All participants must be a member of either: Saint Louis Beekeepers, EMBA, or Great Plains Master Beekeepers program
Anyone participating in the hive inspections will need to have their own protective gear and sign a release form before entering the bee yard.

Open Apiary times are an informal, unstructured gathering of members of the Great Plains Master Beekeeping program. There will be brief demonstrations, questions and answers, and time to get hands-on experience with beehives. Open Apiary will count as 2 hours of field training toward your progress through the Great Plains Master Beekeeping program.

All percipients must RSVP before each class with name, phone number, and number of percipients. Register by messaging Ken Heitkamp.

kmbcheitkamp@sbcglobal.net | 314-675-8088

All hive inspections will be at Isabee’s bee yard.

765 Gravois Rd Fenton, Mo. 63026

314-894-8737

March: 24th noon-2pm
Hive inspection: what to look for in a overwinter hive in bee yard
In class topics: Getting your equipment ready and in position
Feeding and why its important for overwinter hives
Feeding for new colonies when they arrive
Mite treatments for overwinter hives before honey flow and supering
How to light a smoker
How to stack and replace boxes
Making splits why its important
Spring rotation for swarm control
Hive inspection sheet
Question and answer

April:28th noon-2pm
Hive inspection: what you need to see for a strong hive in bee yard, install package or nuc
In class topics: getting ready for the honey flow
How to look for a queen (without smoking a hive)
Supering for honey flow
Checking for a viable queen
What are your options if you have a failing queen
Swarming and how to prevent it (MAKING SPLITS)
Installing bee package or nucs
Feeding your package or nuc, why its important
Question and answer

May:19th noon-2pm
Hive inspection: Main Honey Flow in bee yard
In class topics: Supering for honey
Catching swarms
What progress should a package or nuc look like
Demaree method for swarm control
Plants that are important in our area for honey production
Question and answer

June: 2nd noon-2pm
Hive inspection: check honey flow see if we have hives that have fallen behind in bee yard
In class topics: Hive problems
Queen failure , queen superseded , mites
Extraction equipment
Question and answer

July: 14th noon-2pm
Hive inspection in bee yard
In class topics: Extracting your honey
Mite testing methods
Mite counts and when to treat
Mite treatments
Small hive beetles and treatment’s
Question and answer

August: 18th noon-2pm
Hive inspection in bee yard
In class topics: Mite testing after treatment
Products of the hive
Honey sales
Feeding, getting colonies ready for winter
Question and Answer

September:22nd noon-2pm
Hive inspection in bee yard
In class topics: Queen health and brood production
Hive population
Any hive problems that need address before winter
Combining weak hives
What to do with equipment from dead-outs
Question and answer

October: 27th noon-2pm
Hive inspection weather permitting
In class topics: sugar mush, candy boards
Mouse guards, entrance reducers
Wrap up of the year on the bee yard
Question and answer.