A Guide to setting up a Bee-Keeping project in a school scenario

The MELISSA Project

A Guide to setting up a bee-keeping project in a school scenario A Case Study Approach

by carol dibnah Craigclowan preparatory school

1. Introduction to the Project

2. Our experiences Scotland, Estonia, Italy, Greece, Portugal

3. Educational Activities (including lesson plans)

a. Art (include LTTA Art worksheets)

b Design (Designing and building a model bee hive)

c Biodiversity trail

4 Practical Advice

5. Annexes

a. Art activities lesson plans

b. Useful contacts

c Risk assessments

1.Introduction to the Project

In the past decade, bees have been disappearing at an alarming rate a combination of pests, pesticides and the destruction of habitats has seen the UK population, alone, decrease by approximately 33% In September 2017, seven types of bees were added to the list of endangered species for the first time. The consequences of losing them would be huge: Albert Einstein once said that humans “would not survive the honeybees’ disappearance for more than five years. ” It is within this context that the project MELISSA was initiated. In Greek mythology MELISSA was a nymph who discovered and taught the use of honey. This project aimed to:

● raise the profile of the environmental importance of bees locally, nationally and internationally;

● research and demonstrate the importance of bee keeping both historically and culturally, within an international context;

● Establish bee keeping projects at all schools involved in the project.

The project involved pupils aged 7 15 from schools, geographically spanning the whole of Europe: from Perth, Scotland, in the North; Thessaloniki, Greece in the South; Voru, Estonia in the East; Angra do Heroismo, Azores, Portugal in the West and Verbania Pallanza, Italy, central

During the past three years pupils have taken part in a number of collaborative activities including: researching bees and their impact on our culture designing bee hives setting up bee keeping projects at school art, music and craft activities designing and creating bee friendly gardens designing and producing merchandise relating to bees

This guide details the experiences of setting up a bee keeping project at our schools and oers advice for any school wishing to undertake such a project

2. Our experiences - Scotland, Estonia, Italy, Greece, Portugal

Scotland

Craigclowan School is a small preparatory school located on the outskirts of Perth It has extensive grounds and an old walled garden There was a perfect area to establish an apiary at school, it was set back from the path, sheltered and facing East We spent time fencing o the area and clearing it in preparation for the arrival of our bee hives

In preparation for this project three members of sta undertook the Perthshire Beekeeping society’s beekeeping course A risk assessment was prepared prior to two hives being installed in the apiary at the end of August 2019 and a member of the Perthshire Beekeepers agreed to mentor sta at Craigclowan in the art of beekeeping

In 2020 the pandemic struck and school was closed The two colonies of bees thrived and one of the hives was split meaning there were now three hives in the apiary

In May 2021, we started to experience problems with the bees They became aggressive and started to randomly sting passers by. This problem became worse and we called on the help of the expert beekeepers who recommended that we relocate the hives further away from school We did this and the hives were moved to our mentor’s apiary about 3 miles from school It was unclear what caused the bees to become aggressive. It may have been that it was a particularly cold/wet Spring, hence there was not much food around for the bees, or it could have been the noise of having children and people around after the peace of lock down. This will remain a mystery!

The two colonies which were relocated are thriving The apiary was re designed into a bee friendly garden and haven for wildlife, tree bumble bees found made their home in one of our bird houses so all was not lost!

experienced beekeeper oered advice not only about the site for the apiary but also the necessary equipment: frame, beehives, protective suits, veils and gloves

The hives were decorated by students and positioned in the apiary and bee colonies were added This apiary ois o the school site but students are able visit the apiary

colonies

Greece

September 2021

The Head teacher of the Greek partner school bought two beehives, frames, food and beekeeper’s equipment needed, e.g. smoker, protective suits, gloves. Their students painted the beehives with their Art teacher

