I have taken 5 beekeeping classes at Tanya's and Chuck's :
- one Beginner,
- one Advanced,
- one on extraction
- one by a Top-Bar expert from Houston
- one by Les Crowder, the Top-Bar Beekeeping Guru (author of renowned "Top-Bar Beekeeping: Organic Practices for Honeybee Health" book), at their place
Their classes are extremely informative and priced competitively, the classroom part is air conditioned and has loads of props to demo all the concepts discussed, and their apiary has both Top-Bar Hives and Langstroth Hives. Small groups makes for more times asking questions if needed. They also have a Warre Hive on display. They sell raw honey and hive products, and offer honey tasting so you can select your favorite.
I particularly like the creative water source they set up for their bees, so they don't drown.
What I absolutely love is that they will continue to provide support and generously answer questions after the class is over, and they don't charge you for a support desk for that like most other do.
Also, I love that they started the nonprofit that hosts the annual 'Tour de Hives' event in Austin to help fund bee research and education - which is great for all beekeepers.
I just ordered the book Tanya wrote (Beginning Beekeeping: Everything You Need to Make Your Hive Thrive!). I will update this review with my comments once I have read it.
I also love going to the Travis Country Beekeeper Association monthly meetings that they started.
She and Chuck are always there along with other experts to answer all questions and discuss relevant topics such as Spring Management, Swarming, Feeding, Biology, Fall Management, Swarm catching, Pest/Disease management, etc. and they don't charge hardly anything for this wonderful service of theirs ($25 a year I believe for 2-3hrs once a month).
I also bought a nuc from them in June last year, very late in the season, but their queen was laying so well, it is doing great this Spring and I am very happy with their stock! Plus they were quite cheaper than Beeweavers if I remember well.
Finally, I LOVE Tanya and Chuck, they are so personable and friendly, and I can not recommend Austin Bee Friendly enough! read more