Newsletter of the Beekeepers Association of the ACT Incorporated
Newsletter Web address:
www.bindaree.com.au/newsletter.htm
Meetings of the Beekeepers Association of the ACT Inc are held on the second
Wednesday of the month at 7.30 pm at the CIT, Heysen Street, Weston in Building A
Contact No: Association President – David Lillis Ph: 62975202 (AH)
February 2003
Our
next meeting will be held on Wednesday 12th February at 7.30pm, at CIT Weston. Preparations for the Canberra Show and a timetable
of activities for the year will be items for discussion. Brett Rowley, provided that the fire situation
allows him to come, will speak about managing 400 hives. The business meeting will be from 7.30 and
Brett will speak from 8.00pm. There
will be time for a cup of tea and chat after the meeting.
Well, what a start to the New Year! Who would have thought bushfires in Canberra? Our thoughts are with those who lost property, including hives, to the fires.
I can’t stress enough the need for extreme care in using a smoker during these extremely dry conditions. Certainly any rain would be very welcome ASAP. The hot conditions are making everything uncomfortable including bees. It is very important to make sure your bees have an adequate water supply.
Don’t forget your honey entries for the Royal Canberra Show.
Our guest speaker at this month’s meeting will be Brett Rowley. It’s business as usual at CIT Weston so see everyone there on the 12th.
David Lillis
The Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday 12th March. If you are able to serve on the committee please contact any of the current committee and let them know of your interest. New people and ideas are always welcome.
Once again we were welcomed to Richard and Jan Johnston’s home for a pleasant evening of food, drink and friendship. It was lovely to get together to celebrate the Christmas season with friends. Many thanks to Jan and Richard for their hospitality.
The show will be held from Friday February 28th to March 2nd and we will have our usual stall in the Horticultural Pavilion.
Members are needed to fill the roster for the stall. Roster times will be 9am-1pm. 1pm-5pm and 5pm-9pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Sunday evening shift is shorter and mainly involves packing up the stall. If you are able to help ring Lyn Shiels or put your name on the roster at the February meeting. A pass is provided so come early or stay on after your shift and enjoy the show. It is an opportunity to share your enthusiasm for bees with the public and most people are very interested to learn more about our little friends
Help will be needed to transport tables and display boards and to set up the stall on Thursday afternoon. We will probably need some help on Monday morning to collect everything and return it to the caravan. Cec has offered to provide bees for our display boxes.
Honey entries should be in by now but late entries may be accepted by the show society. The judging will be held on Thursday morning from 8.00-12.00 and spectators are welcome.
Members who want to sell honey at the show please contact Lyn Shiels so a time can be allocated to them.
If you can help with any aspect of our stall please contact Lyn or Pat Shiels on 6286 2421 or come to the meeting and volunteer your services.
The thirty eighth Apimondia International Congress will be held in Ligbljana, Slovenia on 24th- 29th August, 2003. Displays, plenary sessions, workshops, and excursions make up the program for the Congress. A bid committee has been formed and Australia will be putting in a bid at this congress for the 2007 Apimondia. More detailed information is available from the Association Library at Bindaree.
Slovenia is a small country in central Europe with a population of just under 2 million people. It has a variety of geographic regions from mountainous country to meadowlands, much of it covered with forests, and has a coastline on the Adriatic Sea. The capital is Ljubljana which lies between the Alps and the Mediterranean Sea and is described as a city where traditions and new ideas intermingle.
Beekeeping has a long history in Slovenia, the
home of the Carniolan bee. Slovenia
has 7 to 8 hives per square kilometre.
Beekeeping is mainly practised as a hobby with few beekeepers having
more than 30 hives. Some beekeepers
transport their hives to honey flows by trucks or buses, which have been
turned into bee houses. The yield per hive has been increased from 16.5
to 35 kg per hive during the last decade.
Pollination services are important as well as production of honey
and other bee products.
