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Please register one week in advance, and let us know if you have your own, or will need, a bee suit. We need to know how we will distribute our limited number of bee suits among the students who will participate in the class, and how many instructors we will need. Once you register, you will be sent a Waiver & Assumption of Risks Agreement so you are fully informed of the potential medical risks of beekeeping. You will need to print, read and sign this agreement and present it before the class begins.

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Description: Through our regular inspection classes, you can learn beekeeping by actively participating in the inspection and management of San Francisco Bee-Cause honey bee colonies at Hayes Valley Farm under the guidance of experienced beekeepers. As we progress through the seasons of the year and the variations in nectar flows, the biological goals of the colony change. Observing and understanding these changes are crucial to beekeeping management practices that work with the bees’ natural inclinations rather than against them.

Each class will provide you the opportunity to learn and practice:

• How to light a smoker and properly use it to calm, not excite, the bees
• How to properly use a hive tool
• How to properly hold and manipulate a frame of bees, to and from the hive
• How to identify the presence of a laying queen even if you cannot find her
• How to “read” a frame of bees and interpret what you see
• What information is helpful to record so you can track the progress of the colony and plan management of that colony for health and maximum honey production

Is this class for you? It is, if:

• You are a new or returning to beekeeping: You would like the experience of comparing other colonies to your own, and to learn from others in a hands-on practical context
• You are interested in future beekeeping: You think you might like to keep honey bees but want to better understand what it is like and what is involved before making the financial and time commitment
• You’re interested, as a Honey Bee Agri-Tourist: You are simply interested in these fascinating creatures who are so important to our food supply, and you’d like to take a tour of the inner workings of a honey bee colony