October 2021

Our beehives are ready with the logo of Melissa and our school name on

The Head Teacher bought our bees and the bees, their food and beehives are transferred to Lakkia, Thessaloniki, to the beekeeping unit owned by beekeeper/ school external partner Mr Michalis Fragkos (@michalisfragkos), owner of company

@AuthenticGreekHoneyFragkos

Michali Fragkos is taking care of our bees now in our beehives

40°30'232 N 23°05'064 E

Late October 2021

Students visited the beehives, in @michalisfragkos’ beekeeping site, in Lakkia, Thessaloniki and inspected the beehives and did the work of a beekeeper We all smoked and opened the hives, lifted and removed the frames, watched the bees flying calmly around us and on us (!), spotted the queen, we saw pollen, propolis, brood and even honey in the frames The contact with nature, the buzz of the bees, the aroma of the honey, connected us with our bees with absolutely positive emotions so that we feel that we love the bee and we want to save it!

Of course we had a first aid kit with us and made sure we knew how the faster route to the local medical centre (which is fortunately quite close to the beekeeping site)

The Greek partners have encountered several problems during the past two years.

1) Problem: Mobility and activity restrictions due to Covid 19 banned us from travelling outside our limited residential or school area, and the beekeeping site is outside Thessaloniki

Result: We postponed the setting up our beehives until restrictions were raised

2) Problem: In October 2021 there were heavy rains in Greece which obstructed the setting up of the beehives by the beekeeper

Result: The setting up of the beehives took place after the extreme weather conditions

3) Problem: After having set up the beehives, occasional restrictions or bans on school field trips due to Covid 19 made it dicult for us to regularly visit the place with students

Result: At least we managed to visit the place once, before the LTTA in Estonia and go through the whole process of attending the beehives by the beekeeper

The colonies are thriving.

Our Portuguese partners, EBI de Angra do Heroísmo, on Terceira Island, Azores, established a partnership with a local beekeeper because according to the Portuguese legislation they can’t set up beehives in a city area

They purchased two beehives. Students drew pictures and painted them in the beehives with the help of the Art teacher. They bought the beekeepers’ suits and gloves for adults and pupils; a smoker and fuel and honey jars and two bee colonies.

Our beehives were placed in the local apiary of beekeeper/ school external partner Mr.Vítor Oliveira (viton23@gmail.com ) who is taking care of our bees and beehives.

They encountered the following problems:

1. There is no shop dedicated to beekeeping on the island. We can’t buy bees from outside of the island so to acquire some we need to ask local beekeepers; all materials have to be bought online from the mainland;

2. Portuguese legislation makes it difficult to set up an apiary especially if you don’t have a field outside urban areas;

3. To use wax it’s advised to use sterilized wax but there isn’t any for sale, so it’s necessary to buy normal wax and leave it to be sterilized in the local apiary services;

4 Mobility and activity restrictions due to Covid 19 made it difficult to visit the apiary with students.

5. January 2022 one of our bee colonies didn’t make it, due to poor growth so we lost one swarm of bees

6. It’s difficult to take students to the apiary because transport is required and we need more suits to make it safe for all those who visit

That said they managed to make two separate trips to their apiaries with pupils:

In July 2021 they made a visit to the apiary to check the bees and take photos of the school’s beehives decorated with the students’ drawings

Wearing the beekeeper suits, AP and MF, with the help of the beekeeper, inspected the beehives. We opened the hives, lifted and removed the frames and watched the bees flying and carrying the pollen, spotted the queen, we saw pollen and honey in the frames.

February 2022

Visit to the apiary to check the bees and the flowers around the beehives We took photos without the suits because since it’s winter there is less bee activity and the Azorean bees are friendly.

These two visits in different seasons allowed us to see the differences in the bees’ behaviours, and to understand the reason why there are several factors to bear in mind while setting up a beehive It was also thanks to the beekeeper’s help and advice that we managed to understand ho a beekeepgin site works.

