2024 Beekeeping Course

The stars have aligned to reignite a beekeeping course in the Yukon with head instructor Julia Common (bio below). Whether you are an aspiring beekeeper, a novice needing a refresher or an experienced keeper looking to continue your education, we welcome you to these sessions!

The course will be presented over 2 days and include biology and behaviour of the honey bee and the hive, getting started in beekeeping (bees, queens and equipment), apiary placement, bee health and disease, and what to expect in terms of time and money.

Both days are bag lunch format – use the time to have informal discussions and ask lots of questions of Julia and other local keepers! Light snacks and drinks will be offered both days.

These sessions are highly interactive so the exact topics and progress may vary depending on participants and discussions; however, the general layout is intended to offer:

Day 1: fundamental understanding of the honey bee, the hive and the building blocks for thoughtful apiary management.

Day 2: best management practices with a focus on the short season and local conditions in and around Whitehorse including: integrated pest management, seasonal patterns, supplementing, hive growth, harvest, and maybe the most important piece of all - preparing for winter.

Our teaching and mentoring team will include long-standing local and experienced beekeepers who will assist in keeping it real for Yukon conditions. Julia is very well known for her enthusiasm of teaching others and for her fun and practical presentations – it’s a great opportunity to learn from a certified instructor!

Due to the timing of the course, there is no field component. However, we are planning field sessions with Julia in June / July as a supplement to this course. TBC.

Note: on Friday, April 5 @ 7PM at Yukonstruct a free, public talk will also be offered by Julia, "Honey bees: The Wonder, The Why and The What Now". 

Julia Common Bio

Julia is a member of the Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists with over 40 years of experience. Julia has been involved in beekeeping since her university days. What started as a summer job became first a hobby and later in life, a career. From 2012 through to 2019 she acted as Chief Beekeeper for the Vancouver-based society Hives for Humanity, which she co-founded along with her daughter Sarah Common.

Urban beekeeping has led her to a number of epiphanies concerning the health and welfare of both bees and humans. Pollination work has led her to focus on how to better the conditions under which we expect our bees to live and work. Julia is passionate about bees and teaching, and she has participated in a number of research projects over the past decade.  

Since her retirement from Hives for Humanity in 2019, Julia has built her business “Bees Actually“ to include nuc and honey sales, greenhouse and field pollination, consulting, presenting and teaching. She also works alongside senior residence homes creating and implementing bee and human health programs. 

Julia is a member of a number of local honey bee and native bee clubs in the Fraser Valley and of the British Columbia Honey Producers Association of which she is a BCHPA certified instructor.  As a director of the Western Apicultural Society she welcomes the opportunity to discover more ways in which both sides of the 49^th parallel can support and collaborate with one another to face the challenges of the future for our bees and our profession.