I had an opportunity to attend the EMBA's 2011 Spring Short Course this year, and I'm glad I went.

The course had such wonderful speakers as Grant Gillard, Rick Fell, and Clarence Collison.

The topics (for the beginner track) included:
Honey Bee Biology - The Basics of Colony Management
Getting Started
The First Year With Your Hive
Basic Hive Evaluation - Colony Strength to Queen Quality
Bees and Flowers Keep You Guessing
FAQ with Grant, Rick and Clarence

I was able to acquire two presentations made by Grant Gillard. Grant has given permission to link these presentations online.
Click on the link(s) below to view presentation in PDF format.
Right Click and choose 'save-as' to download.

Promoting Healthy Bees - Grant Gillard   (4.57 MB PDF)
First Year Expectations - Grant Gillard (3.42 MB PDF)


There was a goody bag for each participant (shown below) that had a copy of ABJ, Bee Culture, several supply catalogs, a book called "Keeping Honey Bees" and a bottle of club honey.



Clarence Collison discussed the five types of honey:
Liquid Extracted (In the classic honey bear)
Cut-Comb (use thin surplus foundation)
Chunk Honey (comb and liquid extracted in ajar)
Creamed Honey (similar in texture to butter)
Section Comb (predefined circle or square templates)


Some of my favorite quotes from the course are below:

"There is no one "right way" to keep bees." Clarence Collison

When asked if one should add a super at a time and wait until filled before adding another, or add them all at once, Rick responded:

"Go ahead and super all the way up. It's a great psychological trip for the other beekeepers" - Rick Fell.

Natural additive to control mites is to use Sumac Seed Heads in your smoker. According to Grant, the Sumac Seed (pronounced Schumack) is a weed and grows in the woods, lawns, and ditches. Collect the berries of the plant, add them to your smoker during inspections. It will "cause the mites to rain down."

"Bees don't ever sting honest people." - Rick Fell