You’re in the right place.
CONFIDENCE
Break through self doubt by building your skills and using ABC Bees time-tested techniques to raise a healthy beehive.
CLARITY
Outline your vision, identify your strengths, and create actionable goals for your beehive, apiary, or business.
TRAINING
Master the specific skills needed to produce an abundance of honey in a small space, no matter where you live.
SUPPORT
Get guidance, encouragement, and support, plus answers to your questions from Eliese.
COMMUNITY
Create connections, build relationships, and make lifelong friends with fellow beekeepers through our learning community.
“When I enrolled in ABC Bees Level One Beekeeping course, I wanted to learn enough to feel more confident and be more capable looking after my bees. The course was great but what I value even more is the ongoing mentoring and support that Eliese willingly provided. She has an incredible understanding of everything “bees” and remarkable patience for people who are new beekeepers. Eliese and the community of beekeepers that she introduced me to have made my beekeeping easier, more successful and a whole lot of fun.”
“I met Eliese many years ago at a Organic Beekeepers Convention in Oracle Arizona. I had never seen so much love and enthusiasm for before or since. I was also lucky enough to come to Calgary and help her when she first started ABC Bees. Along with her enthusiasm is her understanding of bees and her desire to help others. Having kept bees since 1969, I not come across such talent and ability to see bees and help others. Aren’t all of us bee lovers lucky.
“When I enrolled in ABC Bees Level One Beekeeping course, I wanted to learn enough to feel more confident and be more capable looking after my bees. The course was great but what I value even more is the ongoing mentoring and support that Eliese willingly provided. She has an incredible understanding of everything “bees” and remarkable patience for people who are new beekeepers. Eliese and the community of beekeepers that she introduced me to have made my beekeeping easier, more successful and a whole lot of fun.”
Discover the intricacies of the honey bee lifecycle, evolution, and the varied roles of each caste. With a focus on workers, drones, and queens, we will pull back the veil to view not just how bees work the way they do, but why.
Explore some of the tools that all beekeepers need and we start to learn about where you can purchase colonies and how to assess their value. You will learn about bee packages, transporting nucleus colonies, single colonies and how to manage swarms.
Explore the nectar flows in your specific geographic location and you will learn about the common nectar plants. You will have an opportunity to build your learning portfolio by conducting your own research and interacting with fellow students on the online community.
Construct a supplementary feeding plan that will prevent the starvation of the colony and best support bee health and productivity. Learn about wintering bees, pollen supplementation and substitutes, as well as feeding schedules.
Learn about all the considerations when you are determining the best place to place your hives to ensure the health of your colony. You will also learn about honey bee orientation and more about urban beekeeping.
Learn how to determine when Spring has arrived for your bees, and what management practices are essential to get off to a strong start.
Create summer management goals and expectations including splitting, supering, or combining colonies. Learn to perform basic hive inspections, identify specific causes for concern, and apply integrated pest management strategies throughout the beekeeping season.
Explore the harvesting of honey and how to prepare the colony for winter survival. Seasonal management plan for Fall including simplified honey extraction strategies including foundation and foundationless hive management.
Learn the role of thermodynamics in winterization strategies, the importance of honey and pollen throughout the winter, as well as winter wrap options, locations and flight paths of bees.
Complete a management schedule outlining Integrated Pest Management strategies and techniques that will support bee health and productivity throughout the seasons. Learn to explain when pathogens may be present in a colony identifying solutions to treat, restrict, or remove them.
You will complete your final design an operational beehive and apiary. It will include: Background research, rationale for design, location, size, hive health, a seasonal work plan: spring, summer, fall, winter, as well as risk factors & mitigation.
Join our virtual classroom and participate in the ABC Bees Level One Beekeeping Certificate no matter where you live.
YOUR GOALS
Grow bees and a life you love
YOUR PACE
Learn at your own pace—rewatch the videos as often as you’d like
YOUR LEARNING STYLE
Watch videos and take notes
YOUR SCHEDULE
Participate whenever and wherever you’d like
YOUR COMMUNITY
Connect with beekeepers across Canada
Beginning and intermediate beekeepers and apiarists wanting to raise bees on a small scale, but in a bigger way.
Established beekeepers wanting to improve efficiency, elevate production, or expand into new markets.
Those wanting to build a seasonal business, side gig, or new career centered on honey production.
Dreamers who want to start beekeeping.
Anyone looking to bring more joy and beauty into their life through bees.
Large-scale producers or intensive agricultural operations hoping to learn conventional and commercial mechanized systems.
Beekeepers seeking in-depth commercial beekeeping lessons or the science behind pollination production.
Anyone looking for a get-rich-quick scheme. Building and running an apiary takes a lot of hard work and dedication. If you’re not a motivated person and are uncomfortable with challenging situations, this may not be the course for you.
WEEK 1
BIOLOGY and BEGINNING BEEKEEPING
WEEK 2
POLLEN & NECTAR and FEEDING and HIVE PLACEMENT
WEEK 3
SPRING and SUMMER MANAGEMENT
WEEK 4
FALL and WINTER MANAGEMENT
WEEK 5
HONEY BEE HEALTH and CAPSTONE PROJECT