Urban Beekeeping Workshop for Beginners

Learn all you need to start your path into beekeeping (with option to include a fully operational beehive)



5 hours Class size 1 to 6 (public classes), 6 to 12

label $279 - $349 (or 4 payments of $69.75 - $87.25 Afterpay)
($349 per guest when you book for 1 guest, $279 for 2+ guests)

These days, it is impossible to know if the honey you are buying is real honey or just water with sugar. The only way to ensure that the honey is pure and unadulterated is by producing it yourself.

In this beginner-friendly workshop, you will learn everything you need to know about bees, the equipment needed and how much honey and wax you can expect.

To maintain a beehive is no way near as difficult as it sounds. It is very easy to have a couple of beehives in your backyard and the bees will do most of the work for you! Plus, bees that live in an urban environment are a lot healthier than those in the country because they have a wider variety of healthy and cared-for gardens from which to extract nectar.

During this workshop, you'll learn that bees feed themselves, all you need to provide them with is a water source and a safe space.

Over five hours, we will cover:

  • An introduction to beekeeping
  • What is honey?
  • The history of beekeeping
  • Honey flora – the importance of bees
  • Legislation – locating the hive
  • How to get the bees
  • Honey bees – castes, life cycles, re-queening, types of cells
  • Bee dancing and what it means
  • Swarming and catching a swarm
  • Sourcing bees from a supplier
  • Collecting the pollen and nectar
  • Beehive management and inspections
  • Splitting a hive
  • Relocating a hive
  • Harvesting the honey and the wax
  • Honey bee products
  • Australian native bees vs European bees
  • Bee stings
  • Bee health, pest and diseases and how to treat them
  • Beeswax uses – candles, cosmetics, soap
  • Flow Hive
  • Initial and ongoing cost of beekeeping
  • Practical demonstration – opening a hive and inspecting it

Having bees at home is an extremely rewarding experience, you get to interact with nature in a very intimate way and will learn about these fascinating and intelligent creatures.

The workshop will be delivered in an interactive classroom environment by professional trainers and beekeepers. Beekeeping equipment is displayed and living hives are available for inspection.

Option for Fully Operational Beehive and Mentoring includes the following items:
  • A 2-level (10 frames each level) Langstroth Beehive, fully operational with a gentle Queen, bees, honey and babies
  • Installation of Beehive at your home backyard within Greater Sydney (contact me for other areas)
  • 6 months of maintenance and mentoring


group_add
Save $140 when you book with a friend
Add-ons available for this class
  • Add a Fully Operational Beehive and Mentoring ($1,200)
  • Add a 500g jar honey ($15)
  • Add 1Kg fresh honey ($25)
  • Add 2Kg fresh honey ($45)
  • Add 3Kg fresh honey ($60)
You can add these when you book (optional).
 
Knowledge required
No prior knowledge required. Suitable for anyone interested in learning about the fundamentals of beekeeping.
 
What you'll get
Beekeeping suits and tools are available to use during the demonstrations with the live hives.

By the end of this course, you should be able to:
  • Identify the various methods of beekeeping
  • Source suitable bees and beehive position
  • Know about the regulations pertaining to beekeeping
  • Maintain a beehive successfully
  • Harvest honey and render wax
  • Recognise pests and diseases affecting bees
  • Distinguish the various products made from honey and wax.
What to bring
Please wear long pants and enclosed shoes.
 
Suitable for

This class is great for individuals and couples as well as for a team building activity, Christmas party, birthday or hens party.

Suitable for adults, and kids (minimum 12 years old).

An adult must accompany any attending kids, and must pay for a separate ticket.

This would also be a lovely gift for her, gift for mum, anniversary gift or birthday gift.

Location

Lugarno, NSW

Exact location is masked for privacy. You'll automatically get the specific address after booking.

Urban Beekeeping Workshop for Beginners location
Your teacher
Gus German
Gus German

4.9 (21)

We, at the Bee Protection Society want to do what we can to protect the bees, particularly the bees in the urban environment. Bees in large cities have a lot going for them, but only as long as they are protected within a proper hive and under the care of someone that looks after them.

We want to educate people about these fascinating creatures and encourage them to install a beehive in their backyard. It is a very rewarding experience to know that you are helping bees survive and also to get honey and wax in return.

With over 30 years experience in beekeeping, we are fully qualified to help our community to achieve the best sustainable results while caring for bees.

Verified reviews

We only show reviews from customers who have paid for and attended this class


Patricia Cabrera Nov 2023


Very informative and fascinating. I never knew there was so much to learn about bees. I feel more confident moving ahead with my beekeeping journey. Would recommend to anyone wanting g learn about bees and beekeeping.

Chris Adams Apr 2023

2 ClassBento workshops attended


Gus was a great teacher - very organized, gave clear information and was very passionate on the subject. If you are interested in starting beekeeping definitely would recommend this course

Eduard Lugovoy Feb 2023


Excellent class by Gus, well structured and logically built as a dialog motivating you to ask questions and rather understand how it all works and why. Highly recommended If you're to learn about the beekeeping, this class is one stop shop not only for beginners but for further learning and support.

Michelle Mawbey Dec 2022


An awesome day learning about the bees and honey. Gus is so knowledgeable and his passion is infectious. Do you know what honey is? Bet you’d be surprised- I recommend this course if you are interested to know

Urban Beekeeping Workshop for Beginners review by Michelle Mawbey - Sydney

Vanessa Auditore Nov 2022


Gus is very knowledgeable and passionate about all things bees. Very informative and really loved the practical component and putting some of the knowledge to use on the day.

