2025 SEMBA Bee School Overview

Welcome to SEMBA’s Beginning Bee School. This ten-month course introduces new and aspiring beekeepers to the vast world of beekeeping. Through a combination of presentations from national experts, classroom time and hands-on experience, students work closely with a team of proficient beekeeper instructors to learn what to expect and how to manage the first year of keeping honey bees. The course applies sustainable beekeeping practices and exposes students to a broad spectrum of beekeeping information and experience including, but not limited to, the biology of the honey bee, their connection to the pollinators who share their habitats, honey bee health, pests and diseases, seasonal hive management, tools of the trade, and products from the hives. The course goal is to position participants to become successful beekeepers for years to come.

Students are not required to keep bees in order to take this class. Many students choose to wait a year before starting their own apiary. Those that keep bees during the class year can1 raise one colony in the community bee yard, at the respective class sites, and move them to their permanent locations in the fall. Campus apiaries can only support one colony per student. Therefore, students opting to keep more than one colony must secure other location sites for those colonies. 

There is much to discover through this combination of academic and hands-on learning. The material presented is designed to have a direct impact on participants’ success in beekeeping and colony health. While attendance is not mandatory, lack of attendance can be detrimental to meeting the course goals. Therefore, please consider your schedule when committing to this class and/or location. 

Given SEMBA’s mission of sustainability, through close collaboration with SEMBA’s beekeeping community, the Michigan Beekeepers Association (MBA), and Michigan State University Pollinator Extension Services, students will have the opportunity to purchase Michigan bred nucleus (‘nuc’) colonies to start their beekeeping journeys.

Our Class and Beeyard schedule for 2025

#1 – Jan 19 - So You Want to Be a Beekeeper? Joint class at Tollgate, zoom if the weather is not

cooperating

#2 – Feb 23- Equipment demonstration & upcoming conferences

#2.5 - Bonus Online Zoom Class, Date TBD - Yikes my hives survived what do I do now?

MBA Annual Beekeeping Conference, MSU’s campus, March 1, 2025 (in person)

SEMBA Spring Conference

Wayne County Community College Campus, March 15, 2025 (in person)

#3 – Mar 23 – What Do Bees Need? What do Beekeepers Need? / Building your hive equipment.

#4 – Apr 13 - Swarms, Nucs and Splits

#5 – May 18 – What are you seeing? / Preparing for the arrival of your bees #6 – June 08 - Bee

Biology and honey bee mites, pests, & diseases.

#7 – June 29 – Inspecting Nucs; Testing for Mites; Reading a Frame, Identifying a strong queen.

#8 – July 27 - Preparing for winter! Feeding, treating, wrapping, and making a plan for disease

and fall mite control.

13ᵗʰ Annual Michigan Honey Festival

Shiawassee County Fairgrounds, July 19-20, 2025

#9 – Aug 24 – Honey Harvest

#10 – Sep 14 - Maintenance and Robbing. Mite Load Monitoring, Final winterizing.

#10.5 - Bonus Online Zoom Class, Date TBD - Final over wintering discussion, Treatment for Varroa

#11 – Oct 12 – Honey Tasting Class and wrap-party

Our Beginning Bee School program will be offered at two locations this year: 

1. MSU Extensions Tollgate Farm at Twelve Mile Rd. and Meadow Brook rd. Novi. 

2. Bowers Farm School at Square Lake and Adams Road, Bloomfield.

All locations will host class from 1:00pm - 3:30pm, Sunday

Tuition: $500 per person. Tuition includes the required textbook, Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping, Caron and Connor and your required SEMBA dues. For existing members signing up for this class series, your SEMBA membership will be extended an additional year.

For couples/families adding a second person (i.e. your spouse, child, etc), the tuition will be reduced to $435 and will cover the increase for a family membership. A second book can be purchased if required for the guest registration.