Nature Center & Stonewall Apiary Offer Beekeeping 101

The Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center is pleased to again partner with Stonewall Apiary of Hanover, CT, to offer Beekeeping 101, a series of four classes designed to teach the basics of successful beekeeping.

The center will offer two four-week sessions, an evening session beginning Monday Jan. 2, and a Saturday morning session beginning Jan. 7. Cost is $100 for the session, plus the book (available for purchase at the Nature Store). To register, visit www.dpnc.org/calendar.

The classes are taught by Stuart Woronecki, owner of Stonewall Apiary in Hanover, CT. The Nature Center sells Stonewall honey and beeswax candles in both its Nature Stores. Participants will have the opportunity to take a field trip to a Stonewall Apiary bee yard and purchase equipment. Packaged bees can be reserved.

Session I – Getting Started – Equipment basics: wooden ware, frames, tools, protective clothing, ordering & assembling equipment.
Session II – The Honey Bee – The queen, workers and drone; changes throughout the season; the brood cycle.
Session III – Pests & Diseases – Mice, wax moths, small hive beetles, foulbrood, chalkbrood, nosema, tracheal mites, varroa destructor; integrated pest management.
Session IV – Odds & Ends – Wrap up unfinished topics; pollinator friendly plantings; honey harvest and processing (if time permits).

Session 1: Mondays: Jan. 2, 9, 16, 23, 6:30-9 pm

Session 2: Saturdays: Jan. 7, 14, 21, 28, 9:30 am-12 pm