The San Diego Beekeeping Society is hosting an in person HANDS ON HIVES day run by Paul Gunn on November 16th in Ramona.
11am-2pm.
 
Paul Gunn is the current Treasurer of the Beekeeping Society and is the owner/founder of the San Diego Bee Sanctuary. In this hands on in person apiary class experience a day at one of the San Diego Bee Sanctuary apiaries with around 45 survivor Californian honey bee colonies.
 
The main goal of this class is to give all participants an understanding and feel for different levels of defensiveness and how to work with these bees. 
 
First we will start with a briefing on protective gear and handling of feral survivor honey bees and possibly defensive hives. 
 
Get hands on into bee hives, search for the queen, give the hives temperament ratings and fitness assessments. This is a chance to work with bees on a large scale than a backyard and gain more confidence and with handling defensive colonies and colonies at scale.
 
There’s also an on-site farm store where you can browse and purchase some of their delightful products. Plenty of parking in the field.
 
$30 reserves your spot. Beginners are welcome if they feel confident. But we are advising this is best for intermediate people who have had prior experience with hive inspections and operating a smoker.
 
What you must bring:
 
A full bee suit. That zips at the neck and covers your whole body.
Bee gloves that go to your forearm 
Boots the cover your ankle so no gap between suit and shoes
A smoker and lighter (we will have pine needles for fuel)
A hive tool (recommend j hook tool)
A water bottle for hydration
 
Advise a smoker bucket with a lid so you can get your smoker home safely and be cautious of fire.
 
Advise a baseball cap to keep your veil off your nose