Lifelong Learning and Education within the Atlantic Beekeeping Industry

Thursday, 13 March 2025

Any new beekeeper must undertake training and education to successfully advance their operation, and to learn about best practices within beekeeping. The first steps in any new beekeeper’s journey should include joining their provincial beekeeping association, finding a beekeeping mentor, and signing up for a credible beekeeping course. Getting the necessary training is crucial for new beekeepers, but education and training does not stop there, and all beekeepers should be continually learning throughout their career. To learn more about the opportunities and benefits of lifelong learning and education within the Atlantic beekeeping industry read this week’s blog.

Lifelong Learning and Education within the Atlantic Beekeeping Industry

New beekeepers have a responsibility to take a credible, geographically applicable, beekeeping training and education course early on in their beekeeping career. There are multiple good beekeeping courses to consider within the Maritime region, but it is important to evaluate what level of training will the course be providing, is it teaching best practices specific to the Maritime region and is a credible group or beekeeper providing the training. To provide an example of a Maritime industry recognized course, the Atlantic Tech Transfer Team for Apiculture offers the Fundamentals of Beekeeping on an annual basis. The program is in partnership with Dalhousie Extended Learning and is offered as a hybrid of virtual education and in-person training. The program provides production skills and beekeeping knowledge timed specifically to the annual beekeeping cycle for both new and experienced beekeepers alike and will give beekeepers the skills and knowledge to expand their operation.

Another course option that will provide beginner level education for beekeepers just starting their journey is the Canadian Honey Council Online Training for Apiary Workers. This course provides the basic information needed for new beekeepers, and should still be followed up with more advanced training such as the Fundamentals of Beekeeping.

As a beekeeper advances in their career and operation more advanced training will be needed. The Atlantic Tech Transfer for Apiculture team does offer more advanced courses on a semi-regular basis such as training for queen rearing and business training for beekeepers.

The Atlantic industry is filled with enthusiastic and both educated and experienced beekeepers who will frequently offer training courses in their own province or region. There is great value of beekeepers teaching other beekeepers within our industry, and the recommendation of the Atlantic industry is to carefully evaluate each of these training opportunities to know exactly what level of training is being offered and if it is being taught by a credible individual.

A beekeeper’s training is never complete. Not only should more experience beekeepers take advanced courses offered within their region, but there is also value in them attending basic training and education sessions to learn how best management practices are adapting to climate change and changing due to increased challenges of managing various pests and diseases. Beekeeping is a complex and continually evolving practice and no beekeeper will ever be finished with their training. Remember, the very best beekeeper will tell you they still have lots to learn.

Overall, beekeeper education has a direct impact on colony winter survival and on the prevalence of various pests and diseases1. A pan European study demonstrated that newer beekeepers (less than 5 years of experience) who received no formal training, and were not part of a beekeeping organization, had significantly higher winter loss (nearly double) compared to beekeepers who did receive training, had greater than 5 years of experience, and were part of a beekeeping organization1. Furthermore, the group who received no formal training had frequent occurrences of heavy Varroa mite infestations.

In addition to traditional training and education programs and courses, there are a variety of workshops that occur within the industry on a variety of topics. Regularly attending beekeeping workshops is a great opportunity for new and experienced beekeepers to stay current on best practices, and to potentially learn a new technique, skill or practice. The Atlantic Tech Transfer Team for Apiculture frequently hosts or collaborates on workshops in the Atlantic provinces. Each winter the team organizes a series of virtual workshops for the industry. Additionally, the team often provides workshops during annual general meetings for the provincial associations, and they partner with industry events to host workshops. The various provincial associations also offer technical sessions to their members which are of great value for learning and connecting with other beekeepers.

The Atlantic Tech Transfer Team for Apiculture teaching a Varroa mite management workshop at the 2024 Atlantic Bee Tour.

To quantify the impact that extension services (examples include workshops, fact sheets, blogs and one-on-one support) have on agriculture commodities as a whole, a study was conducted by Hurley et al. (2015)2. The study calculated the internal rate of return per year for agricultural extension globally to be 46% (median value)2.

Another component to lifelong learning and education is that beekeepers should be reading current and credible literature with a focus on geographically applicable literature. This may include reading peer reviewed articles from Canadian researchers but also can include literature formats such as credible blogs, newsletters, fact sheets, reports, and beekeeping books. The Atlantic Tech Transfer Team for Apiculture publishes a blog on a weekly basis which provides summaries of Canadian beekeeping research, updates on their own research, and summaries of industry events. The team also has a variety of fact sheets and reports available on their website. In terms of beekeeping books, there are two staples recommended to the Canadian industry, which are The Beekeeper’s Handbook (Dianna Sammataro and Alphonse Avitabile – current edition) and Honey Bee Diseases and Pests (Canadian Association for Professional Apiculturists – current edition).

To learn of upcoming training opportunities, and read about beekeeping research happening within the industry, continue reading the ATTTA blog on a weekly basis.

References

  1. Jacques, A., Laurent, M., Epilobee Consortium, Ribière-Chabert, M., Saussac, M., Bougeard, S., Budge, G.E., Hendrikx, P. and Chauzat, M.P., 2017. A pan-European epidemiological study reveals honey bee colony survival depends on beekeeper education and disease control. PLoS one12(3), p.e0172591.
  2. Hurley, T., Pardey, P.G., Rao, X. and Andrade, R.S., 2016. Returns to food and agricultural R&D; Investments worldwide, 1958-2015.

Connecting with ATTTA Specialists

If you’d like to connect with ATTTA specialists or learn more about our program, you can:

visit our website at https://www.perennia.ca/portfolio-items/honey-bees/

Email attta@perennia.ca