Our bee hive is located in Orta San Giulio, a beautiful lake village and it is part of an artistic project called Apiario d’autore developed and run by a beekeeper who takes care of our school beehive and who has created our honey jars.

Our hive has been completely made by our students who assembled and decorated it with the colours bees like at school, under the rules of our expert bee keeper. The Bee keeping site is set in a near town and guests our hive in a beautiful scenario part of an important project which is called “Apiario d’autore” which sets together beehives and art works

Mr Mauro Rutto, an engineer beekeeper and organiser of the project “Apiario d’autore” helped us setting up our beehive and making our honey.

As the hive is far from school it is not possible for our students to take care of the bees personally

Problems were related to the long covid restrictions which have interfered with our work. We have tried to do our best at school in order to let students decorate their hive when it was possible we took it to the chosen site

3. Educational Activities (including lesson plans)

The nature of this project has allowed all partners to work in a cross curricular way across many departments; Art, Design, English, Music, Geography, ICT

In this section some of the activities which we carried out are described in more detail. In the annexes there are links to some of the lesson plans which accompany these tasks

d. Art and design

Throughout this project we have undertaken many art and design projects

Below is a list of some of the activities:

● We designed the logo for the project

● We designed and built model bee hives

● We made Corn Flowers

● We made bee themed lanterns

● We made mini bees around a honey pot

● We designed bee friendly gardens

● We designed labels for our honey jars

● We printed on bags and t shirts

● We created papier mache bees

● We created calendars

● We created lino prints

● We had a photography competition

Each

model bee

Th P t D i

The Estonian Design

The Greek Design The Scottish Design

The Italian Design

e English

For our partners whose native language is not English, this project has provided a tremendous opportunity to practise writing, reading and presenting in English.

Specific activities which involved our English department included: researching recipes and creating a cookery book, writing poetry about bees, preparing fact sheets about all aspects of the natural World.

f. Music

Our pupils performed songs from The Bee Musical

g History

The history of beekeeping in our own countries was researched and presented by all partners’ pupils.

h. Geography

A Biodiversity Trail around Craigclowan School was designed, written and installed This, in itself was a cross curricular project as it involved researching the flora and fauna around Craigclowan, creating fact sheets, designing a map and art work for the trail.

i ICT

Pupils and sta have learned to work together online as a result of not being able to travel in person

4. Practical Advice

1. Attend a local beekeeping course.

2 Prepare risk assessments

3 Work with a beekeeping expert and mentor in the art of beekeeping

4 Buy protective clothing/equipment

5 Consider the location carefully:

a nectar and pollen sources must be close (roughly 1 mile of the hives)

b a source of fresh water

c. plenty of sunshine

d near natural wind protection (hills, buildings etc)

e dry ground

f. good air drainage

g Hives should be secluded from trac and constant noise

h Safety from pesticide applications

i. Set up your beehives possiblysomewhereinthecountrysidesurroundedby naturenotclosetoyourschool.

6 Bee prepared for stings: have a first aid kit, epipen, and make sure you know the fastest route to the local medical centre.

7 Engage students in this topic Hold lectures, visits to apiaries and to beekeepers where honey is collected and packaged.

8 Check local legislation regarding keeping bees in your area

5 ANNEXES

1 Bee lantern and making bee lesson plans

2. Useful contacts

3 Sample risk assessment

Aimofthelesson:

To design and create a bee drawing to print on dierent papers and present as a wallmounted collaboration in hexagon frames

Materialsneeded:

Thick card (Yellow if possible) cut into strips 10cmx62cm

Optional (Cut extra thin strips 62cmx2cm to wrap around the hexagon to neaten at the end)

Pencils

Lino or polystyrene sheets 15cmx10cm

Lino tools

Waterbased printing ink (Black or various bee related colours)

