NEW GLOUCESTER – The University of Maine Cooperative Extension, in cooperation with Pineland Farms, will offer a multi-session beekeeping course on consecutive Mondays beginning Feb. 28. Classes will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the visitor’s center, Pineland campus.

The course, “Successful Beekeeping in Maine,” will feature state apiarist Tony Jadczak and experienced beekeeper Bob Egan.

The fee of $75 a person/couple covers the cost of the textbook, a bee disease publication and the beekeeper’s reference notebook. There will be five classroom sessions and a beekeeper’s field day in June. The course is limited to 25 participants and enrollment is on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Call the Cumberland County Cooperative Extension Office at 1-800-287-1471 for more information or to request a registration form. Registrations are due Feb. 21.

Master gardener training will be held through the University of Maine Cooperative Extension.

Master gardeners receive 45 hours of practical training in basic horticulture with sessions in soil science, botany, entomology, plant disease, garden problem-solving and pruning.

After the training, each master gardener agrees to “give back” 40 hours of volunteer time over a 12-month period as a participant in any one or more of numerous community-based projects around the county.

The projects range from youth gardens and being a part of the School/Master Gardener Network, to working with immigrants and/or low income families to promote gardening interests, or as a Garden Angel to assist the elderly or less-able individuals in gardening endeavors with weekly visits to their garden site during the growing season.

Opportunity for master gardener volunteerism in establishing or maintaining landscape beautification projects in Cumberland County is another possibility.

The 2005 training program will feature ornamental horticulture, with sessions on trees, shrubs, flowers, lawns and landscape design. The sessions are led by Extension Educator Richard Brzozowski and include several University of Maine faculty and area gardening experts as instructors.

Participants are selected through an application process and now is the time to apply. Applications are available by calling the Cumberland County office of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension at 1-800-287-1471 or by going to the Web site, www.umaine.edu/umcecumberland/ccmg. The deadline for applications is 4:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 21.