We run beekeeping courses that cater to every level of experience, from beginner to advanced. If you are just starting your bee journey, our Beginner course is structured to be easy to understand, and you will be in the capable hands of expert apiarists with many years' experience. If you've been tending to bees for over a year already, check out our Advanced course.
Time to put on those beekeeping gloves and check out what's in the hive!
Are you the person who's taken notice when someone has mentioned they've always thought about keeping bees? Book them a one-day Sydney beekeeping course so they can find out more.
Courses are held at The Urban Beehive's Matraville location with practical sessions on-site in our apiary.
Full-day course
This one-day course covers the principles of backyard, urban and rooftop beekeeping. Divided into two parts, you’ll spend the morning learning the theory of beekeeping and the afternoon lighting smokers, handling bees and learning how to identify eggs, larvae, pollen and honey in the hive.
The Course is held either in Centennial Parklands or at The Urban Beehive in Matraville depending on the date selected.
– Honeybee biology + behaviour
– Equipment for starting up a beehive
– Demonstration of different hives
– Regulations and location placement
– Handling bees with confidence + respect
– Native bees
– Includes protective gear to wear on the day
Half-day course
Gain a better knowledge of European honeybees and the methods of keeping them in an urban environment while building on existing experience. This course is only open to participants who have completed our beginners course or already have a good knowledge of beekeeping.
– Queen locating techniques
– Marking Queens
– Dealing with cross-combed hives
– Swarm prevention
– Why re-Queen and how do you do it
– Splitting hives and joining hives
– Moving hives
– Dealing with grumpy bees
– Getting fresh wax into the brood box
– Dealing with small hive beetle + pests
Sign up for the Advanced Beekeeping course to learn more and take your skills to the next level. We cover many subjects but also encourage you to bring your own questions so we can workshop them together.
During the practical hands-on stage of the course you'll be wearing full protective gear supplied for the day by us, gloves included! We are trained in first aid and always put safety first. During the course you'll learn how to handle bees calmly.
As the saying goes, the more gentle you are with bees the more gentle they are with you, but if you have any concerns, feel free to send us an email beforehand.
Book in for our warm weather courses. We give the bees and oursleves a rest in the winter months.
The Urban Beehive’s Vaucluse House Honey is one of our best sellers at the museum shop at Vaucluse House. It is a great quality product, and as the honey is sourced from the hives that are part of the museum’s kitchen garden, it is a perfect souvenir or gift. Museums of History NSW also sells The Urban Beehive’s Sydney honey at the Hyde Park Barracks’ Museum shop and the Bullion Store, located at The Mint. Both products are very popular with visitors and staff alike.
At Carriageworks, we have five busy beehives tucked into an old yellow railway traverser by the tracks – see if you can spot them as you pass by on the train! The wonderful team at The Urban Beehive lovingly manages the welfare of our bees and harvests the delicious Sweet Arts honey that we sell at the Carriageworks Farmers Market every Saturday.
The Urban Beehive is the only store you want to deal with if you want to keep bees for environmental sustainability. Vicky and Doug trained me in beekeeping as well as providing all the gear and support – they are the best beekeepers: authentic, kind and most helpful, and nothing was too much for them.
The Urban Beehive has been tending the hives on the roof of Bourke Street Bakery, Banksmeadow, for six years. The hives produce an abundance of delicious honey, which we sell in our bakeries. I highly recommend getting some urban beehives on your roof.
The Urban Beehive has been looking after the hives in the Vaucluse House kitchen garden for eight years. Apart from expertly harvesting and bottling the most delicious honey for our shop – which always sells out! – Vicky’s regular check-ups keep the bees happy and healthy.
Vicky and Doug love to share their incredible knowledge and I have learned a new mind-blowing bee fact at every one of their visits. The more I learn the more I’m in awe of these mysterious honey producing, pollinating, little geniuses! Such a great team.
I was lucky enough to be gifted a beekeeping course with The Urban Beehive and it was fantastic! Not only are the beekeepers highly experienced and thoughtful in the way that they present this important topic, they invest deep levels of care and commitment into ensuring that the bees are always the priority, and that students are aware of the vital importance of urban pollinators in the city. If you have any interest in bees, sign up now. You won’t regret it.
I have been purchasing quality beekeeping equipment from The Urban Beehive for years now. Shipping costs to South Australia are very reasonable and all orders have arrived quickly and packed well. Not only that, but at the height of spring when all other stores had run out of Australian beeswax foundation, The Urban Beehive had plenty in stock. I’m sold!
Check out our booking site and sign up to become a beekeeper.
Offering something for free is a great way to get your potential customer’s email addresses! include a catchy title and a description that makes people want to download it to learn more.
Bring a notepad, pen and water bottle. We don’t have catering on-site so a packed lunch and snacks is recommended as the nearest shops are a five-minute drive away but not all are open on Sundays.
It’s rare that we have to cancel a course due to bad weather, however, we won’t open the beehives if it is too cold/ wet as the hive can get chilled and the bees get grumpy if you take the lid off and they get wet. I would be grumpy too if someone took off the roof of my house in a storm! We’ll be in touch before the course if it looks like the weather is going to be bad.