Print rollers

Acrylic/plastic sheets

Tracing paper A5, Thick cartridge paper A4

Tissue paper (yellows/oranges/brown) A4

PVA Glue/Glue Sticks, Scissors, Rulers

Newspaper

Stage1

CreatetheHexagonframe

Cut strips of card 62cm long and 10cm wide Mark 10cm points along the strip leaving a 2cm edge at one end With a ruler and pencil, draw vertical lines that show six 10cm sections along the strip leaving 2cm spare

Score each line with a ruler, scissor edge or knife to allow the card to bend. Create the shape of a hexagon and with glue use the extra 2cm to attach it together

Stage2- Createyourbeeimage

Using research images, draw a bee in pencil on the tracing paper making sure that it fits the size of your lino

Trace the drawing onto the lino and using the tools carefully, cut out the lines and detail You can cut away the background so the main image is left as the ‘positive’ image and this will get rid of the straight edge lino shape

Stage3- PrintingtheLino

Once the lino is created, prepare the plate with ink Use a small amount of ink on a plastic surface and spread out evenly with the roller Transfer the roller onto the lino rolling in both directions to coat the print evenly. If you wanted to take away excess ink around the bee, use tissue or cloth to select where or how much ink you'd like on the plate Place the lino face down in the centre of your paper/tracing paper and with a DRY roller apply pressure on top of the lino. (Make sure that the lino does not move or the print will be blurred If you have a printing press then you can use this instead Carefully lift the lino away and you should have your print! You can clean the lino and use various colours to make multiple prints or combine two/three bees on one print etc

Presentingtheprints

The tissue paper prints work best on the hexagon shapes Place your hexagon on top of your print and carefully draw around it with a pencil Now add 1 or 2 cm more and roughly cut out your print Using PVA glue, lay your print on top of the hexagon and gently glue the edges all around trying to create a flat surface. Once dry, you can display the shapes as a ‘honeycomb’

Greece - Bee Flowers and Bees lesson plan

1 We started the process of artistic creation, by gathering all the materials we would use to make our bees and our bee friendly tulips

2 The materials we used are the following:

Yellow, white and black canson art papers for the bees

Various coloured pieces of paper for the flowers

Glue

Glue Gun

Scissors

Black pipe cleaners

Bamboo skewer

3. We were divided into 3 groups. We first cut the wings on white paper.

4 Next, we cut thin triangular strips of yellow and black canson art paper

5 Then, we rolled the yellow strips of paper around the bamboo skewers and glued them using the glue gun to make the bee body

6 We followed the same procedure with the black strips of paper for the bee’s head

7. We attached these two parts together and then rolled black strips of canson art paper around the body

8 We then glued the wings and antennae on each bee

9. Finally, we attached each bee on a bamboo skewer and they are now ready to fly!!!

10 For the tulips we used colourful pieces of paper and we followed the origami technique

11. These are our beautiful bees and bee friendly tulips!

Easy tutorial on the making of bees: https://wwwyoutubecom/watch?v=JXC2naWKTs0

Easy tutorial on the origami tulips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrclnMXrMtA

(Later)

1. But later, we wanted to give life to our bees

2 and added some electronic components:

3 a motor,

4. a switch, 5 three blades

6 which we assembled into a fan,

7. a battery case

8 two batteries

9 And now we ’ ve got a buzzing bee!!

10Can you hear the buzzzzzzz?

Annex 2 - Useful Contacts

Scotland

British Bee Keeper Association: https://wwwbbkaorguk/contact Scottish Bee Keepers Association : https://scottishbeekeepers.org.uk/contact Bee keeping supplies: https://wwwthornecouk/

Greece

Bee Keeping Center https://wwwhoney centergr

FragkosMichail Beekeeper NIRRA | LinkedIn

Italy https://wwwgoccedimieleit/UK/indexhtml

Italian Federation of Beekeepers (FederazioneApicoltoriItaliani)

National Union of Italian Beekeepers Associations (Unione Nazionale AssociazioniApicoltoriItaliani UNAAPI)

