Guilfordbeekeepers.org

For those of us that took the beekeepers class this past Feb. were told the hands on part would be in Sept. I have some traveling plans to make and need to know when the testing will be so I can hopefully be there. Just wondering why it was not scheduled closer to the written test? It's been so long ago I almost forgot about it. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.

Kurt decided to wait until September to give the practical test to give the beginners more time to familiarize themselves with the bees and working in a hive.

Before taking the practical you need to know....
how to light a smoker, remove the outer frame first,
recognize drone brood, drone, queen cell,
queen, worker cell, worker, honey,
capped and uncapped, and pollen.

This time of year how much brood cell, drone cell do you think you're going to find? If there are any drone even in the hive in Sept. Should find a lot of capped honey. Queen cells? Not likely.
This is my opinion but what do I know, LOL - I think this late in the year is not the time for the hands on but in the spring when things are really going on in the hive and not a lot of bees to work around. Lighting a smoker is the least of the importance as you will get on to it in time and is no biggie. If mine goes out I'm done looking around in the hive anyway. I'm just a first year beekeeper and don't know much at all.

I am meeting with the board tonight and should firm up the practical test date.
I think you would see most everything in a hive this time of year and even possibly some queen cells as I saw some in one of my hives the other day.
There are always surprises inside each hive.

Kurt