Conscious Beekeeping: Practical Holistic Approaches for Beginning and Advanced Beekeepers (Including Beginners' Session)

This workshop will emphasize approaches to beekeeping that increase the bees’ vitality and ability to withstand environmental pressures of all kinds. Friday afternoon’s introductory talk will situate the organism of the honey bee colony in the context of the earth organism. On Friday evening, veteran beekeeper Ron Breland will speak on his research into alternative hive designs and the effect of forms on the wellbeing of the bees. On Saturday, we’ll cover the yearly rhythms of life in the hive (and how the beekeeper can support them); increasing the apiary naturally with splits and swarms; “alternative” hive designs; dealing with the varroa mite; and the significance of the honey bee’s communication and navigation skills.

Weather permitting, the workshop will visit the Pfeiffer Center’s apiary, where techniques for working with bees will be demonstrated.

Optional beginners’ session: An optional beginners’ session will be offered before the workshop begins on Friday afternoon. This session will review rhythms of life in the honeybee colony; the Langstroth hive and its alternatives; and the basics of working with bees. Weather permitting, the beginners’ session will include a visit to the Pfeiffer Center’s apiary, where we will open a hive or two.

Megan Durney is Head Gardener and principal beekeeper at the Pfeiffer Center in Chestnut Ridge, NY.

Bill Day learned beekeeping from Gunther Hauk at the Pfeiffer Center. He keeps bees at Blue Field Farm in Blauvelt, NY.

Ron Breland has been a gardener all his life and a beekeeper since 1973. His Bee Sanctuaries in West Nyack and Claverack, NY, are dedicated to the development of sustainable beekeeping practices, the use of non-toxic controls, and the search for alternative hive designs for environmental stress reduction.