Taunton beekeepers are encouraging honey bee lovers to sign up for this year’s beginners’ course which starts on February 25 to get learning and help these essential pollinators to flourish.

Experienced beekeepers will provide an insight into what is involved in keeping a colony of bees and will deliver a programme of lectures and practical, hands-on sessions at the club’s apiary.

Peter Maben, Chairman of Taunton Beekeepers, said: “Beekeeping is a big commitment and requires a gentle hand, patience, and to understand that you’re just a custodian of these wonderful creatures.”

He added: “It’s also a craft spanning lots of different elements from animal husbandry, environmental knowledge, woodwork and processing the products of the hive including honey and wax.”

The course covers all the basics of beekeeping such as what to consider when getting started, what it takes to get through a full season of beekeeping, and how to prepare honey for sale.

Lyndsay Stone from Trull took up beekeeping two years ago after completing the course and said: “It was very informative and there was lots of support from expert beekeepers who were on hand to answer questions. The theory was well backed-up by the practical sessions in the apiary later in the season.”

Lyndsay, who went on to put two hives in her garden, added: “I find beekeeping very calming and I enjoy doing something very slowly and methodically and being surrounded by thousands of bees knowing they are unlikely to harm me.

“The course offers the opportunity to find out about something which at first seems fairly straightforward but, the more you learn, the more you see there is to learn and the amount of knowledge you can acquire seems never-ending.”

The Taunton Beekeepers’ course costs £95 with the first of six classroom sessions held weekly. In the spring the second part of the course includes 12-apiary sessions giving participants the opportunity to handle bees and manage the hives under supervision.

There are still a few places available on this year’s course and for more information please contact Mike Dillon 01823 669619 or email mikedillonbees@gmail.com