Bee Health Certificate – Practical Training Session

Once you have kept bees for a year or so and passed the Basic Assessment you will doubtless wonder what to do next to improve your beekeeping skills.

If you prefer focussing on practical beekeeping skills then a good next step is to study for, and take, the Bee Health Certificate. The ‘exam’ is a practical session where you have to carry out a bee health inspection and then execute a manipulation as selected by the examiner – a shook swarm or a Bailey Comb change. Once these are done there is a Q&A session with the examiner so theoretical knowledge and understanding of bee health is required.

Oxfordshire Beekeepers has a number of candidates taking the Bee Health Certificate later this summer. Last Saturday 11th May Margaret Murdin NDB took the group through a bee health inspection at our Training Apiary. As the Bee Health Certificate is a practical assessment there is nothing better than having such an experienced beekeeper as Margaret taking you through the fine details of a bee health inspection.

Photos Credit: Eric Perkins

If you are interested in taking the Bee Health Certificate, or indeed any courses to improve your beekeeping, contact our Training co-ordinator Dawn O’Reilly on training@obka.org.uk