Guest speakers for October’s Bee-Centred Beekeeping Course

Posted by Daniel on 4 September 2016

We have two really interesting guest speakers for October’s Castlemaine Continuing Education Introduction To Bee-Centred Beekeeping course lined up to speak and answer questions via video conferencing. I have found that this is an excellent way for us to be able to look at some of the great things that beekeepers are doing around the world from our little town of Castlemaine 🙂

Week 1, 16th Oct – Jason Bruns – Swarm Trapping

Catching and luring swarms is perhaps my favourite part of beekeeping. It’s just so exciting and fun and there are many positive aspects associated with it. Free bees has to be one of the biggest – but those bees aren’t just free –  if they swarmed out of a wild bee colony, they are likely to be survivor bees perfectly adapted to your local environment in a way that purchased bees are very unlikely to be. You could also say that catching swarms is a public service; you have prevented that swarm from making its home in rare native habitat – or your neighbour’s chimney.

Jason Bruns lives in Brookville, Indiana, USA and writes the LetMBee.com blog. Jason is the beekeeper that I know who has caught the most swarms, so who better to talk about how to do it. Jason used lure boxes to catch 39 swarms this season (he’s in the Northern Hempisphere).

Jason will present his thoughts and opinions around this subject and discuss how he does it with us. There will be opportunities for a question and answer session.

Week 2, 23rd Oct – Jacqueline Freeman – Developing A Caring Relationship With The Bees

Jacqueline Freeman, author of The Song Of Increase; website Spiritbee.com will talk about Developing A Caring Relationship With The Bees. There will be a chance to ask questions at the end.

Jacqueline and her husband Joseph moved onto their biodynamic farm in southwest Washington, USA in 2001 and she got her first hives soon after. She attended conventional bee school and immediately knew there must be a different way to care for bees that is more respectful, more compassionate, more like the way feral bees live. A few years later she began teaching this bee-centric approach in her classes, blending natural beekeeping and bee-driven insights into the nature of bees.