Beekeeping Apprenticeship
Start this Fall → Have Bees by Spring!
With Advanced Master Beekeeper Tiffany Harelik & Friends
With Advanced Master Beekeeper Tiffany Harelik & Friends
Are the bees calling you? Come learn beekeeping in online classes, plus get your hands in hives for an in-person component to gain confidence with your beekeeping skills before your bees arrive next Spring.
Join us for 8 online classes / 20 hours of instruction ($299)
Become a Hacienda Harelik apprentice anywhere in the world through this online model of learning. Replays will be sent to all students, and everyone will have access to online office hours for personalized questions.
Add 'hands in hives' experiences throughout the program ($49/experience).
Throughout the year, there will be opportunities for apprentices to get in person experiences such as colony inspections, making splits, requeening, catching swarms, and more. These events cannot be planned in advance, as we will follow the weather, and the bees lead. Choose which experiences you want to join and a link will be sent to pay by the day prior.
Email Tiff@TiffanyHarelik.com to secure your spot, limited to five apprentice students per experience.
Total for all online classes and all five in person hands in hives experiences: $544.
Pay in full by November 1st, and receive a discount of $45 - ($499).
Join us for 8 online classes / 20 hours of instruction ($299)
Become a Hacienda Harelik apprentice anywhere in the world through this online model of learning. Replays will be sent to all students, and everyone will have access to online office hours for personalized questions.
Add 'hands in hives' experiences throughout the program ($49/experience).
Throughout the year, there will be opportunities for apprentices to get in person experiences such as colony inspections, making splits, requeening, catching swarms, and more. These events cannot be planned in advance, as we will follow the weather, and the bees lead. Choose which experiences you want to join and a link will be sent to pay by the day prior.
Email Tiff@TiffanyHarelik.com to secure your spot, limited to five apprentice students per experience.
Total for all online classes and all five in person hands in hives experiences: $544.
Pay in full by November 1st, and receive a discount of $45 - ($499).
What You’ll Learn
- Build confidence before your bees arrive with hands-on experience
- Setting up your apiary & equipment
- Installing your bees
- Hive biology, genetics & pheromones
- Feeding, pests & seasonal care
- Honey harvesting & bottling
- Swarm prevention & splits
- Medicinal hive products: beeswax, propolis & more
Why Join?
- Learn pesticide-free beekeeping for West Texas in Langstroth & Top Bar hives
- Benefit from two seasons of training — Fall learning & Spring hands-on work
- 30+ hours online + in-person hive days in Abilene
- Monthly office hours for direct mentorship with Tiffany
- On-demand access to recorded workshops with optional exercises, reading and videos
- Ideal for new backyard beekeepers, all levels are welcome
- Compatible with the Texas Master Beekeeper Program Content
Join the Apprenticeship - online and in person
November 2025 - May 2026
November 2025 - May 2026
Tiffany Harelik is an Advanced Master Beekeeper through the Texas Master Beekeeper Program and has served in several leadership roles with Texas Beekeepers Association groups. Tiffany co-founded the West Texas Beekeepers Guild, West Texas Bee School, and the West Texas Fair and Rodeo’s first Honey Show. She is the author of multiple cookbooks, including local favorites, The Big Country Cookbook, The Big Bend Cookbook, and The Terlingua Chili Cookbook.
With a Master’s in Health Psychology and a background in cookbook publishing and music event production (Lollapalooza, Viva Big Bend, ACL Fest), Tiffany brings her multi-media experience to offer in-person and online beekeeping apprenticeships, hosts the Beekeepers Almanac podcast, and runs Hacienda Harelik Honey’s YouTube channel where she shares beekeeping strategies with others. She is the owner of Hacienda Harelik Honey and keeps bees for pollination and honey production throughout the Big Country, Permian Basin, and Concho Valley.
With a Master’s in Health Psychology and a background in cookbook publishing and music event production (Lollapalooza, Viva Big Bend, ACL Fest), Tiffany brings her multi-media experience to offer in-person and online beekeeping apprenticeships, hosts the Beekeepers Almanac podcast, and runs Hacienda Harelik Honey’s YouTube channel where she shares beekeeping strategies with others. She is the owner of Hacienda Harelik Honey and keeps bees for pollination and honey production throughout the Big Country, Permian Basin, and Concho Valley.
Join us from anywhere with the online-only option $299 November-May
Lessons are recorded live, and the replays will be emailed to you.
Includes 8 zoom sessions, plus
Includes 8 zoom sessions, plus
Workshop Schedule
Please note: Our schedule is always subject to the weather, and the changing lessons available to us through the bees during the course of the program. For example, we may get a swarm or removal call that you'll be able to join in and learn hands-on experiences that we cannot plan. I invite you to embrace the wild nature of what's possible when you say yes—to the bees—through apprenticeship.
