Dear Dr Anna,

I am writing to enquire about courses in beekeeping and a mated queen bee to form a new hive.

Adam

Dear Adam,

There are many ways to learn about beekeeping, and doing a course, joining a mentorship group, or having a mentor, participating in a bee club are among just some of the ways that you can learn about bees and beekeeping.  

A good book (or ten!) also goes a long way to bettering your understanding of bees and methods and techniques in managing hives.  There are also multitudes of sources of information on the internet, including videos and discussion forums, some of which are excellent. 

Additionally, to doing a course, you are advised to familiarise yourself with the relevant regulatory bodies and authorities that oversee beekeepers, as this is highly important from the perspective of animal welfare, and particularly biosecurity obligations.

Look up the pages of this magazine to see various advertisements from beekeeping suppliers, some of whom offer courses in beekeeping.  Also, chat to others who have bees to see where they learned some of the skills they have in beekeeping.  Ask a local beekeeper if they take on students (either directly, or via virtual and online teaching), too.

With regards to finding a mated queen bee to form a new hive, there are many excellent queen bee breeders listed in the pages of this magazine, and you are sure to find one either nearby to you, or breeding the type of queen that you seek, and who can send you a new queen bee in the post.

You mentioned starting a new hive.  I assume that you wish to perhaps create a new hive from splitting an existing hive, and add the new queen to the split?  

A queen on her own, of course, is incapable of surviving without a colony, and cannot start a colony, but needs a nucleus hive or similar in which to be introduced.  

I wish you well with your beekeeping!

Dr Anna