 From the President
G’day, fellow beekeepers! Welcome to the reinstated, NEW LOOK, professionally produced Newsletter. The first thing I want to say is a huge “Thank You” to Jane Fennessy for agreeing to take on the publication and for her brilliant ideas; I’m sure you will see a great publication from now on. I have been pointed in the right direction, given guidelines with deadlines to meet so there will definitely be an improvement! Secondly, an apology for not keeping up – I promise to do better. One of the things we will ask is input from members. As a group we have a huge variety interests and beekeeping experience, and we should share that. Please take the opportunity, as it arises, to send photos and stories in to Jane so that she can publish them. This Newsletter will come out in a different format. There will be a synopsis and pictures with a link to the full story that readers can click on to see. WE NEED YOUR INPUT! (please). Prior to the dreaded COVID and the lockdowns our meetings were a mix of educational and the practical aspects of beekeeping. Through circumstance and over time we have done fewer practical meetings and more talks from members and outsiders. This was probably driven by the arrival of varroa in Aus, and it’s vitally important to be fully informed about our foe, however, we mustn’t lose sight of the pleasures of keeping bees or the practical aspects of doing so. We will get back to practical demonstrations of building boxes, frames and foundation installation, as well as the basics of encouraging healthy colonies to thrive. We must use this ‘phoney war’ period to give our bees the best chance of survival in the coming years. Harvesting honey, if we do our jobs right, is the reward for keeping our bees healthy and safe and you can do lots with it, aside from spreading it on toast and bread. To this end David and Yvonne are going to run ‘Cooking with Honey’ events. Details are yet to be firmed up, but watch this space and, please, take part when the time comes. Your committee always does its best to ensure being part of the club is fun and worthwhile, but we need your suggestions and input to make it so. We are keen to make sure we can facilitate your apiarists needs. So, to our bees. The girls have had a difficult year! In the Spring, we had a series of very cold days followed by a warm day, repeated (seemingly) ad nauseam. This was followed by a very long dry spell that reduced the nectar flow and stunted growth of the flora that supplied it. There were also extended periods of very high temperatures they had to deal with, leading to stress in the hives and reduced production. That said, there was still a propensity for colonies to swarm if ignored and for a time John Riske, our swarm coordinator, was particularly busy. That said, the season wasn’t an absolute disaster, and we still had 22 honey and 2 Mead samples at the annual tasting event (against over 30 last year). It seems that the girls just buckle down and work harder when the going gets tough! It never ceases to amaze me just how tough they are when the going gets rough. As a relatively new beekeeper I don’t think I’ve experienced a classically defined Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter year. The bees just keep doing their thing and get on with it – long may that continue! Enjoy your bees, see you at the next meeting. |
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