Candidates are not required to bring anything to the practical exam, other than suitable Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) – which is a beesuit and don’t forget your wellies if you wear them!

The day is divided into tasks, with a break for lunch mid-way which is provided. It is recommended you have a bottle of water and stay hydrated.

Candidates will be expected to ‘read’ colonies, and this skill has to be learnt beforehand. Although managing lots of your own colonies is one way to learn, it can be beneficial to visit other beekeepers or clubs and handle other colonies along with gaining experience on a range of hive types. Accompanying a bee inspector, or a bee farmer also gives a valuable insight to hive manipulation techniques of professionals working in this field.

Candidates should have expert skills at diagnosing for diseases, as well as the ability to teach disease diagnosis to beekeepers at all ability levels. Teaching for disease is a key task for any expert beekeeper so candidates are expected to be well practiced and comfortable undertaking such a task in front of an audience.

Candidates are expected to be familiar with teaching all aspects of practical beekeeping to all levels of abilities and ages. Such abilities will need to be learnt and practiced prior to the exam.

Please Note: For the dissection(s), candidates can use their own tools if preferred.

Candidates will also be expected to comment on the quality of specimens, and discuss their likely preparations. This applies to all products of the hive, and includes any legislation relating to their sale

See also the pages on Candidate Guidance along with Entomology, reading and interpreting research Practical Exam preperations and Microscopy