Bee Prepared - Beekeeping Class - Fall 2024

Have you fallen in love with the honey bees in your garden or during a visit to Beekeeping 101? Are you ready to take the next step to become a full-fledged beekeeper? Do you want to make 2024 your most memorable year ever? Check off another box from your bucket list before 2025 rolls in by joining us for Bee Prepared this fall! 

This course provides the instruction and hands-on experience to turn a beginner into a confident backyard beekeeper. Topics include hive management, bee biology, recognizing and treating common diseases and predators, legal requirements of keeping bees in Long Beach, and more.

After completing the course successfully and at the club's discretion, participants are eligible to receive a starter bee colony at no additional cost -- subject to availability (may need to wait until spring, depending on conditions). Frames and other hive equipment are not included.  Upon registration, please indicate whether or not you would like to adopt a colony, so that we can build it into our census.

This class is structured as follows:

• One in-person introductory group class on Sunday, October 13, from 9-11 a.m. at our Willow Springs Bee Sanctuary.
• Two evening online lectures on Mondays October 14 and October 17 (recordings available if you cannot attend both live).
• CHOOSE ONE 2-hour in-person mentorship session working in hives with an experienced beekeeper: October 19, 20, 26, or 27, 9-11AM (first come, first served). **After completing registration for this course, please return to the EVENTS page and sign up for ONE mentorship session. NOTE: By the time of the mentorship session, each student will need their own beekeeping suit, gloves, hive tool, and smoker for their scheduled mentorship session.

Please save these dates in your calendar:  10/13/24 9-11AM in-person introduction to the hive; both 10/14/24 AND 10/17/24 7-9PM online lectures via Zoom; ONE mentorship session (choose one: Oct 19, 20, 26, or 27, 9-11AM). Mentor sessions are filled first come first served.