Introductory Beekeeping Hands-On Course

This course will be held on Saturday June 21st, 2025 and requires no prior knowledge or previous experience working with honeybee colonies. This course is for ages 13+ and is held on our beautiful bee farm the country hills of Wilno, Ontario. Safety and individual comfort are extremely important as we will provide head-to-toe protective gear for each participant. You may choose not to wear it at your own discretion.

Here at deGroots Apiaries/Farm we’ve been working with honeybees and colony hive management since 2009, teaching us the vital knowledge of beekeeping successfully in a cold Canadian climate. This course will teach you how to beekeep successfully in all areas including honeybee biology, hive workings, seasonal hive management, successful over-wintering techniques, honey flow production, disease management, Ontario regulations and resources and see how we incorporate our farm to aid our honeybees. We have over 16 years of education through OMAFRA and Guelph University research. This is a more thorough and longer course compared to many other beekeeping courses offered in Ontario and is provided in a beautiful, relaxed outdoor setting.

In the Beginner Beekeepers course, all introductory beekeeping techniques will be shown and taught. The morning half is 4 hours going over all education in a relaxed group setting. Then a half hour break for lunch. Then the afternoon half begins with approximately 3 hours of hands-on teaching, as we explore and dissect full beehive colonies here in our home apiary with over 35 full sized operational bee hives. Each participant will be encouraged to ask any questions and will personally handle and go through many beautiful beehive colonies (comfort levels will be accommodated!)

This is a one-day, intensified course from 9 am to 4 pm. We supply support hand outs to each participant, chairs and shelter. It’s a highly thorough, educational all day course that will leave you ready and confident to keep your own honeybees. We’ve been offering this course for over 10 years. Please arrive 15 minutes early. Please bring boots/shoes to wear during our bee yard sessions (sandals are highly discouraged) and your own lunch.

Gear is provided by deGroots Apiaries.

We accept cancellations, providing a full refund minus a $7.00 restocking fee, up to 10 days prior to course. We do not refund for cancellations within the 10 day period prior to the course date. All no-shows will unfortunately not be refunded due to loss of revenue.