 
bees and coming up with a response should be part of what is taught.  
Prophylactic treatment for AFB when AFB has not been a problem in an 
area for 20 years would be one example.  Some will argue that the reason 
it has not been a problem is because of the treatments.  I would rather 
see people taught to recognize AFB and to know to reach out for help if 
they think their hives have it.

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