OBKA Beginners Course Day 1
What a day we had on Saturday the 25th of March 2017 at OBKA ! We were looking forward to our first beginners class of the year and we had 13 people signed up beforehand. We had a small room organised and we hoped the weather would be warm enough to visit the apiary. At 8.30 am we knew the weather would be good and by 9 we knew that a lot more people were interested in beekeeping ! We had a wonderful group of enthusiastic beginners - 26 in total (double the sign up !!) ,who were all set to enter the fascinating world of the bee. Teresa McDonald, an experienced beekeeper and long time member, opened the course with a well researched introduction to beekeeping. Teresa was able to bring the theoretical to life by showing the various parts of the hive which she brought with her - while answering lots of questions at the same time ! She was ably assisted by Jerry Reilly who is also an experienced beekeeper with a wealth of bee lore and beekeeping expertise. Our life member John Donoghue gave the next lecture on the life cycle of the honeybee and ,as usual, gave a talk full of knowledge and experience, illustrated with lovely slides. After some tea breaks and welcome sandwiches and scones organised by secretary Niall O Reilly and committee member Fiona Ferguson we all adjourned to the apiary where Niall Murphy brought everyone through the rudiments of starting the art of beekeeping. Niall, our treasurer and a very experienced beekeeper, showed us the equipment in the apiary and explained the various parts of a hive and their function. Another life member and apiary manager, John Summerville then brought students through the excitement of opening a hive for the first time. The weather was warm, the bees were docile and the atmosphere was electric. Everyone engaged with bees and beekeepers and all promised to return to class on April 8th. It promises to be a great course as always and we look forward to new beekeepers joining our ranks. If you are already a member please be aware you are free to join our classes as a refresher whatever day you choose.
