Courses
Here you can find out about some of the fantastic training courses we offer covering aspects of beekeeping, pollinator conservation and poultry keeping. All short courses are 4 hours in length and include refreshments and full colour handouts and literature resources for participants to take home.
To book a place on one of our courses go to the online store and select the course of your choice, pay online and we'll send you a booking receipt by email.
Course title:
Introduction to rooftop beekeeping.
Date and Time: No Dates Available at Present
Venue / location: Upper Richmond Road, Putney
Cost per person: £25
Rooftop beekeeping is growing in popularity as more and more Londoners decide to keep bees but finding space to site a hive in the city can be a challenge. Rooftops offer a secure option for siting hives in the city but there are many important factors which must be taken into consideration. Few people undertaking roof top beekeeping are fully aware of all the issues and implications.
Through the course of the day we will cover the following topics which will allow you to assess a roofs suitability as an apiary site:
- Roof suitability (including weight loading capacity, access, roof membrane issues)
- the impact of height on your bees and mitigation efforts (bee welfare)
- Types of hives which are better suited to keeping bees at height
- implications for notifiable disease outbreaks on roof-tops
- Gaining permission for use of a roof-top you dont own
- How to undertake a thorough risk assessment
- COSHH and H&S requirements of beekeeping activities on commercial premises
- contingency planning
- Health and safety
- Swarm prevention at height
- the bee-wash phenomena
This course includes a light lunch and rooftop apiary visit
*Please note that this half day course does not cover general honey bee management, husbandry techniques or the colony life cycle. This course is aimed at those who have already attended a general introduction to beekeeping course or have some prior beekeeping experience but want to learn more about the specifics of rooftop apiculture.
Course title:
Introduction to Poultry keeping.
Date and Time:
various dates TBC
Venue / location:
Acton, West London
Cost per person:
£40
Back by popular demand our Poultry keeping introductory course equips attendees with all the information they need to get started keeping Chickens or ducks at home in your garden, allotment or school / community project.
Through the course of the day participants will learn:
- How to select appropriate housing for your birds.
- How to choose the right breed of poultry for your needs.
- Welfare of your poultry.
- Coop hygiene, Biosecurity, Maintenance and cleaning.
- Correct handling techniques.
- how to train your chickens!
- Choosing the right diet for your birds nutritional needs.
- Chicken behaviour and how to deal with aggressive birds.
- Common poultry ailments, diagnosis, treatment and poultry first aid.
- Statutory regulations regarding poultry keeping
- Hatching and rearing your own chicks.
- Poultry and children.
- How to undertake a risk assessment for your school or community garden.
This course includes classroom based theory learning as well as practical handling sessions where participants will get the chance to hold chickens, learn how to administer first aid, medicines and other treatments. Participants will also help to clean out different styles of coop which will help them decide which type of housing is right for them.
The course includes refreshments and a full colour comprehensive chicken keeping resource pack.
We can deliver this course bespoke to schools and community organisations wishing to start up poultry keeping.