# NC Bee Meeting



## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Somebody want to know about queen rearing classes near NC. Check out guilfordbeekeeping.org for the March 9-10 Spring NC Beekeepers Meeting.


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## Specialkayme (Sep 4, 2005)

its actually guilfordbeekeepers.org


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## Specialkayme (Sep 4, 2005)

And while you can register for the spring meeting, I don't think they have released the schedule.


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## hpm08161947 (May 16, 2009)

Just about the time things get really busy down here!


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Specialkayme said:


> And while you can register for the spring meeting, I don't think they have released the schedule.


Thanks Spclkme. My fingers got ahead of my brain.

So, RU going?


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

hpm08161947 said:


> Just about the time things get really busy down here!


I guess you aren't going then?


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## hpm08161947 (May 16, 2009)

sqkcrk said:


> I guess you aren't going then?


I have been... and would like to go, but that is when we will be moving bees into the blueberries... but you never know, I will have to look at the schedule and see if there is something really special... maybe a really special speaker.. Mike Palmer? Or that young guy with all the bee tattoos...


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## Specialkayme (Sep 4, 2005)

sqkcrk said:


> So, RU going?


I was going to wait to see what was planned on the schedule. I don't mind making the three hour drive, or taking day off work, but I just want to make sure it's worth it. 

Plus, I was hoping to take the Journeyman level test in the Master Beekeeper Program. They had a study guide for the Certified when I took it seven years ago, but they don't have one for the Journeyman level. I asked about it, and the co-ordinator told me he would "get on it."


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Sam Comfort? He's entertaining. I don't know any other beekeeper who composes and sings bee related songs acoponied by his ukelele, which, I believe, he built himself. Maybe it is a mandolin. I forget.


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## hpm08161947 (May 16, 2009)

sqkcrk said:


> Sam Comfort? He's entertaining.


Yea.. that's him. I'd probably make the trip to hear him. He comes up and down 95 fairly often... or so I understand.


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## Ski (Jan 18, 2007)

Specialkayme,

You may want to check with the NC state beekeepers association to see if testing will be going on. Since NC State University dropped the program and the NC State Beekeepers Association is in the process of picking it up the Master Beekeeping Program is in limbo and nothing is being done as far as test taking. Maybe it will be up and running by March, but you may want to check.
I am also waiting for that agenda to be posted on the http://www.ncbeekeepers.org/meetings.htm


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## Ski (Jan 18, 2007)

The agenda or at least a speaker list is up and it looks like they are testing for the Master Beekeeping program 

March 9-10, 2012
NCSBA Spring Meeting
Hosted by
Burke County Beekeepers and Caldwell County Beekeepers
at
Collett Street Recreation Center
300 Collett St., Morganton, NC 28655




Meeting
Speakers include:

Dr. Jeff Pettis, USDA 
Dr. Jamie Ellis, University of Florida 
Dr. John Ambrose 
Dr. David Tarpy, NC State University 

Topics include: 

Swarm Control 
Sourwood Honey Update 
North Carolina Update 

Workshops include:.

Detection of Diseases and Mites 
Creamed Honey Making 
Bear Fencing 
Diseases of the Hive 
Preparing for the Spring Honey Flow 
Queen rearing 
Natural vs. Chemical Beekeeping 
General Beekeeping 
MBP Written Examination


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## heaflaw (Feb 26, 2007)

Ski,

This looks very worthwhile. Since I'm only an hour away, I feel sure I'll make it.


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## Specialkayme (Sep 4, 2005)

I already contacted them about testing. They said they are doing testing at their Spring and Summer meetings only. But they don't have a study guide or any information on what's being tested as of yet, like they did for the Certified level.


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## Ski (Jan 18, 2007)

heaflaw - I think the list looks a bit thin but I will most likely make the two hour drive. I have been to all of the state meetings since 2007 and always seem to come away with some new ideas and enjoy meeting some new people.

Specialkayme - Good deal on the testing - Then you are most likely aware that the testing has been suspended at the local club level. I took the Journeyman and master exams a couple of years ago and never found a study guide like exists for the certified in North Carolina. After I passed the tests I was talking to some folks at a state meeting in South Carolina and they mentioned they had a study list and a class for the Journeyman level. I think NC puts a lot of effort into the certified level but drops the ball after that.


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## Specialkayme (Sep 4, 2005)

I'd agree.

I know it was probably a few years ago, but what type of things were on the journeyman test?

I remember the certified had a number of topics that I didn't really use on a regular basis in my beekeeping practice, like QMP content, or names of bee anatomy. I'm just concerned about going over to take that test without having any type of base knowledge and failing it because no one told me what I should be looking at. 

Not only that, but the certified study guide doesn't exist online anymore. The NC State Beekeeper's site sends you to the NC State Entomology website, who has removed it from their site . . .


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## Ski (Jan 18, 2007)

I don't remember anything about the journeyman test other then to say its a bit broader and bit more detailed then the certified, sorry. But like Iddee told me, take the test if you pass it great, if not you will know what to study for the next time. Who cares if you don't pass it the first time. I would bet that if you have been reading books and working with the bees with some thought of what and why you are doing it you will pass the test. They know we, or at least me, are not PHD's.

Now the practical test for the journeyman level had several item list and you had to pick 3 from the list. It covered things like the parts of a bee, parts of a flower, pictures of diseases. But I know the way the practical test is given has changed since I have taken it. 

I had not looked for the certified study guide on the NC site in a while but, I copied the study guide and answered the questions on the guilford county site so its there to help other beekeepers. http://www.guilfordbeekeepers.org/community/viewforum.php?f=6
But I would guess that everything is subject to change at any time without notice.


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## Specialkayme (Sep 4, 2005)

Thanks Ski. I'll read through it when I get a chance.

My issue is less with failing the course, than it is with the costs associated with failing the course. I was a member of the NCSBA a few years ago. I got a card. I was told I'd be getting a newsletter, calendar, and some other information. The membership card was the last thing I got. No notification about meetings, no information about my area. No notice that my membership expired. So I figured they didn't really want my $15  When I contacted them about they Journeyman test, they told me it was for members only. Fair enough. So I became a member, per their request. Once I mailed in my $15, they were no longer interested in giving me any information regarding testing other than "it's at our spring and summer meetings." So, say I attend the spring meeting, for no other reason than to take the test. That's another $20 for the meeting. I'm assuming there is another charge for the test too (NC State used to have the Certified free, and a fee for the others. I'm assuming NCSBA is the same). Probably $10-15. After that, I fail. So now I know what to study. Only it cost me ~ $45 to learn what I needed to study (assuming I wasn't going to be a member, and wasn't going to the meeting). Now if I can't make the summer meeting (only have so much vacation time to spend on "bees" and not family), it will be another $45 to take the test next year. At that point, it comes down to the economics of if a certification is really worth $90 to me. 

A bit of a rant, I know, and probably not warranted. Just some thoughts.

Personally it was a little frustrating to hear information is for "members only," then when I was a member there wasn't any other information on the subject.


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