Back in February we held a workshop in Osceola, Mo. in which we targeted people interested in getting into beekeeping. We had 28 people that attended the workshop. The goal of this workshop was to provide the potential beekeepers with the knowledge and tools to be successful in beginning and managing their new bees and hives through the first year. The class was taught by a local beekeeping organization Pomme De Terre Beekeepers.
Based on the exit evaluation the day of the workshop we were successful in accomplishing the task we set out to do. When we break down the results of the exit evaluation some key things that we found our workshop to be successful in were:
1. Some of the specific knowledge gained by participants was:
- Process of swarm capturing
- Breeds of bees
- Beekeeper traps
- Hive components
- Diseases associated with bees
- Starting a hive and managing it
- Honey harvesting
- Taking care of problems with bees
- Transfer of bees either captured or purchased into a new hive
2. Over 90% of the people who answered the evaluation said they plan to use the knowledge gained from the workshop. Some of the ways that they said they would use the knowledge gained were to:
- Start hives
- Raise bees
- Decide where to set up their bee hives
- Be a successful beekeeper
3. Over 95% of the 28 participants said they were either highly likely or somewhat likely to become beekeepers based on the knowledge gained and the other participant was already a beekeeper.
4. Over 85% of the participants of the workshop said they were going to add bee hives in the next year and the number of hives ranged from 1 bee hive to 6 to 8 bee hives per person.
As you can see our workshop was successful in meeting our goals and participant needs. We were able to provide participants with the knowledge, contacts and information needed to answer their questions and help them in beginning to start and manage their bee hives through the first year. Because of their experience at the workshop they reported that they will now be able to successfully build and manage their bee hives.
This is not the end in working with these potential beekeepers. We will be sending out follow up evaluations to see how these beginning beekeepers are doing, how their bees and hives are progressing, and to learn how we can further help them as an extension service in their beekeeping operation. So say stay tuned for more information as we report on this at a further date.