A new Cornell University course will create quite a buzz if you have ever considered becoming a beekeeper for fun and profit.

Cornell Cooperative Extension, in collaboration with the university's Dyce Laboratory for Honey Bee Research, Apiary Extension Program, is offering an apprentice-level spring course as part of its Master Beekeeping Program.

The course is the first in a series of courses on beekeeping being developed at Cornell. All beekeepers or people interested in starting with bees are encouraged to attend. The spring course involves approximately 12 hours of lectures and four hours of practical exercises.

Topics include: the honeybee and history of beekeeping; understanding the Langstroth hive; developmental biology of the honeybee; personal beekeeping equipment; the sting and getting stung; working the hive; colony inspection; the anatomy and life history of the honeybee; establishing an apiary; colony development and population management; starting with bees; and identifying and managing diseases of the brood, bee mites and bee pests.

Besides Ithaca, there are five other locations throughout New York state where the beekeeping workshop will be held. They are:

• Middletown, May 1 and 8, Orange County Extension Office.
• Greenwich, May 15 and 22, BetterBee Inc.
• Plattsburgh, June 5 and 6, Beekmantown Hall.
• Warsaw, June 26 and 27, Warsaw County Extension Office.
• Riverhead, July 10 and 11, Suffolk County Extension Office.

In Ithaca, the course will be held at the Dyce Laboratory on Frees Road on Wednesday nights (May 19, May 26, June 2 and June 9) from 5:30 to 10 p.m., and on June 19 and 20 from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. For more information, contact the Cornell Apiculture Research Program, Cornell University, Comstock Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853, or call (607) 255-3280. The cost of the course is $125.