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

March 2001

March Meeting : Annual General Meeting

Our AGM will be held on Wednesday 14th March at 7.30 pm at CIT Weston. It would be good to see some more members wanting to become involved in the running of the Association.

February Meeting

The main item of business was to make arrangements for our display at the Canberra Show. The question of whether we should charge for advertisements for hives, equipment, etc. was discussed and it was decided that each first advertisement should be free. Paul Muscat made a lightning visit to drop off the handsome name badges he has designed and produced. To cap the evening off a video on bee diseases and their treatment was shown, courtesy of Rob Gardiner.

President’s Note

Dear members,

This month sees the end of another year for the Association. Yes, the AGM is upon us again. Sadly our Editor, Peter Macnicol, has decided not to stand again so the position is vacant. Peter, thank you for all the interesting newsletters.

This year has seen a few new events such as the "Empty Super" award which was won by Lyn Shiels. A new social get-together was the Midwinter Madness picnic in July, even some bees saw fit to come along. Also the Annual Dinner at the Yamba Sports Club and the Christmas Party at Dick Johnston’s place were well attended.

Thanks to all of our guest speakers during the year, their topics were most informative and interesting. Also to all members who attended the meetings, thanks for coming.

The Royal Canberra Show was again a great success. The support of those who gave their time, particularly our stewards, Lyn and Pat Shiels, your efforts were most appreciated. Due to lack of honey this season, entries in the honey judging contest were generally down. However, in spite of this the standard of entries was quite high and our judges, Rob and Margaret Gardiner, did a wonderful job.

My thanks to the Committee and members for their efforts during the year. I look forward to seeing you all at the AGM.

David Lillis

Notes on the Present Season

These notes were kindly provided by Doug Somerville of NSWAg.

Red stringybark is yielding in most areas where it grows on the tablelands and if significant rain does not occur it looks very promising for this honey flow. Yellow box yielded very well over the summer but has finished in most areas. The tablelands are not the best location for permanent apiaries; if you are taking honey off from now on you may have to consider sugar feeding in April or May if bees cannot fly to red stringybark. Anyone with sites on spotted gum on the south coast should have a close look to see if the trees on these sites are budded, flowering starting in May. Disease checks should be carried out from now up to the end of April on a fine sunny day. Any hives with failing queens should be joined with weak colonies for a greater winter survival rate. Kill the poorer queen and join using a single sheet of newspaper between the colonies.

Procedures for the handling of bee diseases in the ACT

The Law

Bees were declared to be stock under the ANIMAL DISEASES ACT 1993 by Instrument No. 249 of 1997 and, by Instrument 247 of 1997, the following bee diseases declared endemic diseases:

• American Brood Disease
• Chalk Brood Disease
• European Brood Disease
• Nosema Disease
• Stone Brood Disease

Animal Diseases (Bees) Regulations 2000 No 3 provides that:

• honeybees must be kept in framed hives, and
• honey and honeycomb must not be exposed so bees may have access to it.

In practice

Every beekeeper in the ACT is responsible to maintain healthy bee colonies. This is covered in the Association’s Draft Code of Practice for Urban Beekeeping in the ACT.

The Department of Agriculture New South Wales has made a video and a number of publications available to help in the analysis and treatment of bee diseases. The publications can be obtained through the website http://www.agric.nsw.gov.au/reader/249 and the Bindaree shop. NSW Agriculture will also check smear samples for brood disease for ACT residents free of charge.

ACT beekeepers can get assistance from the ACT Government in:

1. Obtaining a certificate (at no charge to the beekeeper) that a beehive is free of the symptoms of American Brood Disease – necessary if moving hives interstate
2. Getting help in checking a beehive for disease (at no charge to the beekeeper) if an ACT beekeeper suspects disease but is not sure, and
3. Getting reimbursed for the cost of burning bees and equipment infected with American Brood Disease. In the ACT, the only place to burn diseased bees and hives is the Mitchell incinerator, Sandford Street, Mitchell 2911 (Phone 6207 5314). Unfortunately the incinerator is temporarily out of action with no certain date of recommencing operations. Equipment will need to be quarantined until the incinerator is operating again.

To get this assistance it is necessary to apply in writing to:

Licensing Branch

Environment Protection

Department of Urban Services

PO Box 144

Lyneham ACT 2602

Phone 6207 6376

Email: Fraser.Mceachan@act.gov.au

At the same time the beekeeper can contact a suitably qualified person – currently Neil Gow (6251 7050) or Dick Johnston (6281 2111) - to make a suitable time for an inspection.

