Natural Backyard Beekeeping Seminar

This weekend intensive on natural beekeeping will cover most everything you need to know to start natural beekeeping on your property. It will also establish a group of local natural beekeepers who can support each other throughout the seasons of the beekeeping year. In addition, Jessie will cover the spiritual aspects of the bien, the spirit of the hive, and the spiritual science of beekeeping as Rudolf Steiner spoke of it. This course is meant to engage participants in conscious protection of our most beloved pollinators in an age of industrial agriculture that is rapidly leading to their demise.

Saturday Topics
Part I: Who are the bees: the biology, physiology & life cycles of the queen, the worker bees, and the drones. Labor division within the hive, the brood chamber and food stores will also be covered.

Part II:The Hive: Types of hives, pros and cons, how they are set up. The Beekeeper: Attitude, protected clothing, weather, tools, etc Hive Management: What are you getting into? How to minimize your impact on the natural life of the bees.

Part III: Living with the Bees: The practicalities of backyard bees, nectar and pollen sources, pests of all kinds and how to avoid or treat, your relationship with the bees and the beekeeping community.

Sunday Topics
Part IV: Inside the Hive through the Seasons: Survival through the winter, spring buildup and swarming, swarm control or not?, honey stores, using supers for honey harvest, scaling down in fall, frame setup for winter, and heaps more.

Part V: Products of the Hive: Honey harvest, propolis, pollen, comb harvest, wax
royal jelly, bee bread .What you can make from honey and wax, lotions, salves, lip balm, candles.

Part VI: Demeter and Organic standards.

Part VII: Spirit and the Bees: The sting, the swarm, the nuptial flight, the “bien” as superorganism ego, Christmas and the bees, the essence of Rudolf Steiner’s bee lectures.

 

Please inquire if you would like to sponsor a weekend seminar.