Thursday, October 30, 2025
Friday, October 31, 2025
Duration:
Presenter:
Join our main student body in our demonstration kitchen for an afternoon demonstration. You will receive a copy of the recipes and a tasting plate at the end of the class. The demonstration room is equipped with a large overhead mirror and Monitors for closeup work. We release details of recipes to be demonstrated 2 weeks in advance.
Afternoon Cookery Classes begin at 2PM, however please try to be at cookery school for 1:45PM.
Guests will get a copy of all recipes and tastings of all dishes at the end of the demonstration. Please note you will be joining our main student body for this demonstration.
Details of Recipes to be demonstrated are published approximately 2 weeks in Advance.
Wild honey bee conservationist and cabinet maker Matt Somerville designs and builds bee hives that encourage minimal intervention from the keeper, immediately reducing both stress and disease in the bees. Inspired by wild bee colonies living in trees and informed by natural beekeepers over the years, The Freedom Hive, the Freedom Log Hive and the Golden Hive are three such bee-centred designs.
For the last 14 years he has spent the winters creating his log hives before driving around England in the summer, erecting them as minimal intervention homes for wild honey bees. This October we're delighted to welcome him to the Ballymaloe Organic Farm School in Ireland.
Matt makes the Freedom hives from Western Red Cedar which is a light durable timber with good insulation properties. The sides of the hives are a combination of wood/compressed shavings to give thick warm insulation with an inspection board on the base. There's a thick cedar board on the top from which the bees will build their comb downwards.
Over the two days, Matt will teach you how to build a Freedom Hive and a Freedom Log Hive (subject to change as we finalise location and materials) as we work colletively to build hives for our farm and garden. He'll talk through the materials to source, where best to position the hives and more so you can replicate the build at home.
Lots more information to follow as we plan this course to ensure it's as informative and hands on as possible. In the meantime you can watch a short film on Matt and his work here.
Contact Karen for more information.
Good to Know:
The prestigious Ballymaloe 12 WeekCertificate Course is run three times a year, with courses beginning in January,April or May, and September.
The course is aimed at anyone with a passionate interest in food. Many of our students use the course as a springboard to become a professional chef; others use it to equip themselves with a marketable skill.
Others still take the course simply to maximize the pleasure they get from cooking at home.
Students develop a deep and detailed understanding of food and how it is produced. The emphasis is on recognising the best ingredients and knowing how to showcase them.