Email is OK for 1 and 2 but the claim in 3 needs to be accompanied by a copy of the receipt from the Mitchell incinerator and a written statement from the qualified inspector that the bees/equipment are in fact diseased.

Dick Johnston

Annual Subscriptions Are Due!

We would like to remind present and intending members that their 2001 dues should be paid to our Hon. Treasurer, Graham Turner,10A Atkinson St., Cook, ACT 2614; phone 62519422, email graham_turner@optusnet.com.au.

"Little Feat"

This was the delightful title of an article in the "Canberra Times" last year:

Researchers from Ohio State and Cornell universities have put trays filled with an antifungal microorganism in front of hives, so bees will walk through them on their way to the strawberry patch. Infections of grey mould – a common rotting disease in strawberries – reduced by 72 percent compared with 40 percent when the same fungicide was sprayed. The bee-delivered natural fungicide was also as effective at preventing grey mould as a commercially available chemical fungicide that was sprayed on plants. They also found no adverse impact on individual honey bees and hive health.

This complements our article in the November 2000 newsletter "Enlisting Bees to Fight Disease", where it was not shown whether the method is successful Evidently it is!

For Sale

Four hives with bees, 3-box, 8-frame. Price negotiable. George Hadsis, 51 Cadell St., Dickson, phone 62480105.

 

Canberra Show and Results

Our display at the show was well received by the public and our volunteers answered many questions from potential beekeepers and the general public. I would like to thank all volunteers and I hope they had an enjoyable time.

A special thanks to Cec Mercer and Paul Hooper for their help setting up and for organising new display boards at short notice and to Julia McCarron-Benson for Beekeeping Barbie who was a great hit especially with the teenage boys on Friday. Thanks also to Dick Johnston for providing honey at short notice for sale on Sunday when Cec sold out by Saturday night and Robert Gardiner for supplying some additional honey varieties for display and tasting. Cec also provided the bees for our display boxes.

Although only a few entries were received for the Apiculture section the judging and display created a lot of interest and Margaret and Rob had quite an audience during the judging. The small number of entries allowed them to interact with members of the public and this was greatly appreciated. However we will be looking for some extra stewards next year to answer questions and interact with the public so that the judges are able to concentrate on their work. We hope to increase the number of entries and encourage entries in the wax, candles and mead classes as well as honey and cookery. Thank you to all exhibitors and congratulations to the winners especially Bob Shaw who won the most successful exhibitor ribbon.

Results:

Class	First	Second	Third
295, liquid honey from Eucalypt	Robert Shaw	David Lillis
296, liquid honey other than Eucalypt	Robert Shaw	David Lillis
297, Canberra garden honey	Paul Helliwell	Derek Butler	Robert Shaw
298, three jars honey same source	Robert Shaw	Richard Johnston	Paul Helliwell/Derek Butler
309, cookery products	Richard Johnston	Paul Helliwell	David Lillis
Most successful exhibitor	Robert Shaw

 

Lyn Shiels

Recipe of the Month

Honey Beef

Ingredients	Method
2 tbsp olive oil 1 large onion, sliced finely 1 tbsp finely chopped ginger 500g good quality steak, cut into thin strips 2 tbsp flour 1 cup beef stock 2 tbsp honey 1 tbsp soy sauce ¼ cup vinegar ½ cup tomato paste 400g red kidney beans salt and pepper	Fry the onion and ginger in the hot oil for 2-3 minutes. Toss the steak in the flour seasoned with salt and pepper, then fry until well browned. Add the stock, honey, soy sauce, vinegar and tomato paste and simmer for about 30 minutes until the meat is tender. Add the beans, season with salt and pepper and warm through.

 

From Canberra Sunday Times, September 2000

Honey Stall Opportunity

The Food Lovers Company is offering a site for a honey stall at their markets on Saturday 28th April and Saturday 28th July at the Albert Hall. Cost: $50 for an outdoor site and $65 for an indoor one. Inquiries to Brian, 62577133.

Bindaree Beenotes

Bindaree is taking the last orders for Autumn queens up to Thursday 15 March. So get your order in as soon as possible. The queen breeder says that, when introducing queens in Autumn, there are a couple of things to consider to ensure maximum chances of acceptance: it is more important than in Spring to have unsealed brood in the hive so that there are plenty of nurse bees to look after the new queen, and it is a good idea to feed sugar syrup when introducing queens in Autumn if there is no honey flow. Queens retail for $13

 

Working the Stringybark out Gundaroo way.

 

 

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