Cheshire Beekeepers’ Association Education Programme

Study Groups

The county CBKA winter study groups are loosely based on the syllabuses for the Module Examinations of the BBKA. These syllabuses can be found on the BBKA website, or contact Lesley Jacques lesley.jacques@me.com who will send you one.

Study Group Module 1 – Honey Bee Management (probably winter 2026-7)

This study group will cover:

  • Advising beginners, siting of apiaries and apiary hygiene
  • Hives, frames, spacing and foundation
  • The year’s work in the apiary
  • Feeding honeybees and the value of nectar, pollen, water and propolis to the colony
  • Swarming and control of swarming
  • Nuclei – the various uses of nucleus colonies and how to make them up
  • Queenlessness, drone-laying queens and laying workers
  • Bee-stings

Study Group Module 2 – Honey Bee Products and Forage (probably winter 2027-8)

This Study Group will cover:

  • Current UK statutory regulations effecting honey for sale
  • Methods of uncapping honey, extractors, preparation and bottling of honey for sale and
    storage
  • Moisture content and spoilage of honey
  • Preparation of beeswax
  • Bee products
  • Major nectar and pollen producing plants and flowering periods
  • Pollination and fertilisation
  • Extra-floral nectaries
  • The composition of nectar
  • Factors affecting nectar secretion
  • Honeydew honey
  • The process of converting nectar to honey
  • Analysis of the pollen content of honey

Study Group Module 3 – Honey Bee Diseases, pests and poisoning (probably winter 2027-8)

The Study Group will cover:

  •  The various diseases of honeybee brood and adults, their signs and diagnosis
  • Treatments available, their methods of use and efficacy
  • Methods of treatment and control of Varroa, including Integrated Pest Management
  • Viruses affecting honeybees
  • Signs of poisoning in honeybees and action to be taken
  • The steps that can and should be taken by a beekeeper to prevent disease and its spread
  • Knowledge of legally notifiable diseases and pests
  • Legislation regarding the importation of honeybees
  • The biology of the honeybee with relation to disease
  • Damage caused to colonies and equipment by mice, woodpeckers and other pests, including wax moth, and how to prevent this

Study Group Module 5 – Honey Bee Biology (probably winter 2026-7)

The group will be cover:

  • How bees eat and digest
  • The excretory system
  • The respiratory system
  • The circulatory system
  • The nervous system
  • The reproductive system
  • The various glands and their functions
  • The development of the egg, larva, pupa and adult bee
  • The anatomy of the honeybee
  • The castes and how they develop
  • Pheromones and their roles
  • How the bee stings
  • How the bee flies

Study Group Module 6 – Honey Bee Behaviour (probably winter 2026-7)

The Study Group will cover:

  • The stages of life and various roles of the worker
  • Swarming behaviour
  • Decision-making by the colony
  • Learning behaviour
  • Mating behaviours of the queen and drone
  • The role of pheromones in the colony
  • Social organisation
  • Methods of communication between honey bees
  • Behaviours associated with defence, foraging, swarming and nest construction
  • The effects of pests and pathogens

Study Group Module 7 – Selection and Breeding of Honey Bees (probably winter 2027-8)

The Study Group will cover:

  • Genetics and the principles of breeding
  • Selecting colonies for breeding
  • Various practical methods of queen rearing
  • Methods of raising queen cells
  • Setting up mating nuclei
  • How to organise a queen rearing programme
  • Inheritance in the honey bee
  • The genetic basis of sex determination
  • Problems associated with breeding
  • Drone laying queens and laying workers
  • Quantifying hygienic behaviour as an attribute for selection

 

For further details, contact Lesley Jacques lesley.jacques@me.com or Mobile +44 7788 744086.

If you have any questions about any of the above courses, or if you have suggestions for other training that CBKA could organise, please feel free to contact Lesley Jacques (contact details as above) – suggestions are always welcome!