BBKA Basic Assessment
Sorry I've been quiet for a while. I was busy studying for my basic and then I got distracted by various weddings and events.
At the beginning of June I sat my BBKA Basic Assessment, this is first element of the BBKAs somewhat complex set of assessments to become a Master Beekeeper. It seemed daunting, there's a lot on the syllabus but in all honesty it's stuff I normally do with the bees on a regular basis! Our local association had a couple of study sessions to go over the syllabus- nerves set in about how much we needed to know and the study guide book is massive! We also had a practical mock on an association members apiary- Jen, she has beautiful brightly coloured hives and her bees were so lovely it was a great experience to look at someone else's bees and I learnt a lot!
It came round to exam day and it was the most nervous I'd been in a long time- I hate practical assessments and knowing someone was going to not only be observing but 'judging' my beekeeping was a scary thought! It was a little bit chilly to start with so we waited a while until the bees were flying. The assessments took place on an association member's apiary in a beautiful cherry orchard at the farm I had my first job as a farm shop girl! My examiner was great and put me at ease, Julie is a Master Beekeeper and it took her a good 10years or so from her basic exam to master beekeeper and now examiner and member of the BBKA education board (no pressure!).
My exam seemed to go well, it's made up of 3 parts, the observation of your handling of a colony, oral questions on swarming, diseases and general beekeeping and finally the making up of a brood frame. The practical was on different hives than I am used to- Langstroth's and I found them quite fiddly, there is not much room to hold things by- and I have tiny hands! It seemed to go well other than I did drop a frame and temporarily misplaced my hive tool (by temporary I mean they found it a week or two later!), but this does happen in normal beekeeping life, I even managed to find the queen!
The questions went well, I had studied like crazy, making revision notes and reading through them again and again and getting my friends to test me. The making of the frame went smoothly apart from someone had picked up smaller foundation by accident from the association stock and it didn't quite fit!
It took around an hour in total and I left feeling like I had done an ok job, I'd had a good stab at it and was proud I hadn't made any major mistakes and that I remembered to bring all the equipment I needed! I found out my results a few weeks back and I must have done well as I passed with Credit. If you've been keeping bees for at least a year (or even more I think I'm on year 5!) then do it, it makes you feel more confident in your skills and beekeeping ability.
Now onto the modules!
At the beginning of June I sat my BBKA Basic Assessment, this is first element of the BBKAs somewhat complex set of assessments to become a Master Beekeeper. It seemed daunting, there's a lot on the syllabus but in all honesty it's stuff I normally do with the bees on a regular basis! Our local association had a couple of study sessions to go over the syllabus- nerves set in about how much we needed to know and the study guide book is massive! We also had a practical mock on an association members apiary- Jen, she has beautiful brightly coloured hives and her bees were so lovely it was a great experience to look at someone else's bees and I learnt a lot!
It came round to exam day and it was the most nervous I'd been in a long time- I hate practical assessments and knowing someone was going to not only be observing but 'judging' my beekeeping was a scary thought! It was a little bit chilly to start with so we waited a while until the bees were flying. The assessments took place on an association member's apiary in a beautiful cherry orchard at the farm I had my first job as a farm shop girl! My examiner was great and put me at ease, Julie is a Master Beekeeper and it took her a good 10years or so from her basic exam to master beekeeper and now examiner and member of the BBKA education board (no pressure!).
 |
| A dull start in the cherry orchard! |
My exam seemed to go well, it's made up of 3 parts, the observation of your handling of a colony, oral questions on swarming, diseases and general beekeeping and finally the making up of a brood frame. The practical was on different hives than I am used to- Langstroth's and I found them quite fiddly, there is not much room to hold things by- and I have tiny hands! It seemed to go well other than I did drop a frame and temporarily misplaced my hive tool (by temporary I mean they found it a week or two later!), but this does happen in normal beekeeping life, I even managed to find the queen!
The questions went well, I had studied like crazy, making revision notes and reading through them again and again and getting my friends to test me. The making of the frame went smoothly apart from someone had picked up smaller foundation by accident from the association stock and it didn't quite fit!
It took around an hour in total and I left feeling like I had done an ok job, I'd had a good stab at it and was proud I hadn't made any major mistakes and that I remembered to bring all the equipment I needed! I found out my results a few weeks back and I must have done well as I passed with Credit. If you've been keeping bees for at least a year (or even more I think I'm on year 5!) then do it, it makes you feel more confident in your skills and beekeeping ability.
Now onto the modules!
Comments
Post a Comment