Attended the BBKA General Husbandry practical session

Marking Drones with a white dot

It was held at Warwickshire BeeKeepers Solihull apiary as I couldn't make the date for the Sutton Coldfield one. It was the first time that I had been to the Solihul Aprairy and it was very impressive. We did the practical sessions even though weather wise it wasn't ideal. We had showers that day and its was cloudy and during the sessions we did have a rain.

Celia Davis talking through creating a Nuc

They have about 10 hives and a number of nucs, all grounded and well positioned. The Apiary hut was also very professional, every thing in its place with lots of shelving space where everything was labeled. The whole Apiary is well organised.

Its very impressive, they even have loos. The location is also very well located in a semi rural setting with woodland and farmland on its doorstep.

The training was presented by Celia Davis and David Sutton. Both gave demonstrations and talked through everything well. I asked how a Lateral Flow Device worked and Dave Sutton demonstrated with a real kit.

We had to do an artificial swarm, Clip a drone check for Brood diseases and build a nuc. We all participated in the practical activities and we all had a go at Clipping a queen and checking for brood diseases.

Dave Sutton demonstration looking for brood diseases

I got stung in the head 3 times which put a dampener on the day and I would have preferred smaller practical groups, but we were in 2 groups of 8. The actual talks were fine. Smaller groups of 4/5 would be better.

Not sure if I am ready for the general husbandry exam yet, at least a year away. I could do all the practical activities requested, just not sure it would be upto the standard required for the BBKA.