Highly recommended. Thank you

Urban Beekeeping Workshop for Beginners review by Vanessa Auditore - Sydney

Alison Mitrevski May 2022

2 ClassBento workshops attended • 2 reviews


super interesting and learned heaps! Gus' passion for bees was great to see and very contagious!

John Joannides Apr 2022


Yes very informative and educational John and myself walked away with things we just did no know if our yard allows within the next few years we will consider a bee hive and when the grandchildren are a little older. We will recommend this coarse to our family and friends good work Gus. Diane

Olivia Ross Mar 2022

6 ClassBento workshops attended • 3 reviews


It was very interesting. I couldn't believe (beelieve) how much there is to know about bees. Yet also, they seem fairly simple to look after. They are smart girls, for sure.

John McCabe Mar 2022


I really enjoyed the session today with Gus. He has a methodical way of sharing his knowledge and an easy style with the group.
I learned a lot, although I appreciate that it just the tip of the iceberg, but more importantly Gus has made me even more motivated to learn so much more. I would definitely recommend this course.

Michael Brighton-Hall Mar 2022


Incredibly thorough information, and happy to answer all our questions.
Loved having a teacher (Gus) that now only knew his stuff, but wanted to make sure we understood the 'why' as well as the 'how'.
Would thoroughly recommend to anyone who is leaping into the world of urban beekeeping.

Urban Beekeeping Workshop for Beginners review by Michael Brighton-Hall - Sydney

Stephen Ong Feb 2022


An excellent course.
Informative, educational with friendly staff.
Highly recommended.

Robert Donsante Feb 2022

2 ClassBento workshops attended • 2 reviews


I found Gus to have a wealth of knowledge and experience that he happily shared in a very engaging and informative way. Unfortunately the rainy day meant that we weren’t able to look inside the workings of one of his hives which he promptly offered for another weekend. He also demonstrated a number of pieces of equipment and parts of hives including the difference in quality, price and application using examples of his own experience which allowed me to understand the practical aspect and consideration of beekeeping. I found Gus to be passionate who truly cared about bees and their industry and would recommend him wholeheartedly to anyone looking to get a solid and practical understanding and or commencement in their beekeeping journey. Robert

John Moser Jan 2022


Was a very pleasant experience a very knowledgeable day with a calm atmosphere, very comfortable learning got a lot from this course would recommend it too any one wanting to get Ito bee keeping

Atsushi Kobayashi Jan 2022

2 ClassBento workshops attended • 2 reviews


Great "getting started"course. 5 hours learning had gone past so quickly as I enjoyed so much. The course contents are so helpful to understand what I need to know to start bee keeping in my backyard. I strongly recommend this course if you are absolutely beginner and are interested in bee keeping.

Mary Claassens Jan 2022

3 ClassBento workshops attended • 2 reviews


Ever wondered why bees ‘dance’ and how to read the ‘code’? How to tell the difference between a bee and a wasp? Is it really OK to ‘rob’ honey from a hive? How long do bees live? Gus answers all these questions and many more in an engaging, informative, and practical way. In the afternoon we donned beekeeping PPE and went outside to stand amongst Gus’s bee hives. The bees flew around us, not worried or distressed by our presence. Gus showed us how to open a hive and lift out a honey-laden frame, we were each given the opportunity to lift a frame out and examine it. Full frames are surprisingly heavy. We gently closed the hive and moved back to the house, the bees continued as if we hadn’t intruded at all. After a short debrief the workshop finished. We left, blissed out on bees and information overload while wanting to learn more about these truly awe-inspiring creatures. Thank you, Gus.

Luke Maher Jan 2022


The bee keeping course with Gus was a great introduction to bee keeping.

Gus prided himself on delivering both the how and why of bee keeping. With most other one-day bee keeping courses focusing on how to keep bees, Gus offered additional knowledge and experience on why bees do what they do and why keeping bees is a benefit to you and your community.

Gus acknowledged that there was much more to bee keeping than can be covered in a one-day workshop, new knowledge to be gained through experience and/or as part of mentoring services Gus can provide to students who decide to take on the responsibility of keeping bees.

Thanks

Luke

Samantha Roberts Dec 2021


Gus is a wealth of knowledge and goes into depth explaining which is great. Very hospitable and would highly recommend this for anyone looking to get into Beekeeping!

Suellen Lembke Nov 2021


Gus was extremely knowledgeable and engaging explaining “why” before “what”. He scaffolded the session with slides and had all the equipment one might need available for us to see/touch and question. The time went quickly. The pizza tea/coffee, water and mints were a lovely and welcome inclusion. Unfortunately, the weather precluded an inspection of the hives but we will reconvene to do this. Gus also offered his support going forward with any aspect of practical bee-keeping that we are finding challenging.

Glenn Newling Jun 2021


Great workshop. Gus is highly knowledgeable drawing from his experience; successes and failures. Having only 2 in the class made for a relaxed and open situation and enabled lots of questions without feeling like you might be slowing the pace down. Due to the cold and wet weather, the practical component couldn't be covered on the day but Gus will be inviting us back on another day to take part in the practical. Gus provided some mentos, water and pizza to keep us going. Being a cold day, the pizza was well received. My only thought at the time and am only saying this because it was cold, I should have brought a thermas of coffee or hot tea on the day. I was dying for a coffee. We covered all aspects of beekeeping. Gus had a carefully thought out powerpoint discussion but we could deviate at any time. Gus' background as an engineer provided added worth as he could detail the virtues of the tools and equipment. All in all, great day.

Michaela Byers Jun 2021

2 ClassBento workshops attended • 2 reviews


The theory was very interesting and Gus was very engaging. It was too bad that the weather was bad so we didn't get to open a hive. Will get the opportunity next month.

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