Beekeeper, Adrian Iodice, is holding up a Kenyan top bar hive frame of honeycomb, showing five class participants a piece of honeycomb covered in bees.

Natural Beekeeper, Adrian Iodice, with open hands towards a Kenyan Top Bar Hive. He is explaining the positioning of the hive.

A close-up shot shows numerous bees crawling on a section of golden honeycomb.

Six adult course participants, standing behind two newly built Kenyan Top Bar Hives.

A close up view of several bees, clustered on a piece of honeycomb inside a Kenyan Top Bar Hive.

Beekeeper, Adrian Iodice, is carefully inspecting a frame of honeycomb covered with bees inside a wooden Kenyan Top Bar Hive.

Two fair-skinned hands are carefully lifting a frame of golden honeycomb densely covered with dark bees out of a light-colored wooden Kenyan Top Bar Hive. The hive is open, revealing multiple top bars and another frame of honeycomb with bees below. The setting is outdoors in a sunny environment with blurred green foliage in the background. The focus is on the delicate process of inspecting the bee colony and their honeycomb within this type of natural beehive. The bees appear to be Western honey bees (Apis mellifera).

Start your natural beekeeping adventure.

Learn the essential techniques of bee-centric beekeeping.

This hands-on course will provide you with the skills needed to start and maintain a healthy hive. From understanding bee development stages to mastering Kenyan top bar hive management, you’ll be equipped with the knowledge to become a successful natural beekeeper.

enrol now

A selection of various Kenyan top bar Hive images framed inside honeycomb shapes. Some are close-ups and some are images of Adrian teaching beekeeping courses.

Start your natural beekeeping adventure.

Learn the essential techniques of bee-centric beekeeping.

enrol now

This course is for you if:

You are a newcomer to beekeeping aiming to gain practical, hands-on experience.
You are an established beekeeper interested in enhancing your expertise in organic beekeeping.
You are interested in the sacred and miraculous aspects of bee life.
You are looking for ways to support bee health while protecting the environment.
If you live in Margaret River, Busselton, Dunsborough, Augusta or the surrounding area

Adrian Iodice is holding up a top bar with honeycomb covered in bees. Students close by are leaning in to see.

Discover

The stages of honey bee development and their significance in hive life.
The benefits of using natural honeycomb in your hives.
Detailed steps on how to catch a swarm and the essential tools.
Where to place your hive for optimal productivity.
The therapeutic products from honey bees like honey and propolis.
Kenyan top bar hive management strategies for natural beekeeping.

A detailed close-up shows a single Western honey bee (Apis mellifera) with a light brown and black striped abdomen, delicate translucent wings, and fuzzy thorax. It is positioned on a section of golden-brown honeycomb, with its head and front legs inside one of the hexagonal cells. The background is softly blurred.

What’s included?

Complete course documentation and materials
A look inside a working Kenyan top bar hive in the Margaret River area.
DIY guide for building a Kenyan Top Bar Hive
Recommended beekeeping books, websites, and films
Refreshments with freshly baked bread, butter, and raw honey

Adrian Iodice is pictured, carefully opening a wooden Kenyan Top Bar Hive. Bees are visible inside the hive and flying around the entrance. Adrian is preparing to inspect the hive.

Bees have such a beautiful nature; it doesn’t take much to fall in love with them.

~ Adrian Iodice

Adrian Iodice

Adrian Iodice has a deep passion for natural sustainable bee care. He started beekeeping with standard conventional Langstroth hives and since 2010, he began experimenting with and studying various hive designs.

Adrian is one of the pioneers of the ‘Natural beekeeping’ movement in Australia. In 2012 he studied biodynamic beekeeping at ‘Mellifera Centre for Organic Beekeeping’ in Rosenfeld, southern Germany. He has come to the conclusion that the ‘Kenyan top bar hive’ is the better hive suited to his needs and he feels that every ‘backyard beekeeper’ should truly consider the hive design they will eventually use for the wellbeing of their bees.

He teaches natural, sustainable beekeeping workshops all over Australia.

The venue

Fair Harvest

426 Carters Rd (Corner Burnside Rd) Margaret River Western Australia 6285 Australia

Fair Harvest is an established permaculture farm 5km out of Margaret River in Australia’s beautiful South West corner.

For over 20 years the property at the corner of Carters Rd and Burnside Rd Margaret River has been home to Permaculture in Margaret River.

The journey started in 1995 when Jodie and friends moved to the corner of the family property and started planting trees, at that stage the farm house, machinery shed (now Fair Harvest Venue) and the old barn stood in bare paddocks and were constantly buffeted by the weather.

While involved in community living and environmental activism the group started planting windbreaks, timber trees fruit trees and vegetable gardens. Structures went up for animal housing, woodsheds, garden sheds, orchard netting and poultry.

During this time Jodie started teaching Permaculture and groups frequently visited the property. Community living and growing continued on the farm until 2006. In 2009 Dorothee arrived at the farm as a WWOOFER and before long had teamed up with Jodie to make the formidable team that now run Fair Harvest Permaculture.

In 2012 the old machinery shed was cleverly redesigned and renovated as a venue for courses and events as well as housing a commercial kitchen for dealing with the increasing volume of food coming from the gardens.

Since then Fair Harvest has run numerous courses including the popular South West Permaculture Design Certificate. It has hosted music events, weddings and private functions and has opened it’s gates on a regular basis for freshly prepared organic lunches.

More recently Jodie and Dorothee have turned their hand to holistic, broad acre farm management, using cell grazing to improve soil and pasture on the farm.

Fair Harvest founders Jodie and Do are passionate food growers.

Course Outline

This beekeeping course begins with an introduction that shares Adrian Iodice’s personal journey into beekeeping and the sacred nature of bees.

You will understand the profound spiritual connection with bees and their vital role in nature.

The course explores the importance of adopting natural beekeeping practices, emphasizing sustainability, harmony with the environment, and the health of the bees themselves. Additionally, the course delves into various bee products, including honey, pollen, propolis, royal jelly, bee venom, and wax, explaining their uses and benefits.

Following this, the course focuses on the biology and behavior of bees, covering the development and roles of worker bees, drones, and queens. It also addresses the phenomena of swarming, including how to manage queens and swarms, catch a swarm, and install it into a hive.

The spiritual and ecological significance of these practices is highlighted, reinforcing the course’s commitment to a holistic approach to beekeeping.

A significant part of the course is dedicated to the Kenyan Topbar Hive. You will learn about its history, components, setup, placement, and management.

The course includes a thorough inspection of a Kenyan Topbar Hive, providing you with hands-on experience and a deeper understanding of its unique benefits. This section also covers how to transfer bees from a Langstroth hive to a Kenyan Topbar Hive, further promoting sustainable beekeeping practices.

The course also emphasizes the practical aspects of beekeeping, focusing on essential tools and safety measures. You will learn how to harvest and process honeycomb and wax efficiently.

This practical knowledge ensures you are well-equipped to manage your hive responsibly and sustainably.

Finally, the course addresses the management of common pests and diseases such as the Varroa mite, American foulbrood, and small hive beetle. By understanding these challenges and how to address them, you will be better prepared to maintain a healthy and thriving bee colony.

This comprehensive outline ensures that you gain a thorough understanding of natural beekeeping practices, fostering a deeper connection with your bees and promoting a sustainable and healthy environment for them.

FAQs

Margaret River, Western Australia

Natural Beekeeping WorkshopStart Your Own Hive with Confidence

30th & 31st October

Saturday & Sunday

9:30am to 4.00pm each day

$470

One time payment

Bookings Closed.
See upcoming classes & courses

Limited to 20 people