Information on the Improvers' course and Basic Assessment
For many beekeepers their study starts with the Beginner’s Course. But that is only the beginning. The Association actively encourages those new beekeepers to attend special training sessions and Apiary Meetings at the Association Apiary at Wandlebury during their first and subsequent summers to improve their skills and have the opportunity to ask questions about their own colonies. New beekeepers should amass enough information during their first year to enable them to look after the bees through the first winter.
Improvers' Group and Basic Assessment
The next stage is to learn how to look after the bees in the Spring and help the colony build up, hopefully without swarming. That’s where attendance at the Improver’s Group can help. The group meets during March and April and provides an ideal opportunity for members to bring their questions and concerns and compare notes with others in the same position. The group is lead through a wider series of topics than was covered in the Beginners Course, but also in greater depth and in a different way. Improvers are encouraged to do some reading prior to each of the five theory sessions so that each is more of an extended discussion than a lecture. Topics include bee handling, swarm control, diseases and products of the hive and together with other issues they cover the BBKA Basic Assessment Syllabus. Currently the charge for attending the Group is £15 and the fee for the Basic Assessment (£15) is paid by the Association.
After a period of owning a hive and further Apiary Meetings or training sessions, the new beekeeper should be able to undertake the BBKA Basic Assessment. This takes place round a hive and is part oral and part practical, lasting about forty-five minutes in total. Our Association has a good record of passes and those who have taken the assessment have felt it was worthwhile. It certainly gives a sense of achievement to many who have not taken an ‘examination’ for many years and is a sign that you are on the way to becoming a competent beekeeper. Entries are made through the CBKA Education Secretary
BBKA Modules
Leading to Intermediate Theory Certificate or Advanced Theory Certificate.
A number of beekeepers then want to go on to further study and the impetus for this is provided by the BBKA Modules. They are one and a half hour written exams set on one Saturday in March each year. Preparation for them can be by private individual study or by BBKA Correspondence Course. The act of reading a variety of books and attempting to answer past papers certainly helps one to become a better-informed beekeeper. If several members wish to study for the same module, it may be possible for them work together to the benefit of all. At present the Association does not have a programme of regular support for those studying modules.