Beekeepers, old and new, learn the ropes online

To encourage awareness to be involved in beekeeping. a Honey Bee and Pollination Program has released a number of training videos online on YouTube so be watched and followed by beekeeping newbies. Be sure to check it out if you're new to beekeeping.

As part of a push to encourage more people to become involved in beekeeping, the Honey Bee and Pollination Program has released a number of training videos on YouTube.

The videos cover everything from construction and repair of beehives to artificial insemination.

Beekeeper James Kershaw, from the Honey Bee and Pollination Advisory Committee, said while the videos were designed for newcomers, experienced beekeepers would also find them useful to learn about new techniques and ideas.

He said it was important to encourage more people into beekeeping.

"The average age for a beekeeper now is well over 50, so it's great to have younger beekeepers coming in," he said.

"They might only start off with one hive but eventually they might go, 'Well, I want to make a living out of this' and go up to 300, 400, 500 hives.

"There's a lot of people starting off with bees in the last few years, so this is a good way for people to touch base with some basic training."

The videos have been produced to align with the accredited Certificate AHC 32010 in beekeeping and Certificate AHC 10 in Agriculture.

Mr Kershaw said they also were available for groups to use in local training days.

"Down here in Canberra ... the local amateur club's got a CIT course going ... they do one every year and it's booked out the first week they open it up," he said.

"There's a lot of demand in education of keeping bees."

Mr Kershaw said the videos focusing on artificial insemination of queens and pollination would be the most useful for established beekeepers.

And as for who trained the bees, Mr Kershaw said they left that up to nature.

To view the training videos, visit the Rural Industries Research and Development YouTube channel.

Source: ABC