What’s it all about?
The world needs bees.
They are vital for pollinating flowers and crops (as well as providing us with delicious honey), but today they face a number of threats. In this workshop, we will learn about bees and their behavior, and explore what is involved in keeping bees in suburban Melbourne.
What will we cover?
We will start off by meeting the bees! There will be live bees and honeycomb to look at in a secure cabinet and a discussion of bee behaviour and hive management.
Participants will then get their hands dirty, helping construct a bee frame for a new hive, while we discuss the major items that go into building one from scratch. The equipment a new beekeeper needs to work bees will also be reviewed.
The main practical topics discussed will be:
- Establishing a hive,
- Understanding the tasks to be carried out in spring,
- How to go about robbing and extracting honey, and
- Swarm control.
Who will be teaching?
Robert Redpath first learnt bee keeping from his father who was a commercial bee keeper and honey merchant. After a career in other areas Robert launched Bee Sustainable 18 months ago in Brunswick East. Bee Sustainable (beesustainable.com.au) specialises in supporting self-sufficient activity including urban beekeeping.