Beekeeping Online (ApicolturaOnline)

Consortium of Italian Organic Beekeepers and Farmers Agricultural Cooperative Society (ConsorzioApicoltoriedAgricoltoriBiologiciItaliani Società CooperativaAgricola CONAPI)

Agrisani Beekeeping

Piedmont Honey Producers Association of Piedmont (Associazione Produttori MielePiemonte)

Estonia https://wwwicybcz/countries/

Portugal https://enaapicultorapt/associa%C3%A7%C3%A3o de apicultores sap https://fruterpt/

Description and date Bee keeping

School Assessors name

HAZARD IDENTIFICATION

Electric ity and Electric al Equipm ent

Fire or Explosio n

Food Safety and Welfare Facilitie s

Hazard

Chemic als, Dust and Fumes

Manual Handlin g and Ergono mic Hazards

Medica

Emerge ncy and Acciden

Person

Safety

Securit

Slips,

Date

Date: Review:

Transp

Workin

Work

What are the hazards?

Who might be harmed and how?

What control measures are already in place?

Vehicle

Riskof bee stingsin areas near apiary

Neighbours ,those workingor playing nearby

Ensurehivesareproperlysited awayfromworkorplayareas. Ensureflightpathisnotovera footpath,accessrouteor neighbouringgarden. Makesure beesareencouragedtoflyup andoverahedgeorfence

What other control measures might be necessary?

Acti

by who

Acti

by whe

Actio

done

All staff informed regarding hive inspection dates and times.

Riskof Swarms Everyone NB: Althoughto somean intimidating sight, swarmsare not dangerous unless spectators behave recklessly

Lackof beekeepi ng knowled geor experien ce

Riskof anaphyla ctic shock following beesting

Contactlocalbeekeepers’ associationtoobtainadviceon siting. Clearwarningsignage placednearapiary.

Shouldthebeesswarm,officetophon followingorder: Leadbeekeeper CarolDibnah 07503

SecondlocalbeekeeperThirdbeekeeperfromPerthshi Beekeepers Alsolistofotherbeekeeperswith numbersattachedtothis documentifnoneofaboveare available

Everyone, Bees JoinlocalBeekeepers’Association (PerthandKinross)toobtainadvice andtraining.LocalAssocwillappoint amentortohelpthroughinitial phases (SteveFulton)

List of all local bee keepers with phone numbers held in office.

Persons identified through school medical records. Persons with unknown propensity

Staffandbeekeeper(s)awareof knownpersonsatrisk,seeguidance sheet.Emergencyproceduretobe displayedclearlyinaprominentplace; includingexactlocationofApiary. Locationofemergencyprocedure noticeandfirstaidkittobemade clearinbriefing Firstaidertobe identifiedinbriefing.Preciselocation andaccessinformationtobe availableforrelaytoemergency

Other members of staff undertake the bee keeping training

Riskof fallor injuryif collectin gswarm froma heightor difficult location

Lead beekeeper

servicestofacilitaterapidaccess. Mobilephoneorother communicationstobeavailable duringbeeinspectiontocall AmbulanceServicevia999

Assesssituationcarefullybefore startingcollection.Assemble appropriateequipment.Donot workatheightalone Havemeans ofcontactingemergencyservices tohand.Checkphonesignal. Ensureanyladderissecurely placed.ContactLBAifyouare notcertainthatyoucansafely handlethesituation.

Have list of all beekeepers with telephone numbers

Riskof colony collapse orhealth ofbees declining

Bee colonies, otherbees inthe immediate area

Ensurebestpracticeisfollowedin husbandryprocedures.Intheearly stagesofbeekeeping,knowwhata healthycolonylookslike;ifanything (howevertrivial)seemsamiss,contact yourBKAmentororlocalbee inspectorat https://www.gov.uk/guidance/bee-heal th. Thenationalbeeunitalso providesexcellentfreeinformation

Attend Perthshire beekeeping training

Riskof bee diseases from other apiaries infecting colonies. Resultan tlossof

Bee colonies JoinBeebaseat http://www.nationalbeeunit.com to receiveupdatesandnotifications directlyfromDEFRA Thisalsogives accesstolocalbeeinspector. Insuranceagainstlosscausedby diseaseincludedinmembershipof localBKAordirectlybyBBKA.

