Advanced

Advanced Beekeeper Requirements

  1. must have held the Apprentice Beekeeper rank at least one year and have been a practicing beekeeper for at least two years. Additionally, the candidate must have a current Beekeeper Registration on-file with the Texas Apiary Inspection Service OR be a registered beekeeper in their home state.
  2. must show proof of passing six (6) computerized honey bee training modules with a score of 80% or higher. The modules focus on (1) honey bee pests/parasites/pathogens, (2) social wasps & bees, (3) pollination biology, (4) pesticides and honey bees, (5) Africanized honey bees, and (6) honey judging.  These modules are listed below.
  3. must score 70% or higher on a written examination. The written exam can include, but is not limited to: materials covered during previous Texas Beekeepers Association Conference lectures; information on the Texas Apiary Inspection Service website (http://txbeeinspection.tamu.edu/); information found on the Texas A&M Honey Bee Lab website (http://honeybeelab.tamu.edu/), the UF Honey Bee Research and Extension Laboratory website, the AFBEE website, and reading materials found on the Advanced Beekeeper reading list. This examination will cover more information than that required for the Apprentice Beekeeper level. The exams will include information taught in the computerized honey bee training modules.
  4. must score 70% or higher on a practical examination. The practical exam can include, but is not limited to: scoring a jar of show honey, reading pesticide labels and determining which is the safest to use around bees, identifying several beekeeping items, examining honey labels for errors, distinguishing between bees, wasps, hornets, etc., and identifying the anatomical structures of a bee and a flower.
  5. must perform and document completion of five (5) public service credits with the provided service credit documentation form. A candidate can, and is encouraged to, complete and submit more than five public service credits prior to taking the Advanced Beekeeper examinations but the “extra” credits cannot be used toward satisfying credit requirements in higher program levels.

Reading List

Advanced Level Study Guide

Books:

  1. The Hive and the Honey Bee, Extensively Revised Edition– Dadant and Sons, Inc. (2015)
  2. The Biology of the Honey Bee – Mark Winston (1991)
  3. Honey Bee Diseases & Pests, Third Edition-Stephen F. Pernal and Heather Clay (2015)
  4. The Honey Bee-V.R. Vickery (1991)
  5. Increase Essentials-Lawrence John Connor (2006)
  6. Killer Bees- Mark L. Winston (1992)
  7. Georgia Master Beekeeper Lecture Notes

Periodicals:

  1. American Bee Journal
  2. Bee Culture

Websites:

  1. All “honey bee” entries (search for “honey bee”) at: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/
  2. Texas Apiary Inspection Service website: http://txbeeinspection.tamu.edu/
  3. The University of Florida AFBEE website: https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/honey-bee/beekeeper-resources/african-bees/
  4. Bee Informed Partnership: https://beeinformed.org/
  5. eXtension: America’s Research-based Learning Network: https://bee-health.extension.org/
  6. Honey Bee Health Coalition: https://honeybeehealthcoalition.org/resources/varroa-management/

Modules

Public Service Document

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