Beekeeping Taster Day – Saturday 16 April 10am – 4pm

£70

Martineau Gardens has been running these popular beekeeping courses for a number of years. The first course of 2022 is the one-day Taster Course (Sat 16 April 10am – 4pm)  taught by Sam Walker and Jane Nimmo, taking place in the grounds of our beautiful community garden, Martineau Gardens. The course runs from 10am with an approximate finish of 4pm (it may overrun a little), with a half-hour break for lunch, and costs £70 (no concessions).  You will need to bring a packed lunch since there is no cafe (no bananas! – all will be explained on the course) but hot and cold drinks are provided. All protective clothing will be provided and laundered in between each use, but you will need to bring a pair of wellies which will stop  bees getting up your trouser leg (you won’t need to wear them all day) and a note pad.  It’s helpful to bring a cap, (and a hairband if you have long hair).

Advance booking is essential.

Course Aim:

Honeybees need your help. The course will take you through various stages including

• The difference between the three most common striped stinging insects
• What does it cost
• Beekeeping organisations, insurance
• Equipment-  to buy or assemble your own
• Types of hive
• Siting hives
• Tools
• Clothing
• The bee colony
• Life cycle
• Role of the beekeeper
• What bees make
• Pests
• How to obtain bees
• Swarms
• Honey
• Honey shows
• LIVE BEE DEMO – with live bees! (weather permitting)

About your Tutors:

Samantha Walker, our volunteer beekeeper and President of Birmingham and District Beekeepers Association 2021 (B&DBKA) . Interested and inspired by all things related to nature, started an interest in honey bees and joined B&DBKA in 2013. Sam rapidly became a mentor to other beekeepers and has been teaching beekeeping courses for the last four years.Jane Nimmo has been a beekeeper and member of B&DBKA for the last 10 years.  She started her journey with a course at Martineau Gardens and is now a qualified beekeeper and Trustee for Warwickshire Beekeepers. She runs her own business ‘Let It Bee’. and happily spends her days making natural skincare products and beeswax wraps.

To book your place – call 0121 440 7430

£70 per place – advance booking and payment is essential.

To book your place, please telephone Martineau Gardens on 0121 440 7430 to check availability and then arrange your payment. Payment by card (except American express), BACS transfer (use the reference Bees + surname) or in-person with cash (sorry, no cheques).

Refunds:

Refunds will apply if the course is cancelled or postponed due to a national or local lockdown.  In the event that you have booked and paid but cannot attend, the booking can be transferred to another person but you need to let us have the details of the new attendee. Alternatively we can try to resell your place, if successful then a refund will be given, otherwise no refund. We do not accept liability for your travel costs if you have paid fares in advance.

Covid-19 update: 

We will implement our COVID-19 risk assessment to ensure everyone’s safety. You will need to provide approval for use of your contact details in the event we are advised of any participant testing positive for COVID-19. If you have symptoms of Covid-19, have been in contact with anyone with the virus in the previous 14 days or are subject to quarantine restrictions, please do not attend the course.

Information

[email protected]

If you want to stay in touch with our plans, you can:

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• You can also follow us on Twitter (@martineau27) or like us on Facebook and Instagram (Martineau Gardens).

Find out about our next beekeeping course here – a 2-day course in May