Regular hive inspections

beesand equipme nt

Riskof financial lossdue to misdeed or misadve nture.

Beekeeper, schoolor organisatio n

Ensureagreedproceduresare followedatalltimes.Followbest practice Ensurepublicliability insurerisnotifiedinwriting aboutbeekeepingactivities. Filewrittenresponse. Thereis usuallynoadditionalpremium. Consentformsignedbyparents ofallchildrenwishingtotakepart inbeekeepingactivities.

Riskof bee stings during inspectio ns

Those involvedin beekeeping activities

Fullbriefingdeliveredbefore inspection.Beekeepingsuitsto beworncorrectlyandcheckedby leadbeekeeperbeforeinspection commences. Ensureapproach routetohiveisawayfrombee flightpaths.Beekeepersto approachthehivescalmlyfrom therear Firstaiderpresentatall timesduringbeekeeping inspections.Guidanceonremoval ofstingsgiveninbriefing. Conditionofbeesuitsequipment toberegularlychecked

Add chain across path when inspecting hives stating “No Entry bee inspections taking place”

Ground Maintena ncein apiary

Those using power tools, cutting grass

Gogglestobeworn.Beesuitsto beworn(ifrequired)Ear Defenders,andbootstobeworn dependingontoolsused.No powertoolstobeusedwhen workingalone

Aggressi vebees

Increase driskof stings

Those involvedin beekeeping activityor usingnoisy equipment (lawn mower, hedge cutteretc.) nearby.

Gentlebeevarietiesused. Bees confinedtothehiveifweatheror otherfactorsmakethemirritable. Hivesworkedononlywhen conditionsarerightfor beekeeping.Anypersistently aggressivecolonytobe requeened.Beesare appropriatelysmokedbeforehive inspection. Leadbeekeeperis alwaysinattendancewhenhiveis opened

Obtain bees from Perthshire bee keeping society

Using hammer s,nails and other hand toolsto buildor repair hives Riskof injury

Riskof injury during honey processi ng

Anyone involvedin buildingor maintaining equipment

Safetybriefingdeliveredbefore commencementofactivity.Tools andequipmentregularlychecked toensuregoodconditio

CD to ensure that all involved are correctly briefed.

Anyone involvedin activity

Ensuresafetybriefingisdelivered beforeactivity.Keepsurfacesand floorclearandcleanduring activitytoreduceriskofstickyor slipperysurfaces.Ensure uncappingknivesorfolksorany electricalequipmentisused safely Electricalequipmenttobe regularlytested.Ensureheavily equipmentisliftedsafely accordingtocorrectmanual handlingprocedures

CD to ensure that all equipment is correctly maintained.

Riskof vandalis mtobee hives leading tobee stings and swarmin g

Slips, tripsand falls Back injuries from lifting hives

Everyone, vandals

Warningsignstobedisplayed nearapiary Considermesh screeningaroundapiary.Bee hivescorrectlylocatedinquiet locationawayfrompublic footpaths.Seekadvicefromlocal BKA

Fence and lockable gate around apiary.

Add chain across path when inspecting hives stating “No Entry bee inspections taking place”

Everyone entering apiaryand inspecting hives

Deliversafetybriefingbefore enteringapiary Keepapiarytidy andfreefromdebris.Maintain clearaccessandegress.No running.Maintainquietand orderlybehaviour.Staffand childrentobetrainedinbasic manualhandlingtechniques. Applytechniqueswhencarrying outmanualhandlingoperations

CD to manage hive inspections.

