Bee traineeship

The traineeship includes a blend of face-to-face, online modules and workplace assessment, including practical components with hands-on exercises involving bee hives and various beekeeping equipment. The applicant must successfully complete thirteen (13) core units and five (5) elective units.

Core units

• AHCBEK203 - Open and reassemble a beehive
• AHCBEK205 - Prepare and use a bee smoker
• AHCBEK206 - Assemble and maintain beekeeping components
• AHCBEK301 - Manage honey bee swarms
• AHCBEK302 - Manipulate honey bee brood
• AHCBEK303 - Re-queen a honey bee colony
• AHCBEK304 - Remove a honey crop from a hive
• AHCBEK311 - Transport bee hives by road to new apiary site
• AHCBEK312 - Extract honey
• AHCBEK313 - Manage pests and disease within a honey bee colony
• AHCBEK405 - Select and establish an apiary site
• AHCWHS301 - Contribute to work health and safety processes
• AHCWRK306 - Comply with industry quality assurance requirements

Elective units

More information on these units of study can be found on the training.gov.au website.

Possible job roles (depending on qualification level) include:

• Beekeeping
• Honey Processing
• Wax processing
• Hive building
• Queen bee breeding
• Bee sales
• Pollination services.

Applicants should have some beekeeping experience, although a novice beekeeper may also be considered by a potential employer. Applicants should have the ability to undertake the AHC31818 Certificate 3 Beekeeping.

If you would like more specific information, contact Tocal College or the Australian Apprenticeship Centre.

• The trainee’s usual place of work must be in NSW.
• They must be an Australian citizen, permanent resident, eligible visa holder, or an eligible New Zealand citizen (resident in Australia for more than 6 months).
• A trainee must be employed by a beekeeping operation for:
  • less than 3 months (full-time or equivalent part-time/casual)
  • less than 12 months (part-time, casual, or mixed employment).

This traineeship will take up to 24 months to complete. Depending on your experience and skills, you may be able to complete it in a shorter time frame. This would need to be discussed with your Traineeship Coordinator.

Assessment methods may include:

• written reports
• case studies and scenarios
• oral presentations
• quizzes
• observations
• interviews
• workplace assessment

The principles of assessment will be followed, and all assessments will be valid, reliable, flexible and fair and carried out by qualified assessors. Students will be advised of the assessment requirements prior to the assessment taking place.

Support is available via email, phone, face to face on-campus, and through Canvas (the online learner management system).

Learn what sort of problem-solving you'll do day-to-day as an Australian Apprentice. Take a quick quiz to find out if you need support with reading, writing or maths. Select the option for Animal Care and Management.

Traineeships provided through the NSW Smart and Skilled vocational education and training (VET) system are fee-free for eligible trainees.

Employer Support: Employers of trainees may be eligible for funding and support. Contact an Apprentice Connect Australia Provider (more info here).

More information is available in the Traineeship Course Guides for Employer and Trainee, from an Apprentice Connect Australian Provider, or by contacting the Traineeship Coordinator. You can also visit the Smart & Skilled website .

For information on students rights and responsibilities, and the Tocal College Code of Practice see Student policy information.

Student may decide to progress to further study within the College. Tocal also has articulation (credit for study at Tocal) arrangements in place with a number of Australian universities.