OFFERING A RANGE OF HANDS-ON BEEKEEPING COURSES

FROM THE KELMSCOTT FOOTHILLS OF PERTH

SUITED TO ALL AGES AND STANDARDS
WESTERN AUSTRALIA IS ONE OF THE BEST PLACES IN THE WORLD TO KEEP BEES

Are you thinking of keeping a beehive at home?

Not sure where to start?

Let us guide you to the production of your own honey....

Courses Resume in Spring
Our courses will resume in October 2022
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INTERESTED IN ONE OF OUR COURSES?
REGISTER YOUR INTEREST BELOW
Place your name on our waiting list as an expression of interest for the next group of courses.
 
We can let you know when our courses become available.

    Facebook Reviews
    • positive review  Did an Introduction to Bees course at Heathneil Honey over the weekend it was a fantastic day full of useful information for everyone from beginners to those with beekeeping experience. Very friendly on a lovely property where we were given hands on experience as well as the theory side of keeping bees and also enjoyed a delicious morning tea with homemade cakes and carob chocolate All up a very enjoyable day Thanks guys

      Jill Ward Avatar Jill Ward
      20/11/2017
    • positive review  Very informative course about beekeeping tailored to the needs of the class on the day with great hands on experience. Yummy snacks and lots of questions answered

      Quentin Starkie Avatar Quentin Starkie
      26/02/2020
    • positive review  Great beginner course! Brett was very knowledgeable and happy to answer questions. Zoe also provided some yummy cake and biscuits as an added bonus. Really enjoyed the hands on experience of wandering amongst the hives and inspecting the frames. Watching a wild bee swarm appear and subsequently get caught was an added bonus ( got lucky). Overall a great and worthwhile course. Learnt a lot and highly recommended.

      Greg Scourse Avatar Greg Scourse
      30/01/2021
    • positive review  Such an amazing ‘introduction to bee keeping’ course. So well-run, organised, with excellent content. And Brett is a wonderful communicator. Questions were encouraged and answered beautifully. The afternoon tea was delicious! Super yummy handmade honey cake and orange zest chocolate (thank you Zoe ❤️) Such Wonderful hospitality! The hands on component was fabulous. It was such a confidence builder to be able to hold up and examine frames and know what we were looking at; work with calm bees; see firsthand how kids could work safely with and around bees and we even got the unique privilege to see how Brett placed a swarm into a box! (Wow!) The atmosphere was such a friendly, welcoming and encouraging one and I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND anyone interested in bees/bee keeping to attend this course. 🐝❤️

      Lydia Pethick Avatar Lydia Pethick
      23/02/2019
    • positive review  Thanks Zoe, Brett and Milo for an awesome day teaching us all about the brilliant life, love and care of bees. Fantastic presentation and practical demonstrations. Can’t wait to purchase our first nuc from you in the spring 👍🐝❤️

      Sam Broadbent Avatar Sam Broadbent
      06/04/2019
    • positive review  I have signed up for an intermediate bee keeping course through this site.

      Richard Storr Avatar Richard Storr
      23/10/2019
    • positive review  Thanks Brett & Zoe. Very informative day. Welcomed the vast and many questions by all. The passion and care you have for your bees shone! The cakes and cup’s of tea were also great. Would highly recommend. Your bees were so quiet and calm I can’t wait to get one of your beautiful queens.

      Jill Keeffe Avatar Jill Keeffe
      28/11/2020
    INTRODUCTORY BEEKEEPING COURSE

    Heathers’ Beekeeping offers an introductory course, which has previously been referred to as ‘beekeeping for bee-ginners!’ The course is well suited to individuals considering dipping their toes into the hobby of beekeeping, maybe with a fancy to keep a hive or flow hive in their backyard so that they can watch these curious creatures at work and harvest their own honey or other bee products – sustainable living at its best!

     

    This course provides a comprehensive coverage of beekeeping that serves as a useful refresher for anyone that has kept bees for a short while but is unsure about some aspect(s) of beekeeping.  We aim to help beekeepers get the most out of their hard-working bees.

     

    Some attend our introductory course simply to learn more about the lifecycle and habits of these complex pollinators that are so important to our food production and well-being.