Getting Started
Getting Started
Session 1: November
Zoom Session:
Setting up your Apiary: Assembling Equipment and Tools
Buying Bees: Hive Biology & Genetics
The Solstice: Two Seasons of Beekeeping
Bee Stings: Safety & Therapy
+ Online Office Hours for Your Questions
Hands in Hives:
Lighting your Smoker
Familiarization with Colony set ups
Weatherizing hives
Your picture in the Bees! (Buffalo Gap, Texas)
Hive Inspection 101
Reading
The Biology of the Honey Bee
The Beekeepers Lament
Setting up your Apiary: Assembling Equipment and Tools
Buying Bees: Hive Biology & Genetics
The Solstice: Two Seasons of Beekeeping
Bee Stings: Safety & Therapy
+ Online Office Hours for Your Questions
Hands in Hives:
Lighting your Smoker
Familiarization with Colony set ups
Weatherizing hives
Your picture in the Bees! (Buffalo Gap, Texas)
Hive Inspection 101
Reading
The Biology of the Honey Bee
The Beekeepers Lament
Lifecycle, Beeswax, and the Medicinal Hive
Lifecycle, Beeswax, and the Medicinal Hive
Session 2: November
Zoom Session:
Lifecycle and Jobs of the Honey Bee Superorganism
Communication through Dancing and Pheromones
Beeswax & Propolis: the Medicinal hive
+ Online Office Hours for Your Questions
Hands in Hives:
Inspections & Feeding (Buffalo Gap)
Waxing Plastic Foundations
Making Rescue Bars
Lifecycle and Jobs of the Honey Bee Superorganism
Communication through Dancing and Pheromones
Beeswax & Propolis: the Medicinal hive
+ Online Office Hours for Your Questions
Hands in Hives:
Inspections & Feeding (Buffalo Gap)
Waxing Plastic Foundations
Making Rescue Bars
Becoming a Bee Veterinarian
Becoming a Bee Veterinarian
Session 3: December
Zoom Session
Honey Bee Nutrition
Identifying Pests and Diseases
Feeding Bees
+Online Office Hours for Your Questions
Reading
Honey Bee Pests and Diseases
Honey Bee Nutrition
Identifying Pests and Diseases
Feeding Bees
+Online Office Hours for Your Questions
Reading
Honey Bee Pests and Diseases
Honey!
Honey!
Session 4: December
Zoom Session
Pollination
How Honey is Made
Honey Crystallization
Creamed Honey
Bottling and Labeling Honey
+ Online Office Hours for Your Questions
Pollination
How Honey is Made
Honey Crystallization
Creamed Honey
Bottling and Labeling Honey
+ Online Office Hours for Your Questions
Winter Break
Getting Ready for your Bees
Getting Ready for your Bees
Session 5: February
Zoom Session
Preparing for your Bees: Installing Nucs + Packages
Preparing for Swarms and Expansion
Queens 101
+ Online Office Hours for Your Questions
Reading
Song of Increase
Preparing for your Bees: Installing Nucs + Packages
Preparing for Swarms and Expansion
Queens 101
+ Online Office Hours for Your Questions
Reading
Song of Increase
Nectar Flows, Queens and Drones
Nectar Flows, Queens and Drones
Session 6: March
Zoom Session
Identifying a Nectar Flow
Identifying Queens and Drones
Drone Congregation Areas
Colony Health Assessments: Equalizing Resources
+ Online Office Hours for Your Questions
Hands in Hives:
First Spring Inspections (Buffalo Gap)
First Spring Inspections (Cross Plains)
Equalizing Resources
Identifying a Nectar Flow
Identifying Queens and Drones
Drone Congregation Areas
Colony Health Assessments: Equalizing Resources
+ Online Office Hours for Your Questions
Hands in Hives:
First Spring Inspections (Buffalo Gap)
First Spring Inspections (Cross Plains)
Equalizing Resources
Spring Dynamics
Spring Dynamics
Session 7: March
Zoom Session
Space Management
Making Splits and Combines
Case Studies
+ Optional Online Office Hours for Your Questions
Hands in Hives:
Spring Inspections (Buffalo Gap)
Spring Inspections (Cross Plains)
Space Management
Making Splits and Combines
Case Studies
+ Optional Online Office Hours for Your Questions
Hands in Hives:
Spring Inspections (Buffalo Gap)
Spring Inspections (Cross Plains)
Advanced Topics
Advanced Topics
Session 8: April
Zoom
Your upcoming year in beekeeping
Removals
What to expect this Summer: dearth, robbing, honey harvest prep
+ Online Office Hours for Your Questions
Hands in Hives: Dates TBD based on weather
Making Splits
Lift Tests
Honey Sensory Celebration
Installing your Bees: Based on bee readiness and individual student locations
Your upcoming year in beekeeping
Removals
What to expect this Summer: dearth, robbing, honey harvest prep
+ Online Office Hours for Your Questions
Hands in Hives: Dates TBD based on weather
Making Splits
Lift Tests
Honey Sensory Celebration
Installing your Bees: Based on bee readiness and individual student locations
