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
Thursday of the month at 7.30 pm at the CIT, Heysen Street, Weston in Building A
Contact No: Association President – Bob Shaw Ph: 62540018
Our next meeting will be the Annual General Meeting and will be held on Thursday May 13th at 7.30pm at CIT Weston. The election of office bearers and hearing of reports will be followed by an ordinary meeting.
The general meeting will include a discussion of preparation for winter with time for questions about this or other problems. There will be time for a cup of tea and chat after the meeting.
Hi everyone. I hope this finds you and your bees well, and prepared for winter. The cooler months are upon us, and it is essential that your bees have enough stores to see them through to spring.
I have recently had the pleasure of attending a meeting of the Horticultural Society of Canberra, where I spoke on the topic of Pollination and Backyard Beekeeping. I also spoke at a meeting of the Friends of the Botanic gardens on the topic of Beekeeping, Bees and the Pollination of Native Flora. A honey tasting followed, to show that different flora imparts its own taste to honey. I don’t know if the applause was in appreciation of my talk or relief at my finishing.
Remember the next meeting is our AGM on Thursday, 13th May at CIT Weston at 7.30pm. See you there.
Bob Shaw
“Ooooh, what a lovely present, a jar of your own honey. Thank you so much for bringing it all this way.” My friend Peter visualised the smile on his auntie’s face as he arrived at her house in Australia, but it was not to be. He was frog-marched, like the criminal he nearly was, to a security grilling at Customs at Sydney Airport.
Forget about taking honey with you to the Antipodes, or royal jelly, or pollen, or wax and definitely not live bees or honeycomb. It’s regarded as a very serious matter. Peter got off with a dressing-down, which he resented. He swallowed his pride, but not his prize-winning Buckinghamshire honey – that was confiscated and destroyed.
Why such a draconian response? The convicts’ descendants getting their own back? Well, both New Zealand and Australia take their agriculture very seriously, and are well aware that the value of pollination greatly exceeds the value of all other hive products combined. The point of import bans is to reduce the risk of diseases and parasites getting in. Imagine a serious pest taking its toll on New Zealand’s bees. We wouldn’t see much in the way of their apples, kiwi fruit, dairy products, mutton and so forth (to say nothing of the four tonnes of cranberries we import annually).
Here you are arriving by air in New Zealand. You have to sign a declaration on the plane disclosing any bee products. Last year 4050 people admitted having bee stuff with them, mostly honey. An astonishing 1634 denied having bee products, and were then found to have something. Some could be excused – who remembers things like cough medicine or beauty products? Others just tried smuggling the odd jar of honey through and got caught. The statistics make interesting reading. Unfortunately they don’t give any clues as to the punishments meted out.
This article came from Apis-UK The Electronic Newsletter which can be found athttp://www.beedata.com/apis-uk/newsletters04/apis-uk0404.htm
A friend sent us an Easter card on which she had carefully pasted some dried flowers. The envelope was opened by Australia Post, who had just as carefully removed the potentially dangerous flowers and sent the card on with a pamphlet to send to our friend detailing what may be sent into Australia. It’s good to know that AQIS and Australia Post are vigilant in preventing possible sources of infection coming into Australia. Ed
The Rural newspaper on April 23rd carried an article headed “Varroa mite a danger to bees”. The article explained the implications of varroa incursion for Australian apiarists, amateur and professional. Varroa weakens and eventually destroys hives by killing bees at the pupal stage. It is present in every major honey producing country other than Australia. Apiarists are forced into permanent chemical use to control varroa.
The article went on to describe to system of sentinel hives that has been set up around 27 Australian ports to increase the chance of an incursion of varroa or other pests being discovered while there is still a chance to eliminate them.
Sentinel hives are owned and checked by private beekeepers and sticky paper traps are sent to CSIRO every three months for checking for pests. Bruce White, NSW Agriculture Apiculture specialist said that he has about 40 NSW beekeepers voluntarily checking for varroa and other mites by doing the sugar shake test regularly and reporting any unusual findings.
The article appealed for all beekeepers to be vigilant and report any unusual activity or pest in their hives. It will only be possible to eradicate varroa or other pests if their presence is detected in the early stage of invasion before they have had time to spread widely.
The Rural is an independent weekly newspaper published in Wagga, NSW and included in many local newspapers in the south eastern NSW.
I use a mixture of about 20% candied honey such as canola, and 80% liquid honey such as thistle, Salvation Jane or eucalypt. Place the honey in a suitable container making sure you have plenty of extra depth above the honey.
Now beat the honey to distribute and break up the candy crystals and to aerate the mixture. I use a heavy duty electric drill, (AEG 13mm) and a clean paint stirrer. Don’t use the cake mixer as creaming honey may overload and burn it out!
After beating for five minutes or longer the mixture should be white to cream coloured and very airy. Decant into containers and place in fridge or other very cool place for about seven days. Check for firmness of set at room temperature and return to fridge if the set if incomplete.
Vigorous beating of the mixture serves several purposes.
1 It aerates the mix.
2. It distributes crystals in the mix.
3. It breaks crystals up into smaller pieces which form the nuclei of crystal formation throughout the mixture.
The small crystal size reflects and refracts light differently to large crystals and gives the creamed honey its white appearance and smooth texture.
Bob Shaw
Nothing matches the taste of biting into a lump of fresh comb honey. That is why there is always a keen demand for sections of natural honeycomb. The latest equipment makes the production of comb sections a little simpler.
The picture shows:
1. Plastic section holder
2. Plastic section holder with foundation cut to size and pressed to the lugs of the section holder
3. A plastic section holder filled by the bees
4. A plastic section holder in a plastic section holder box, ready for eating or sale
A standard Bindaree wooden frame will hold 8 comb sections with a couple of adjustments.
The frame needs to be assembled with the top bar turned upside down, and you will notice some wooden padding on the right hand end to hold the sections firmly.
To produce comb sections, hives must be very populous and on a heavy honey flow.
On Pupae: Reddish brown Varroa mites on a developed pupa where they feed and lay eggs. Mites deform developing bees or kill them outright. Varroa mites are exotic (not known to exist in Australia).
Age of brood affected. Brood just prior to sealing and after sealing.
Cell position of diseased brood. Normal.
Colour of diseased brood. Reddish brown.
Ropiness of moist material. Nil.
Scale Characteristics. Deformed bee.
What you send for diagnosis. Varroa Brood sample containing mites or adult bees in a sealed container.
On Bees. Varroa mites parasitizing an adult bee. Adult workers and drone bees are the main method of transferring mites amongst bees and hives. This occurs when the bees touch each other or drift to other hives.
This information is taken from a NSW Agriculture pamphlet “Pests and diseases of honeybees”. Copies are available from NSW Agriculture offices or from Bindaree.
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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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