STUDYNOTES
Master Beekeeper Christine Coulsting
Following our profile of Lynfa Davies, who was recently awarded the National Diploma in Beekeeping (February), we spoke to Master Beekeeper Christine Coulsting to find out about her achievement.
Not many beekeepers have the pleasure of crossing one of the world’s very rare habitats to reach their apiary. But in deepest Hampshire, Master Beekeeper Christine Coulsting must paddle across the Wallop Brook, a chalk bourne (seasonal chalk stream, in Hampshire parlance) to reach one of her apiaries in a beautiful chalk valley meadow.
Christine took up beekeeping just nine years ago – and quite by accident. Approaching retirement, having been a garden designer and landscaping manager, she had moved across Hampshire to the west side of the River Test and taken up a village allotment. A beekeeping group was being set up on the allotment and Christine joined in out of curiosity.
“The first time I saw a beehive open, I took a step back,” she admits, “but I came to realise there was much more to beekeeping than I ever expected.”
Learning step-by-step
Formal educational qualifications hadn’t been a big thing in Christine’s life, but she wanted to learn more about beekeeping and took her BBKA basic assessment in her second season with the allotment beekeepers.
In her third year, she moved on from the allotment beekeeping group and established one apiary of her own and shared another: “I felt I had to take ownership of my beekeeping to be able to move forward. And that’s when my beekeeping really took off. Beekeeping by commitee doesn’t work very well!”
Bee Craſt April 2020
Christine Coulsting crossing Wallop Brook to collect samples of bees for that evening’s microscopy session at Romsey BKA
Photo: Stephen Fleming
Christine had also overcome one major shock – of the anaphylactic variety. She now dismisses this quite casually, saying that, determined not to give up beekeeping, she underwent a three-year desensitisation course at Southampton General Hospital. This worked so well that she doesn’t take great precautions to avoid being stung. Today, stings have litle effect on her.
By 2015 and still wanting to learn more, Christine felt she was ready to take the first of seven modules that comprise the Master Beekeeper qualification (rather confusingly numbered one to eight). She was successful in that and found it so rewarding she went on to take a module every six months (in line with the timing of the twice-yearly examinations). She really enjoyed the correspondence (email) courses and was inspired and motivated by her tutor and the Facebook study groups. “As soon as I came home from one exam, I’d get the books out and start the next one! Beekeeping is a craſt with so many different aspects. I wouldn’t say I’m a scientist, but I have enjoyed learning.”
Practical learning
As part of the Master Beekeeper examination, Christine had two practical assessments which she found both enjoyable and challenging. In General Husbandry, assessors considered her equipment, storage, records, honey and wax. Christine also showed her queen- rearing project and performed various beekeeping manipulations.
“ Learning helped me to work with the bees better and made it more enjoyable – I better understood what I was doing – but I won’t say I understand bees!”
The five sections of Advanced Husbandry, designed to assess how a candidate communicates information, were held on a single day at the BBKA apiary and including a ten-minute minute presentation plus interviews about various topics covered in the modules.
“The General Husbandry assessment was a very intense experience. My apiary has never looked so pristine. The experience really pushed my beekeeping forward. In particular, it prompted me to improve the quantification of my record-keeping and to embark on queen rearing. The BBKA runs courses for both of these assessments and I found them invaluable.”
How does it feel to have become a Master Beekeeper? “Absolutely brilliant,” she says, “I completed it while I was still working, and it feels like a big achievement. I’m glad I did two modules each year. If I’d done
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