Beekeeping in Northern Climates Short Course

** Please note new change! The course offered on March 13-14 is for first-time beekeepers only! If you have any experience keeping bees, please enroll in the April 3 course, “Beekeeping in Northern Climates – Part 2”

When: Yearly in March (March 13-14, 2010)
Where: St. Paul campus, University of Minnesota
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Photo of 2009 course attendees
This 2 day course provides all the information necessary to keep bees in cold climates. We take you through two years of beekeeping; purchasing and assembling equipment, ordering bees and queens, hiving packages, ensuring colony survival through winter, dividing colonies in the spring, and producing, harvesting, extracting, bottling, and selling honey. We also cover the important basics of disease and mite management and control, emphasizing a reduction in chemical use within bee hives.

We have made a change this year: This course is for beginning beekeepers only. If you have kept bees before, please enroll in the April 3 course. We have had to turn a number of people away in recent years due to over-enrollment. Please, give our newbees the opportunity to register! We need more beekeepers!

Beekeeping in Northern Climates – Part 2

When: April 3, 2010
Where: St. Paul Campus, University of Minnesota
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This course is for experienced beekeepers only, and for people that have already taken the Basics course and need a refresher course. First time beekeepers: please register for the March basics course! Thank you! This 1-day intensive course quickly reviews all the information provided in the Basic course (offered in March). The main focus will be on wintering your colonies and on making divides in spring to prevent swarming. We will also give the latest updates on disease and mite management and control, emphasizing a reduction in chemical use within bee hives. All questions will be answered.

Successful Queen Rearing Short Course

When: July 10-12, 2009
Where: St. Paul Campus, University of Minnesota
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Why not rear your own queens? The University of Minnesota Queen Rearing short course teaches one method of rearing queens that works consistently for both hobby and commercial beekeepers. Topics covered include queen and drone biology, timing of queen rearing in northern climates, stock selection and breeding for hygienic behavior, setting up mating yards, and record keeping. Everyone will have a chance to try their hand at grafting larvae and raising their own queens. A unique feature of the course is the section on queen rearing equipment designs that will allow you to build your own!
*Enrollment limited to 32 people.

Bee Management: Entomology 4022

This is a 3-week, entirely hands-on course, in which all students learn to handle and manage honey bees and bumblebees. The course is open to the public, but requires registering for one credit through the University of Minnesota. See Academic Courses.