     

    Testimonials
    Want to do a bit more with your hives?
    Photo Credit: Sacha Sutherland
    INTERMEDIATE BEEKEEPING COURSE

    Our intermediate beekeeping course aims to build confidence in the more experienced beekeeper who may have already been to an introductory course and/or kept bees for several years.  With a hands-on approach, we teach you how to ‘read the tea leaves’ and understand the balance of the hive so that you are well equipped to do a little more with your bees.

     

    At the opening of the class, we ask attendees to let us know what they are hoping to learn.  This allows us to lead the class through, often shared, topics of interest and leave us with greater practical knowledge that they can utilise at home. For example, people may learn the tricks to splitting a hive or altering the genetics of an aggressive or failing hive by re-queening.

    Testimonials
    Brag to your bee buddies - raise your own queens!
    QUEEN BEE REARING - GRAFTING COURSE

    Finally, on offer is a queen rearing – grafting course.  We initially offered this course through popular demand – beekeepers on our intermediate course wanted to know how we raised the virgin queens that had just hatched in our incubator and were being handed around for people to examine.  Having seen the lovely nature of our bees, they were also interested in understanding a little more about improving the genetics of their own colonies.  The first course advertised was sold out within hours! 

     

    Mostly, this course is designed to help beekeepers understand the principles behind grafting bees for their own means using practical insights that we have gained from raising queens over several years. 

    Testimonials
    FUN AND ENGAGING COURSES
    We don't drone on and on.....our courses are fun!

    All courses are run in a close, friendly, informal manner with questions and ideas actively encouraged from the beginning.

     

    All courses are run in a close, friendly, informal manner with questions and ideas actively encouraged from the beginning.

     

    Courses are presented by Brett Heather, who is a natural educator and enjoys passing on his extensive knowledge from over 20 years of beekeeping.

    To begin with, Brett takes you through the theory, explaining the tricks to the trade in creative detail. A brief tea/coffee-break with yummy treats (mostly made with honey), is followed by a hands-on approach to learning in the hives. 

    Photo Credit: Sacha Sutherland

    Bee suits are put on and time is spent amongst our placid bees spotting the elusive queens or recently laid eggs that look like miniature grains of rice, differentiating the drones from the workers, observing the change in appearance from nursing workers to foraging workers and the list goes on…… 

    An engaging experience is had by all,
    By people big and people small,
    Gaining more practical insight than before,
    Some have such fun, they come back for more!

    Really, some people do come back for more courses simply just to enjoy the social element, the great atmosphere and because they want to learn as much as they can! 

    WHAT WE HAVE ON OFFER.....
    Beekeeping Courses

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      Are you looking to have a bee hive in your backyard or business premises?

       

      Then join the BeeSitter family!

       

      Sacha Sutherland is a past attendee of our suite of Bee Courses and has photographed some of the stunning bee images as used on our website.

       

      Visit her website to find out more about hosting a beehive or explore some of her beautiful bee products. 

       

      Courses

      Pricing

      Courses for all ages and standards
      • Introduction
      • $163.90
        • INTRODUCTORY BEEKEEPING COURSE (HBI)
        • Tools/equipment
        • What's in the hive?
        • Managing the brood
        • Terminology
        • Understanding swarming
        • Bees and the seasons
        • Things to look out for
        • Harvesting honey
        • Tips for the FLOW HIVE
      • Intermediate
      • $163.90
        • INTERMEDIATE BEEKEEPING COURSE (HBE)
        • Performing splits
        • Requeening hives
        • Understanding the balance of the hive
        • Controlling crowding & swarming
        • Examining different frame types
        • Tips for the FLOW HIVE
      • Queen Bee
      • $163.90
        • QUEEN BEE REARING (HBQ)
        • Trait selection/inherited characteristics
        • Line breeding
        • Hybridisation
        • Grafting methods (wet & dry)
        • Grafting equipment & tools required
        • Different starting & finishing hive setups
        • Use of Queen-right and Queen-less hives
        • Use of cloak boards
        • Seasonal impacts on raising queens
        • Queen rearing calendar
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      BEE KIND....Consider giving a GIFT VOUCHER for one of our engaging courses