Food & Culture

Beekeeping is a wonderful and fascinating hobby and for Peter, a profession, or should that be obsession? This 90 minute interactive class explores what it is like to keep bees, what is the equipment needed, where to go for help and advice, what is the cost and what are the rewards.

For those who decide to take up the hobby, Peter will be running several follow-up, in depth classes. Have your list of questions ready!  This is a live online class using ZOOM.

 Peter Cowin aka, the Bee Whisperer, started keeping bees in the 70’s at the age of 11, and now tends to more than 130 colonies. He is past President of Penobscot County Beekeepers Association and mentor to many local beekeepers. Peter runs a beekeeping supply store in Hampden Maine. He sells packaged bees and produces queensand makes hundreds of nucleus colonies for sale each year. His bees produce thousands of pounds of honey per year sold under the Bee Whisperer name. Peter has been teaching beekeeping at his honey farm and in Adult Ed for more than 8 years.

Beekeeping is a wonderful and fascinating hobby and for Peter, a profession, or should that be obsession? This 90 minute interactive class explores what it is like to keep bees, what is the equipment needed, where to go for help and advice, what is the cost and what are the rewards.

For those who decide to take up the hobby, Peter will be running several follow-up, in depth classes. Have your list of questions ready!  This is a live online class using ZOOM.

 Peter Cowin aka, the Bee Whisperer, started keeping bees in the 70’s at the age of 11, and now tends to more than 130 colonies. He is past President of Penobscot County Beekeepers Association and mentor to many local beekeepers. Peter runs a beekeeping supply store in Hampden Maine. He sells packaged bees and produces queensand makes hundreds of nucleus colonies for sale each year. His bees produce thousands of pounds of honey per year sold under the Bee Whisperer name. Peter has been teaching beekeeping at his honey farm and in Adult Ed for more than 8 years.

In this two-part workshop, we will focus on organic methods to help gardeners and homesteaders establish and maintain healthy fruit trees for home fruit production. 

In Part 2, we will discuss organic methods of insect and disease management in order to produce quality fruit, as well as how to best manage fruit trees as they get older and larger.  This is a live online workshop using ZOOM. 

Makeup class, if needed, 03/16/23.

C. J. Walke has been working for the Maine Organic Farmers & Gardeners Association since 2006 and for the past decade, he has focused on providing technical services to farmers and teaching practical skills related to organic tree fruit cultivation.

Beekeeping is a wonderful and fascinating hobby and for Peter, a profession, or should that be obsession? This 90-minute interactive class explores what it is like to keep bees, what equipment is needed, where to go for help and advice, what is the cost and what are the rewards.

For those who decide to take up the hobby, Peter will be running several follow-up, in-depth classes. Have your list of questions ready!  This is a live online class using ZOOM.

Makeup class, if needed, 10/24/22.

Peter Cowin aka, the Bee Whisperer, started keeping bees in the 70s at the age of 11, and now tends to more than 130 colonies. He is past President of Penobscot County Beekeepers Association and mentor to many local beekeepers. Peter runs a beekeeping supply store in Hampden Maine. He sells packaged bees and produces queens, and makes hundreds of nucleus colonies for sale each year. His bees produce thousands of pounds of honey per year sold under the Bee Whisperer name. Peter has been teaching beekeeping at his honey farm and at Adult Ed for more than 8 years.