Honey Bee Apprentice Level
(V.1.3 Oct.10, 2018; V1.2 – Jan.2, 2018, Matt Sanchez)
Required Text:
“Beginning Beekeeping”
CP Dadant
Has Completed Two Full Seasons
Season A) _____________
Season B) _____________
Completed one or more of the following projects:
⁃ Construct a Langstroth type colony consisting of at least 5 frames
⁃ Construct a top bar hive colony consisting of at least 5 bars
⁃ Construct a forage map of nectar and pollen plants on the property
⁃ Speak about honey bees to non-beekeepers at an event off property
⁃ Participate in a swarm removal
Is able to identify and/or is proficient with using the following types of equipment or techniques (initialed by mentor during the process of On the Job Training) O.J.T.:
____ Hive Tool
____ Smoker
____ Garden Cover
____ Inner Cover
____ Migratory Cover
____ Queen Excluder
____ Honey Super
____ Honey Frame
____ Beetle Trap
____ Brood Box
____ Brood Frame
____ Baffle
____ Bottom Board
____ Boardman Feeder
____ I.D. Deep, Medium, & Shallow Box /Frames
____ Cell Builder
____ Cell Finisher
____ Mating Nuc
____ Refractometer
____ Queen
____ Worker
____ Laying Worker
____ Drone
____ Drone Cell
____ Worker Cell
____ Queen Cell
____ Honey Cell
____ Bee Bread Cell
____ Brood Cell
____ Propolis
____ Emergency Cells
____ Swarm Cells
____ Hive Beetle
____ Carpenter Ant
At the end of two seasons and completion of O.J.T., the apprentice will be required to take a comprehensive test and pass with a score of 78 or higher to proceed to the next level.
Apprentice Level Exam Guide
SECTION I) PRACTICAL – demonstrates proficiency with / able to identify the following:
___ Smoker lighting using matches and natural material gathered from the environment around the apiary. Smoker must remain lit for 5 minutes with no pumping of bellows.
___ Entering the Apiary and Approaching a Colony
___ Using a Bee Suit / Veil
___ Using a Hive Tool
___ Removing the Cover to a Colony
___ Removing a Frame
___ Holding a Frame
___ Replacing a Frame
___ Installing / Refilling the Boardman Feeder
(Find / describe the following items inside the colony)
___ Queen
___ Worker
___ Drone
___ Drone Cell
___ Worker Cell
___ Queen Cell
___ Hive Beetle
___ Honey Cell
___ Bee Bread Cell
___ Brood Cell
___ Propolis
___ Burr / Cross Comb
___ Describe the laying pattern in brood area and what it might indicate
___ Describe food crops planted during the two seasons you have apprenticed and explain why they were selected
___ Describe what major nectar and /or pollen sources are available during the seasons you have apprenticed.
SECTION II) WRITTEN – comprised of multiple choice and essay type questions
____ Who is often referred to as the “father” of American Beekeeping and why?
____ Describe the importance of bees in agriculture
____ What is the number one honey bee pollination crop in the world?
____ Apis mellifera ligustica
____ What is a corbicula?
____ Why is the honey bee classified as an insect?
____ Honey bees are in the order Hymenoptera, name two other insects found in this family?
____ What four things do bees gather?
____ What wave length of light do honey bees see?
____ What type of light can bees see that helps them with flight direction/orientation?
____ What is a mating flight; how far is the flight typically, where does the bee go to on the flight and how many times does the bee take this flight in its lifetime?
____ What are orientation flights?
____ What are cleansing flights?
____ What is Colony drift?
____ How far do worker bees typically forage? How far can worker bees forage if food is scarce?
____ how long does a worker bee take to emerge as an adult from an egg?
____ how long does a queen take to emerge as an adult from an egg?
____ how long does a drone take to emerge as an adult from an egg?
____ Describe reproduction at the individual and colony level
____ What is the nasanov gland and where is it found on the bee?
____ What is QMP?
____ Colony’s Main Goal
____ What is “bee space”
____ What is a skep?
____ What is honey hunting?
____ What is apitherapy?
____ How many species of bee are classified as honey bees?
____ Where is the honey bee said to originate from?
____ Is it possible to import honey bees from outside the US and if not, why?
____ What is a dearth?
____ What is a flow?
____ When do dearths occur at the property?
____ When do flows occur at the property?
____ What is the waggle dance?
____ What is temporal polyethism?
____ How Bees Communicate with Pheromones
____ Describe Swarm Impulse
____ What is a dry swarm
____ What is the temperature in the center of a cluster of bees?
____ How do bees maintain cluster temperature in hot weather and in cold weather?
____ Explain the effect of pesticides on bees
____ What is Colony Collapse Disorder
____ Describe at least two methods of monitoring for varrora mites and how to interpret the results
____ What is an organic acid?
____ What organic acids are approved for use with honey bees in the US?
____ What is LD 50?
____ What is IPM?
____ Who is Dr. Warwick Kerr, what did he do and why did he do it?
____ Where can bees that carry genetics from Dr. Kerr’s experiment be found in Florida?
____ Name two methods used to determine if a European honey bee has been hybridized
____ What do state bee inspectors do to manage hybridized bees?
____ What is required from the department of agriculture to own honey bees in the state of Florida?
___ How much of a honey frame needs to be capped with wax prior to pulling it for extraction?
____What must the percentage of moisture measure in honey? Why is it important?
____ How long does honey last?
____ Why are warning labels placed on honey jars about feeding raw honey to infants under 1 year of age?
____ What is the maximum temperature that honey can be heated before it is no longer considered raw?
____ What is pasteurized honey?
____ What is HMF?
____ Why was honey from China banned?
____ What is honey dew?
SECTION III) LAB: Identify the following based on preserved specimens or photographs of specimens / conditions associated with the disease state
____ Varroa Mite
____ Wax Moths (Greater & Lesser)
____ American Foul Brood
____ European Foul Brood
____ Sac Brood
____ Chalk Brood
____ Stone Brood
____ Nosema (cerane & apis)
____ Deformed Wing Virus
____ Laying Workers
Gastronomy Monk 