The Master Beekeeper Test Questions

There are many types of Master Beekeeper Programs in the United States.  You do not have to be a Master Beekeeper to be successful as a beekeeper!

Background:

The BBKA was set up in 1874 to promote and further the craft of beekeeping and to advance the education of the public in the importance of bees in the environment. The British Beekeeping Association established testing to determine beekeeping competence for its membership by giving test to determine the level of competence for members; These were Basic, Intermediate and Master Certificates. 

The Eastern Apicultural Society of North America, Inc. (EAS) is an international nonprofit educational organization founded in 1955 for the promotion of bee culture, education of beekeepers, certification of Master Beekeepers and excellence in bee research. EAS is the largest noncommercial beekeeping organization in the United States and one of the largest in the world.  

Both of these organizations provide membership with the opportunity to receive recognition for beekeeping competence.   The purpose of both organizations include educational goals.  By offering examinations for certification, the organizations provide a way for qualified instructors to establish credentials to bee schools and establish a high standard for those who teach beekeeping classes.
 

The questions on this site have been taken from examination questions asked on some of the test and do not include additional information required by these organizations such as fill in the blank question (no guessing at an answer), practical examinations in the bee yard, a laboratory examination that uses often the tools used such as refractometers, microscopes, etc. plus an oral examination before a board that judges a candidates ability to communicate and answer question which require explanations.

The test for these organization are designed to be hard.  As an example, the EAS test is given each year at the summer conference. The list of recognized EAS Master Beekeepers   www.easternapiculture.org/master-beekeepers/master-beekeeper-list.html  This organization has certified 183 beekeepers as Master Beekeepers since 1972.  Of the 20 to 40 who take this test each summer an average of only 4 pass the test.   The failure rate is very high.

Material used on the test varies from year to year.

The most valuable study material are the Testing Your Beekeeping Knowledge articles written by Clarence H. Collison and published in Bee Culture Magazine in the early 1990's, The Hive and the Honey Bee published by Dadant in 1992, The BBKA study notes published by BBKA, Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping by Dewey M. Caron, Breeding Techniques and Selection for Breeding of the Honeybee by Friedrich Ruttner, Queen Rearing and Bee Breeding by Laidlaw and Page, HoneyBee Democracy by Seeley and various materials from Science Research published on the internet.