CENTRAL Victoria's $70 million honey industry is getting the backing of Bendigo Regional Institute of TAFE with an offer to help local employers who take on beekeeping trainees.
New government incentives mean many local employers may now be eligible for payments to take on trainees.
BRIT has developed seven specialty courses aimed at both hobby and commercial beekeepers.
The courses include beekeeping, honey extraction, queen bee breeding, bee pollination services, Nosema disease management for pollination services, Varroa management and a business-related course.
Five of the seven courses are specifically aimed at people focussed on commercial beekeeping and are specifically designed to attract credits applicable to other agricultural studies.
BRIT's horticulture and apiculture teacher, Daniel Martin, said there had never been a better time for budding beekeepers.
"We are fortunate to have a large diversity of flowering eucalyptus species that provide us with our uniquely flavoured and popular honey types," Mr Martin said.
He said BRIT's main beekeeping course aimed to give participants the confidence to manage their own hives.
About 80 per cent of students obtained one or two hives within a year of completing the course, he said.
The beekeeping traineeship runs over seven weeks.
For more information, telephone 1300 554 248 or email info@brittafe.vic.edu.au
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