Monday, March 20 2023
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Beekeeping Class
March 20, 2023 @ 7:01 pm - 8:30 pm
An event every week that begins at 7:01 pm on Monday, repeating until May 9, 2023
The Blackburn College Beekeeping Program will host its first beekeeping class this spring. This exciting opportunity will be open to the public, and attendees will have access to the campus’s apiary as a learning resource. The class will run from March 13 until May 9, 2023.
The opportunity will consist of eight evening classroom sessions and up to eight in-hive field days on weekends (weather permitting). Those attending the class will learn introductory beekeeping skills, honeybee anatomy and reproduction, as well as hive social structure and function. The class will also include understanding the bees’ relationship to each other, their relationship to humans, the human relationship to bees, the impact on our shared environment, and how it affects both the bees and humans alike. Blackburn College is a chemical-free apiary, and coursework will therefore reflect this.
While Blackburn’s commitment to pollinators dates back to the late 1800s, the current Bee Program launched in 2016 when an insurance provider forced the College to remove a natural beehive from a tree near Lumpkin Library. The student group maintains several hives on campus and at Solomon Creek Farm, a private nature preserve, and two period-correct hives at Lincoln’s Home National Historic Site in Springfield, IL.
Each evening class session will be held on Monday and will start at 7:00 pm. The cost for residents of Macoupin and Montgomery Counties will be $75, all others will be $100. To learn more about the class or find registration information, please contact Dade Bradley or call (815) 216-2282 or Registrar Dianna Ruyle.