Hands On Training Spring 2016
The West Plains Beekeepers Association has just established the facilities to be able to offer a series of "hands on" for beginning beekeepers who have taken our classes on beginning beekeeping this past Fall or this Spring.
We are planning the first session for April 16 at 11 a.m. at the Jensen Youth Ranch. The time may be later if the bees don't arrive at Miller's Homestead exactly when scheduled. Through a partnership with Medical Lake High School and the Jensen Youth Ranch we will have six hives available to demonstrate the installation of a package of bees into a hive. Experienced beekeepers will be there to do the actual installation and to talk about why they are doing what they are doing.
We have scheduled a second session on May 21 to look at how the hive is doing, what we see, and what it means.
If you are attending, please bring your protective gear - whatever you are planning on using when you take care of your own bees. We want you to be comfortable and to be close enough to see without being too concerned about being stung. A cautious approach at the beginning helps to build confidence as you continue to experience working with your own bees.
The directions to the apiary location at the Jensen Youth Ranch are:
From Medical Lake, take Brooks Road north to McFarland Road. Go west on McFarland, cross Deep Creek and the apiary is in a field on the left.