Riskof injuryor harm when working alone.i.e on beekeepi ng husband ry

Beekeeper s Accident orsting

Notrecommendedtoworkalone. Ensurearesponsibleperson knowshowlongyouwillbe workingintheapiary.Notallowed toworkalonewithpowertoolsor ladders.Nobodywhocarriesan Epipenorhasaknownmedical conditionthatplacesthematrisk ispermittedtobealoneinthe apiary. Ensureloneworkerhas meansofemergency communicationandthatthereisa mobilesignal. Visitorsinformed ofloneworkingpolicy

Cd to ensure that everyone knows the correct procedure

Misuse of chemical s(bee disease treatmen tsif used), masonry paintetc

Useof chemical s(bee disease treatmen ts)

Beekeeper s Chemicalstobestoredsecurely asperCOSHHguidance

Instructionstobefollowedasper datasheetandlabel

All chemicals locked away in shed.

Cleaning and maintaini ng equipme nt.Using blowtorc hesor similar equipme nt Using sharp tools. Using chemical

Beekeeper s Chemicalstobestoredsecurely asperCOSHHguidance Instructionstobefollowedasper datasheetandlabel. PPEtobe wornwhenusingchemicals–gloves,mask,goggles.Disposal ofusedchemicalsandtreatments tobedonesosafelyandasper instructions Allchemicaltobe washedofffromskinifcontactis made.

Persons involvedin activity

Fullbriefingdeliveredbefore commencingactivity.Equipment mustbesafetytestedand properlymaintained. Only responsibleadult(s)touse blowtorchesorsimilar equipment.Childrencleaning, maintainingorbuildingequipment mustbefullybriefedbefore activitycommences.Consider usingprotectiveglovesandsafety equipment. Ensurechildren cleaningequipmentwithhive toolsorsimilarobjectsusethem safelyinaccordancewithsafety

CD ensure that this procedure is followed.

CD ensure that this procedure is followed Ensure that two adults (min) are present when working with the bees.

s(ie wood stain/ protector ).

Wax melting, candleor soap making. Riskof injury, burns and scolding Riskof fire

Those involvedin activity

briefing.Usechemicalsin accordancewithmanufacturer’s instructions

Risk of fire, lighti ng and usin g smo ker lighti ng the

Beekeeper s,property andothers

Briefingtobedeliveredbefore commencement.Allactivitytobe supervised.Allthoseinvolved mustwearsafetyglassesand aprons.Considergloves.Only appropriateequipmenttobeused andinaccordancewith instructions.Ensurewaxdoesnot reachitsflashpoint(254C). Beeswaxmeltssafelyat150C. Ensureappropriatefire extinguishersaretohand(type yelloworblue,similartocooking fatfires);ensureeveryoneis appropriatelybriefedandfirstaid isavailable.Ensureemergency servicescanbequicklycontacted

Exercisecarewhenusinga lightedsmokerparticularlyduring longdryspells.Placesmokeron ahardlevelsurfacewhennotin use.Ensuresmokerisproperly extinguishedandemptiedsafely afteruse. Ensurewaterforusein anemergencyisavailableonsite Childrentobebriefedbefore startingbeekeepingactivities Childrentobesupervisedatall timeswhenlightingandusinga smokerFirstaid

CD ensure that this procedure is followed. Ensure that two adults (min) are present when working with the bees.

Smo ke Risk of burn sor smo ke inhal ation

Riskof burnsor firefrom blowtorc hduring hive maintena nce

Beekeeper

equipment/treatmentavailableon site

Childrenpermittedonlytowatch

fromasafedistancethecleaning ofequipmentwithablowtorch. Safetyequipmenttobewornby beekeeper.Greatcaretobe taken.Noloneworkingand emergencyassistancereadily available

CD ensure that this procedure is followed. Ensure that two adults (min) are present when working with the bees.