Classes
2025 classes and workshops
- Beginner beekeeping classes:
- Beginner class series
- Beginner class and field workshop (March)
- Beginner field workshop (May)
- Intermediate beekeeping
- Intermediate class series
- Intermediate class and field workshop (March)
- Intermediate field workshop (May)
- All levels of beekeepers
- Integrated pest management (IPM) field workshop
The Heidrun Meadery Bee Experience
Join Bonnie and Gary on the grounds of the beautiful Heidrun Meadery in Point Reyes Station for their legendary Bee Experience… a true flower-to-flute event.
After a brief introduction to our apicultural program at Heidrun, we’ll don beekeeping suits and head out to the apiary for a hands-on inspection of working hives
From those hives, we’ll pull frames laden with honey to hand-extract and you’ll even jar up our estate honey to take with you! We’ll then walk you through how honey is made into mead and wind down on the patio with a relaxing mead-tasting
These one-of-a-kind tours are offered on select Sundays Spring thru Fall
Visit this link for more details
Beginner Beekeeping Class Series (9 hours, $175)
Know you want to keep bees? Classroom sessions will include basic bee information and biology, seasonal cycles of a colony, equipment options, where to place your hive, how to get bees and tips on working with your equipment. When the weather warms up, there will be a field session so you can observe and practice working with your tools and bees.
Classroom sessions: Saturdays, January 25 (Zoom) and February 1 (field if weather cooperates, Zoom if not) 9am – 12pm
Field Day: Saturday, March 22, 9:30am – 12:30pm, location San Rafael (Rain date April 5)
Intermediate Beekeeping Class Series (9 hours, $175)
You’ve got your colony through winter (or not) – now what? Class sessions will include how to clean up your equipment, expanding hive size for spring, swarm prevention- and if that fails, swarm capture, setting up bait hives for swarms, identification of common pest and diseases and management options for them. Topics will also include dealing with special situations: defensive hives, queen failures, laying workers and more. Field day will include information on how to split a colony, pest and disease ID, and swarm prevention.
Classroom sessions: Saturdays, February 8 (Zoom) and February 15 (field if weather cooperates, Zoom if not) 9am – 12pm
Field Day: Saturday, March 22, 1:30pm – 4:30pm, location San Rafael (Rain date April 5)
Backyard Beekeeping: class / field workshop (Saturday, March 29, 9:30am – 12:30pm, $95)
Considering becoming a beekeeper? Take the first step by learning about this fascinating and important pollinator. If you haven’t started already, now is the time to get going so equipment is ready and bees are ordered for the 2025 season.
In this class, you’ll learn about the roles of the queen, workers and drones within a colony and how they interact with seasonal cycles. Learn about basic considerations you’ll need to take into account before jumping into this exciting new hobby, including where to place your hive, equipment options and sources, bee sources, and time required.
Location: San Rafael (Rain date April 12)
Intermediate Beekeeping class / field workshop (March 29, 1:30pm – 4:30pm, 3 hours, $95)
Your bees made it through winter! Now what? Where / when to add space, when feeding might still be appropriate, swarm prevention, splitting, diseases & mites and more! Come with your questions.
Location: San Rafael (Rain date April 12)
Beekeeping Basics Field workshop (Saturday, May 17, 9:30am – 12:30pm, $95)
You have your bees, now what?? Learn tips and techniques for using smoker, bee brush and hive tool. Will look into how to work your frames and what to be looking for to determine health of your queen and the colony as a whole. This will include when / how to add space, food issues, pest & diseases. As urban beekeepers, it is important to prevent swarming (to the best of our ability), so you’ll learn what causes swarming, how to prevent, and how to recognize early warnings that a colony is making preparations to swarm.
Location: San Rafael
Intermediate Beekeeping Field workshop (Saturday, May 17, 1:30pm – 4:30pm, $95)
An overwintered colony requires different spring management than a new colony. Some of the topics covered will include space management in the hive, queen issues (when you might need to replace and how you do that), and splitting a hive (for colony increase, swarm prevention, or as a method of varroa control).
Location: San Rafael
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Field workshop Saturday, July 19, 9am – 12pm, $95)
We’ll be evaluating colony conditions and looking at different management options. Workshop will include conducting sugar rolls to determine mite infestation % levels and organic options for dealing with mites. This is also the time of year in Marin when forage can be scarce so we’ll discuss feeding options.
Location: San Rafael
