
Bee Classes
Thank you for your interest in our classes! The SBBA is committed to education throughout the community to raise awareness of the plight of the honeybee!
Santa Barbara Beekeepers Association is proud to be continuing to educate new and existing beekeepers through the SBBA's Beginning Backyard Beekeeping (B3) Certification course and Introductory and Advanced Beekeeper classes.
Sign up for one of our popular and groundbreaking courses or classes below.
SBBA Beginning Backyard Beekeeping (B3)
The Santa Barbara Beekeepers Association is excited to announce the B3 session dates for 2020 after a very successful, sold-out debut in 2015 and again in 2019 - enrollment is now open for 2020!
The 2020 B3 sessions are now open for enrollment!
The Beginning Backyard Beekeeping (B3) certification is designed from the ground up to cater to budding beekeepers seeking the shortest and most sensible path to having bees. The 4-week course will thoroughly prepare students with all the practical knowledge necessary to start working with honeybees in their own backyard.
An online test will be administered during the course and all passing students will receive official SBBA B3 patches, as well as receive an invitation to a catered B3 Graduation Celebration at the Buzz Hive in Whole Foods Santa Barbara. All students will receive official SBBA B3 diplomas as well!
2 sessions are offered for 2020 - Spring (February), and Fall (September).
All of the B3 sessions have sold out since 2015 and space is limited to 20 students per session, so sign up now!
Location: La Cuesta High School at 710 Santa Barbara St. in Room 2
Instructor: Paul Cronshaw - Paul has over 40 years of beekeeping experience
Cost: $125.00 (includes 1 year SBBA membership and site visits to SBBA's apiaries for hands on training)
B3 2020 Enrollment Now Open!
B3 Spring Session Registration
B3 Spring Session Dates:
February 4, 2020 - February 25, 2020. Every Tuesday for 4 weeks from 5:30pm - 8:00pm.
B3 Fall Session Registration
B3 Fall Session Dates:
September 1, 2020 - September 22, 2020. Every Tuesday for 4 weeks from 5:30pm - 8:00pm.
Testimonials from previous B3 students
"I highly recommend this class to the novice beekeeper and to all that seek to increase their interest and passion for honeybees. This is an incredibly informative course in a very relaxed and beautiful setting where you will learn about how to care for bees and, beyond their pollination services to feed us, how bees foster, support, and teach us how to be mindful and awakened human beings. My appreciation for bees has multiplied many times over and I’m immensely grateful to have met like-minded people. - Patty Murphy
"We would like to recommend the SBBA B3 course,"Beginning Backyard Beekeeping." The class was entertaining, educational and balanced with comprehensive resources and an excellent philosophy towards beekeeping/having and life itself. - Joanne and Neil Quinn
Apiary Meetups
These are done usually on a monthly basis, you can check our calendar to see what dates we have coming up.