Education and Examination Board
Syllabus of Examination for Proficiency in Apiculture :
Preliminary Examination
The Examination comprises a half hour written paper and a
practical Apiary Examination on the material below
Manipulation of a Colony of Honeybees
The student will be:
- aware of the need for care when handling a colony of
honeybees
- aware of the reactions of honeybees to smoke
- aware of the personal equipment needed to open a colony of
honeybees
The student will be:
- able to open a colony of honeybees and keep the colony under
control
- able to demonstrate the use of smoke
- able to demonstrate the use of the hive tool
- able to remove combs from the hive and identify worker, drone
and queen cells or cups if present and to comment on the state of
the combs
- able to identify members of the three castes, identify brood
at all stages
- able to demonstrate the difference between drone, worker, and
honey cappings
- able to identify stored nectar, honey and pollen
- able to catch a few worker bees and put them in a matchbox or
carrying cage for disease diagnosis
Equipment
The student will be:
- able to name the parts of a modem beehive
- aware of the concept of the bee space and its significance in
the modern hive
- able to assemble a frame and fit it with wax foundation
- aware of the reasons for the use of wax foundation
- aware of the various spacings of combs in the brood chamber
and super for both foundation and drawn comb
Natural History of the Honeybee
The student will be:
- able to give an elementary account of production of queens,
workers and drones in the honeybee colony
- aware of the existence of laying workers and drone laying
queens
- able to specify the periods spent by each caste in the four
stages of its life cycle (egg, larva, pupa, adult)
- able to give an elementary description of the function of the
members of each caste if the life of the colony
- able to give a simple description of wax production and comb
building by the honeybee
- able to give a simple definition of nectar and describe how
it is collected and brought back to the hive
- able to name the main local flora from which honeybees gather
pollen and nectar
- able to give a simple description how nectar is converted
into honey
- aware of the use of nectar and honey in the life of the
colony
- aware of the collection of water and its uses in the
colony
- able to give a simple description of the collection of pollen
and its importance in the life of the colony
- able to describe the origins, collection, and use of propolis
in the honeybee colony
- able to give an elementary description of swarming in a
honeybee colony
- able to give an elementary description of the way in which
the honeybee colony passes the winter period
Beekeeping
The student will be:
- able to give an elementary description of the siting of
colonies
- able to give an elementary description of the year's work in
the apiary and the management of a colony throughout a
season
- able to describe how and when to feed bees and the
preparation of syrup
- aware of the need to add supers and the timing of the
operations
- aware of the use of the queen excluder
- able to give an elementary account of one method of swarm
control
- able to describe how to take a honeybee swarm and how to hive
it
- aware of the condition of queenlessness
- able to describe the signs of laying workers and a drone
laying queen
- aware of the dangers of robbing and how robbing can be
avoided
Disease and Poisoning
The student will:
- be able to describe the varroa mite, know how to test for its
presence in the hive and be aware of the main methods of
treatment
- be able to describe the signs of American Foul Brood (AFB)
and European Foul Brood (EFB)
- be able to describe the appearance of healthy brood and how
it differs from diseased brood or chilled brood
- be aware of acarine, nosema and amoeba and their effect upon
the colony
- know how to obtain expert assistance if any disease or
poisoning by toxic chemicals is suspected
Harvesting
The student will be:
- able to describe the methods used to clear honeybees from
supers
- able to describe the process of the extraction of honey from
supers
- aware of the value of bees to farmers and growers and of the
hiring of colonies for pollination services
- able to describe a way in which comb can be stored to prevent
wax moth damage
- able to describe a way by which mice can be excluded from the
hives in winter
