Requirements

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 be a Texas registered beekeeper or a registered beekeeper in their home state.  Click here to register as a Texas beekeeper.
  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, (4) pesticides, (5) African honey bees, and (6) honey judging.  These modules are available on the Texas Master Beekeeper website.
  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 African Bee Extension and Education Program website (https://entnemdept.ifas.ufl.edu/honey-bee/extension/beekeeper-resources/african-bees/); 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 public 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: http://txbeeinspection.tamu.edu/
  3. The University of Florida AFBEE: 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: http://honeybeehealthcoalition.org/Varroa/

Modules

Public Service Document

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