Looking for a beekeeping apprenticeship on Vancouver Island? Check out Black Horse Apiary in Cumberland!
About Black Horse Apiary
We are a small scale sustainable apiary producing local varietal honey and bees – queens, packages, and nucs.
We are passionate about breeding the best honey bees to share with other beekeepers in Canada.
Visit Black Horse Apiary on Facebook here.
Desired Qualities
An enthusiasm and love for honey bees and an eagerness to immerse themselves into this fascinating world.
Job Tasks
Beekeeping: seasonal management and small scale queen rearing.
Job Details
Contract duration: March 1 through to November 1, 2019
Weekly hours: 25 hours (5 hours, 5 days a week)
Compensation: We don’t offer a stipend as this is an educational experience based on the traditional apprenticeship collaborations. A spare room in a nice house is available. We generally share meals.
Education
The following topics will be covered through reading assignments and hands on in the field direction:
March
- Transition to spring, biology, anatomy, colony activities, physiology, equipment
April – June
- Pests and pathogens
- IPM and Special Management Problems
- Queen Rearing
- Nutrition
- Swarm management
July – August
- Honey
- Feeding bees
- Beelining
- Queen rearing
September – December
- Products of the hive
- Building hive equipment
- Preparing for winter
We are part of a island wide collaborative of bee breeders – dedicated to breeding better bees and roof top beekeeping.
To Apply
We would like to know about any previous experience working with honey bees and reasons for your interest. Please email Wendi at wendigilson@yahoo.ca.
View other farm jobs and apprenticeships here.
I sent text earlier by mistake asking for ground bees