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Learn with Philip Chandler

Natural Beekeeping

Keeping bees can be much easier than you might think! Phillip Chandler teaches the secrets behind 'natural beekeeping', and easy ways to keep costs down.

Course overview

Before considering 'keeping' bees, we take a look at their world, their life-cycle and how we can work with them to achieve a mutually beneficial relationship.

Meet Philip Chandler

Hello I'm Philip Chandler. My early working life was spent mainly in printing, publishing, marketing and training. I took up beekeeping at the turn of the century, having campaigned against GM crops for several years and concluding that bees were a lot more important than most people realized. Conventional beekeeping seemed too mechanistic and bound up in Victorian attitudes towards nature, so I developed my own system based on top bar hives. A year spent working in commercial beekeeping at Buckfast Abbey convinced me that 'natural' beekeeping was the way to go. In 2005 I was awarded Advanced Certification by the National Diploma of Beekeeping Board. Having further developed my hive and techniques, I wrote The Barefoot Beekeeper in 2007 as a challenge to conventional beekeeping, and to put my case for reform. Since then, around 10,000 people have bought my book and many of them have adopted top bar hives and natural beekeeping methods. Nowadays I spend my time studying, teaching and writing. My aim is to teach others to observe for themselves and to learn from the bees, rather than from me. Learning about beekeeping from books or distance learning can give us a broad understanding of their nature and behaviour, but of course there is a need to deepen that theoretical knowledge by practical, hands-on bee-handling. Many local beekeepers' associations provide open sessions for beginners to experience bees at first hand, and may also provide training courses. These tend to focus on the conventional, commercially-derived approach to beekeeping, and while attitudes are beginning to change in some places, you are unlikely to find a great deal of sympathy for top bar hives or natural beekeeping.

Course description

Philip Chandler, author of 'The Barefoot Beekeeper' introduces you to natural beekeeping, including the theory and practical techniques for a sustainable, organic approach to cultivating Bee bee colonies.

The course focuses on keeping bees for their own sake, rather than simply for the products of their labour. (Although if there is a surplus of honey, we will be pleased to have some for ourselves!)

A revolutionary beekeeping course about sustainable, chemical-free, 'natural' beekeeping, with no heavy lifting. Philip shows you how you can make everything you need, using recycled materials and simple tools.

If you are already a keen gardener, you may have considered the idea of having a beehive or two in your garden, but been put off by the cost and complications of conventional beekeeping equipment. Philip will show you how keeping bees can be much easier than you think, while costing much less than you think, especially if you can do simple woodwork yourself.

You'll learn:
  • about the role of bees and impact of agriculture
  • how to make and use a top bar hive
  • about the lifecycle of honeybees
  • nurturing your bee colony
The course includes:
  • 4 on-demand video lessons - presented by Philip Chandler
  • lifetime access to the videos, notes and interactive class
  • flexible classes - join and learn when and where you like
  • downloadable lesson notes
  • practical beekeeping projects
  • access on your mobile, PC, Mac or laptop
  • small interactive online classroom - chat online to students from around the world and share your creative ideas
Time to complete the natural beekeeping course:

Every student is different but in general we think the whole course will take around 12 hours 20 minutes to complete including:

  • Video lessons: 1 hour 20 minutes in total
  • Course notes: 30 minutes per lesson
  • Your planting design projects: at least 2 hours per lesson
  • Interactive classroom time: 15 minutes per lesson
You'll need:

Philip will teach you how to make a home for your bees using recycled materials and your tool box - you will need some basic woodwork skills.

This course is suitable for all levels - including gardeners interested in attracting bees into their garden and experienced beekeepers looking to learn sustainable beekeeping techniques.

Ready to get started?

Just add the course to your basket above. If you know someone who'd love this course then give it as a gift - just tick "This is a gift" at the checkout.

Any questions? Contact us by clicking on the orange speech symbol - we'd love to hear from you.