Online Course: Beekeeping 101- Organic, Natural, Traditional, with Jacob Wustner

This course offers complete instructions on keeping honey bees using organic, natural and traditional beekeeping techniques.

Beekeeping 101 was created over the course of a summer in order to capture a full season with the bees including lots of hands-on time in the hive. The course is intended to be a thorough introduction to keeping bees so that upon completion, the student can confidently start their own treatment-free honey beehive.

Taught from a permaculture perspective, this course will teach you a holistic approach to beekeeping that considers the natural ecology of honey bees and agriculture. Jacob’s techniques are bee-friendly and bee-centered vs. beekeeper-centered.

What’s in this Beekeeping Course?

Beekeeping 101 covers it all, from basic honey bee physiology and biology to extracting honey and preparing your hive for winter.

You will learn about different kinds of honey bees, useful equipment and where to get it.

You’ll learn about bloom and brood cycles, swarms, hive-site placement, queens and re-queening, planning your honey harvest, extracting honey and crushing comb, combining hives and much more.

In addition, Jacob will share with you his philosophies on feeding only honey and pollen, using locally adapted stock, never using plastic or treatments, mimicking nature’s patterns. As this course was filmed over the course of the summer season, lesson topics follow the flow of the season.

Here’s a little taste of what you will find on this online beekeeping course:

About Jacob Wustner

Jacob Wustner is a second-generation beekeeper from Missoula, MT. He operates Sapphire Apiaries in Stevensville, MT where he produces honey bee products, produce, and mushrooms using the highest principles of Permaculture. Jacob keeps honey bees using natural farming methods such as selecting for disease resistance, raising naturally-mated queens, and only feeding honey.

Technical Details

• Languages:ֲ English
• Skill level: No beekeeping experience necessary
• Lectures: 46 lectures
• Duration:ֲ 10 hours of video
• What you get:ֲ Practice holistic beekeeping.
• Target audience:ֲ This course is meant for anyone interested in keeping honey bees.
• Requirements: Bring your enthusiasm for honey bees!
• Access:ֲ Lifetime access
• Peace of mind: 30-day money-back guarantee
• Availability:ֲ available online, as well as on iOS and Android

Beekeeping Course Lessons by Topic

Day 1- Introduction to Beekeeping 101

• Benefits of Bees
• Bees: Species, Purchasing, and Swarm Management
• Bee Terminology and Physiology
• Equipment
• Site Selection, Equipment, Organic Beekeeping
• Hive Management
• Hands-On In the Hive

Day 2

• Honey Flows and Bloom Cycles
• Free Hands-On In the Hive I
• Hands-On In the Hive II
• Hand On In the Hive III
• Bee Aggression, Raising a Queen
• Honey

Day 3

• Honey: To Harvest or not to Harvest
• Queen Troubles, Open Mating
• Hive Diseases and Treatments
• Free Organics, Tuning into Natureג€™s Patterns
• Hands-On In the Hive I
• Hands-On In the Hive II

Day 4

• Honey Extraction, Working Brood Down, Bottling Honey
• Hand On In the Hive I
• Hands-On In the Hive II
• Hands-On In the Hive III
• Extracting Honey I
• Extracting Honey II

Day 5

• Free Feeding, Insulating for Winter
• Diseases I
• Diseases II
• Bear Fencing I
• Winterizing, Bear Fencing II
• Bear Fencing III
• Small-Cell Beekeeping
• Concluding Thoughts and Questions
• Beekeeping 101 Course Survey
• Surprise Bonus