From the Information Sheet for Apimondia 2003
Before removing honey make sure the hive has enough surplus honey and check that it is sufficiently ripened. Unripened honey is inferior in flavour and may ferment after extracting. During hot weather honey may be sufficiently ripe when about half the frame is capped but the more sealed cells the better the flavour.
Make sure you leave enough honey for the bees’ needs. In such hot weather the number of flights they can make is reduced in the middle of the day and much of their time is spent carrying water so they may not be bringing in large amounts of nectar even when a source is available. The bees will need at least a box of honey as winter approaches so consider whether they are likely to collect more supplies before then. When in doubt leave more frames unless you are prepared to feed as winter approaches.
Remove the combs to be extracted and shake the bees back into the hive. Use a bee brush to remove stragglers. Place the frames to one side and as soon as possible carry them to a bee proof area to prevent robbing. Do not open the brood box when removing honey to minimise disturbance.
Some beekeeper use an escape board placed on the hive the evening before the removal of frames but in hot weather this can make control of the hive temperature difficult and result in bee deaths and melted combs.
Bees are helped greatly at this time of year by the provision of water close to their hive. Water can be provided in a pond with water weeds floating on the surface, a tray of damp sand and many other devices.
55 gms butter or margarine, 1 tblspn lemon juice, 25 gms sugar, 1 egg, 2 tblspns honey, 2 cups self raising flour, 1 cup milk, 2 tblspns apricot jam
Cream butter, sugar and honey, beat in egg, add milk and sifted flour. The mixture should be a soft drop consistency. Put half the mixture into a greased loaf tin, cover with apricot jam, then add rest of mix. Bake in a moderate oven for 45 mins.
A very highly specialised use is to extend the viability of antibiotics in the system. Normally penicillin in aqueous solution acts quickly and is soon eliminated, so that a number of doses at fairly short intervals are required. It was found many years ago that injections of penicillin in a beeswax/peanut oil mixture had an extended life, giving a less violent but more sustained effect. This permitted the use of larger doses at less frequent intervals without the risk of a violent reaction. This had implications in the treatment of gonorrhoea, when patients often failed to turn up for extended courses: human frailty was involved in more than one sense. A US Army study of 1944 reported 11 out of 12 patients cured of gonorrhoea by a single injection of penicillin/beeswax/peanut oil complex.
Annual subscriptions are now due and remain at $35. They may be paid at the February meeting or by mail to PO Box 1482, Woden, 2606.
Melt the wax in a solar melter. Scrape off any sediment from the block of wax,
wash off any honey and re-melt to remove any impurities.
Place blocks of wax into a bowl with smooth sides and rounded bottom and place over a pan of hot water on the stove. Do not heat wax over 85ºC to avoid discolouration.
Pour melted wax into a suitable mould avoiding any settled impurities.
Preheat oven to 90ºC and place mould with molten wax in oven and turn off the heat. Allow to cool slowly for two hours or more.
The cooled wax should have no cracks and the surface should be smooth. Present the wax wrapped in plastic or soft cloth to be removed by the judge.
Some members are using plastic wax moulds or chocolate moulds for their set of moulds and of course these can’t be placed in the oven. If you use these then the wax needs to be heated just past melting point and poured carefully into the moulds. Slow cooling seems to produce the best results for a smooth surface. Ed.
It is possible to bend a thin candle into a U-bend so that it can be burnt at both ends, to give point to the old verse:
My candle burneth at both ends,
It will not last the night.
But ah my foes and oh my friends,
It gives a lovely light.
Edna St Vincent Millay 1892-1950
Rob Gardiner
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Richard Johnston Phone: 02 6281 2111 Email: bindaree.bee@bigpond.com Website: www.bindaree.com.au Shop open: Wed, Thur, Fri 4 pm to 6 pm, Sat 9.30 am to 4pm Closed: Sun, Mon, Tue. |
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