Registration form below
Bee School Frequently Asked Questions
When and where is Bee School?
Our Bee School is a 3-day event. This year, our classroom days will be held February 15th and 22nd at the Angelina Co. Extension Office, 2201 S. Medford Dr. Lufkin. We’ll start at 10 am and finish by 4 pm. Our bee yard day will be held March 1st (weather permitting). The club apiary is in Lufkin. It’s located on a member’s private property, so we’re not listing the address here. Our members are scattered around Lufkin, Nacogdoches, Jasper, and other neighboring towns. If we have more students than our club apiary can accommodate, we’ll try to arrange for you to visit a bee yard closer to you. We usually begin at 10 am, but sometimes it’s necessary to stagger groups so everyone has a better learning experience. It’s also up to the beekeeper who’s hosting.
What topics are covered?
On Day 1, we'll cover Are Bees for Me?, Life Inside the Hive, Equipment, and Getting Bees.
On Day 2, we'll cover Inspecting Your Hive, The Beekeeper's Calendar, Diseases & Pests, and Potential Problems & FAQs.
Day 3 will be in the bee yard. You'll be encouraged to manipulate frames and we'll help you identify the members of the colony and the things you're seeing in the hive.
What do I need to bring?
For the classroom days, you’ll probably want to bring pen and paper for notetaking. You may want to bring your copy of Beekeeping for Dummies, but you'll survive without it. We’ll have a lunch break, so pack a lunch or plan to grab something nearby and bring it back. On bee yard day, you’ll need protective gear – hat and veil are the bare minimum. You’ll probably want gloves. The instructor will have a smoker, but bring yours if you’d like to practice lighting and using it. Your hive tool would be a handy thing to bring. You’ll want to get used to using it.
Can my husband/wife/child/nephew-once-removed come with me?
Yes. You can bring a guest at no additional cost. Your guest will share the handouts with you. Please include your guest’s name when you register so we can track numbers, but the $40 course fee will cover both of you. So far, we haven’t exceeded the building’s capacity, but we’d like to avoid a run-in with the fire marshal!
My child is very interested in honey bees. Is there an age limit?
While there is no age limit, we encourage you to use your judgment. We’ll have a variety of speakers and there will be breaks, and we don’t insist that people remain in their seats during presentations, but there IS a lot of sitting, listening, and asking questions. If you’re having to chase your child around the room, you’re not learning and you’re distracting everyone else.
Can I pay with credit card, PayPal, Venmo, etc?
Call us old-fashioned or behind the times, but we’re not set up to accept digital payments. We can accept cash, check, or money order. You’re welcome to pay on the first day, but we do need to know you’re coming in order to prepare enough handouts.
Do I need to join PBA?
Your Bee School registration includes PBA membership for your family for 2025. You do not need to pay an additional fee.
What kind of equipment do I need to get started keeping bees?
This will be covered in more depth during Bee School. At the minimum, you’ll need a hat and veil (or jacket or suit with attached zipper veil), gloves, smoker, and hive tool. You’ll also need bees and a hive for them to live in. There are several options, but most of our members use Langstroth hives.
How much does it cost to start keeping bees?
That will depend on several factors. Are you buying new or used equipment? Will you wear a hat and veil or a ventilated full suit? Do you want the bare minimum or the extras (frame rest, frame lifter, etc)? To give you a ballpark figure, let’s say you order everything ready to go (assembled and painted). We’ll add up a nuc of bees ($180), a hive for them ($200), smoker ($35), hive tool ($10), gloves ($25), and a ventilated jacket (something between a hat/veil and a full ventilated suit) ($125). That totals $575. Remember this is a BALLPARK figure. I used the numbers I could quickly find in one catalog.
Where can I buy bees?
We’ll provide you with a list of nuc suppliers. We advise extreme caution when ordering bees online. There are a LOT of scammers these days. We also believe it’s a good idea to buy local bees so they’re better adapted to your area and to support local beekeepers.
Do you have another Bee School during the year?
We currently offer our school once per year. As you know, time is precious. You have your family, job, and other responsibilities, and your leisure activities have to be squeezed in around those. Beekeepers are no different (even though we may seem like superheroes!). We have families and jobs, too. We have bee yards to tend and monthly meetings we like to attend. Several of us donate one to three Saturdays (plus prep time) in order to put on our Bee School. For now, we can’t ask our members to give more of their time.
Here's a short piece KTRE did on our Bee School and Youth Program in 2021. https://www.ktre.com/2021/04/2...
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