ARDMORE – Informative and engaging was how attendees described a beekeeping workshop hosted by the MD of Bonnyville on July 13.
The ABC’s of Bees was presented by Dustin Bajer, an Edmonton-based beekeeper aficionado, who offers an All About Honeybees Course and certificate to those who complete the four-part educational course.
During the full-day workshop held at the Ardmore Community Centre, participants shouted out answers and asked questions as the course material flew by. A total of 34 participants took part in the MD workshop.
Following changes to the MD’s Land Use Bylaw, which now allows residents the ability to keep bees in certain residential zoned lands, the MD's Agricultural Services Department thought it would be a good idea to ensure residents have knowledge about beekeeping.
The workshop hosted by the municipality's Agricultural Services Department focused on how to maintain a healthy hive and the basics of responsible beekeeping.
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While the workshop only covered the first two components of the All About Honeybees Course, missing the Integrated Pest Management portion, Bajer regularly referenced and acknowledged common diseases, fungus and pests that can disrupt, infect or kill off honeybee colonies.
Participants who are interested in completing the course and earning the beekeeping certificate are able complete the last two modules online, noted information provided by the Ag Services Department.
"It's great that people are keeping bees and having fresh honey, I think that's a great thing to promote in our area," Reeve Barry Kalinski told Lakeland This Week. "Anything that would help our area learn more is fantastic. The more we learn, the better we get, the more we know."
The Agriculture department is considering the possibility of hosting another workshop in 2024 after receiving such positive feedback from attendees.
"We got quite capable people on staff that know quite a bit about this and they worked with some of our local producers. And if we didn't quite get it right, well people tell us and then we can tweak things, but I think it's working pretty good so far," said the reeve, referring to the municipality's new beekeeping bylaw and the recent pop-up educational beekeeping workshop.
The cost of taking part in the ABCs of Bees workshop was $15 per person and included lunch.
