Honey Bee Course in South Portugal 2024-2025

4 BeeDays to get ready for receiving bees at home coming spring.

An introduction to the magic of the bees and what you can do to prepare them a good home and environment, from January to March 2025.

Location: Monte Bem-vindo, Vale Rodrigo (Colos)
Facilitated by Annelieke van der Sluijs and Ulrike Krampen

During this course, we will weave with the South Portugal network of bee colonies, various lands and BeeLovers. A great opportunity to learn through doing and connecting.

Each day includes the following elements:

Some time with the bees
A practical part to get in touch with bee substances (propolis, wax, honey, pollen…)
Teachings to connect with how bees live and how to support their well-being
Exchange to facilitate further learning and mutual support

These 4 BeeDays give you a base to shape your own way of being with the bees and to prepare for their arrival. We meet on the following Saturdays, from 10-17h30h: 18th and 25th of January, 15th of February, 8th of March.

Contribution: 400-500€* (4 BeeDays including bee materials for practicals, excluding hive materials)

Everybody brings food and drinks to share during the day
6-10 participants

*We offer a two tier system to acknowledge economic differences: The lower end of the scale for those who are genuinely living from a lower economic situation. For those who are genuinely living on a higher or more international economic scale we invite the higher contribution.It is possible to pay in instalments. Connect with us if you are highly motivated and wish to partly replace the workshop fee with an alternative contribution.

23rd of November: BeeDay “Bees and Your Curiosity – Exploring your Relationship”

Get to know the bee colonies that are living with us, in olive trees and different types of bee-friendly hives. We will sit with the colonies on the land and discover what life feels like in the hive. We will spend time with propolis and its crucial role in bee health. We will make natural propolis based incense, that you can bring home to keep connected with the BeeSpirit.

We will end with setting together the dates for our 2025 BeeDays.

23rd of November: BeeDay “Bees and Your Curiosity – Exploring your Relationship”

January: BeeDay 2 “What helps Bees to Thrive?”

What makes a hive a good home? How do bees live in our climate and ecology? With examples, you will get a feel for what you can do to receive bees on your land and give them good habitat. We will get in touch with wax as a building material, communication medium and healing substance in the hive. Wisdom and medicine that can support us too.

February: BeeDay 3 “Preparing for welcoming Bees”

How do bees choose a new home? What happens when they swarm? How to choose a place for a new bee home? And what type of hive speaks most to you? With what you have learned, this day is about making your wish concrete.

We will practise together how to find good hive locations. You will experience hands-on contact with hive types and hive building materials. We will explore ways to listen, look and be with the bees around the hive. We will help you with creating a clear picture/plan, so that you can then start setting your bee place to be ready before the bees start swarming.

February: BeeDay 3 “Preparing for welcoming Bees”

End of February/beginning of March: BeeDay 4 “Creating a Bee Friendly Hive”

A joyful day of hive making, with space for questions about preparing your hive place. We offer you some options and support you if you decide to create something else. You can also help other participants if you don’t want to build a hive yourself.

You will be introduced to the power of pollen and we celebrate the life force of Spring together.

End of February/beginning of March: BeeDay 4 “Creating a Bee Friendly Hive”

Follow-up

We will keep in touch during the swarming season. You might be able to participate in one of our swarm actions.

If bees do not arrive in your hive by themselves, who knows, a swarm may be brought to you. Each year, the bees surprise us. We will flow with them and with what unfolds through our interactions.

Interested to join?

You can register here (scroll to the bottom of the page)