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)
Our next meeting will be held on Wednesday 9th October at 7.30pm, at CIT Weston. Topics for discussion will include swarm collecting, spring management, first aid and the coming season. There will be time for a cup of tea and chat after the meeting.
It was good to have the rain of a couple of weeks ago, up to 2 inches in some areas. Surprisingly hives in town have come through winter well needing more space already to prevent swarming.
As I said last month I attended a honey industry led food risk management course called B-Qual. The program is mostly about documenting processing procedures for future reference in case of an audit by health inspectors. I strongly advise all beekeepers intending to sell honey to the public to attend one of these courses. The alternative is to be inspected by a local government authority and who knows how tough they may be. The next course close to Canberra is in Wagga Wagga on 3 December. For more information contact myself on 6297 5202 or 0413 426 290.
At our September meeting we had Jan Carder, a representative from Canberra Urban Parks and Places, talk to us about public liability insurance in relation to swarm collection on public land. CUPPS are offering to insure volunteer swarm collectors. Unfortunately, this excludes 90% of collectors as most beekeepers charge a fee for their service. The Association is looking further into it.
David Lillis
Public Liability insurance for the association has been a concern for some time and the committee has been investigating various options. We now have a policy with GIO which will cover the Association for the coming year.
A small group of members met at CIT, Weston and spent a couple of hours examining the hives placed there by Bob Shaw and Dick Johnston. Each hive was at a different stage of development and everyone had an opportunity to examine a variety of stages. The bees were very well behaved and there were no stings.
We will use the same hives plus a couple more for the beekeeping course. Thanks to Bob and Dick for organising to have the hives there early so we could use them for the field day. We hope to have more of these events as the season progresses.
12.30pm. Loyal, devoted and supportive beekeeper-wife receives a phone call at work. “Bee-1 and I have decided to take the bees up to the canola today. We will be back after dark.” Inexperienced in these matters, wife translates this to mean that Bee-1 and Bee-2 will arrive back around 8.00pm. After all how long does it take to drive there, drop off a few bee boxes and drive home?
4.15pm. Bee-1 and Bee-2 set off with truckload of bees for a paddock which Bee-1 has been to before, as a passenger and in daylight.
6.30pm. Bee-2 starts to get slight pangs of anxiety when Bee-1 confidently states that he will recognise the property by the haystacks near the gates. “But, Bee-1, will we be able to see the haystacks in the dark?” “We’ll be right, we’ll see them by moonlight,” says Bee-1, confidently ignoring the fact that there is no moon at all, as the night in question was the night of the new moon!
7.50pm. After having driven up and down the road, and up and down the road, and up and down the road in a vain search for any familiar haystacks, gates or landmarks, Bee-2 decides to call for help. Loyal, devoted bee-keeper-wife is already on the phone, so Bee-2 calls bemused daughter to look up the phone number of the site provider. Accurate directions are obtained and prove to be 10 kilometers from the current location. By now, the trusty truck is in serious need of fuel. However, Bee-1 knows that all fuel stations close at 8.00pm in the local town. Mad dash is made into town. Sure enough, the first fuel stop is closed, as is the second. But wait – there’s someone there! With the luck of who knows what, our intrepid beekeepers recognise the local beekeeper’s wife, who obligingly fills the tank. The tank holds 36 litres and that’s how much they put in.
9.00pm. Site finally located. Start unloading bees - which way are the hives to face? “How do you find north using the Southern Cross?”
10.15pm. Bee-2 phones loyal, devoted and supportive wife, who has rapidly gained much experience about the time it takes when you take bees to the canola. “We are leaving the bees now,” says Bee-2. “We’ll stop and get some food on the way home.” “Good,” thinks wife. “They’ll be home around 12.45am.” (This time was arrived at by working out how long it SHOULD take, doubling it and adding 30 minutes.)
11.15pm. Bee-1 and Bee-2 finally find the gate of the paddock! They have been driving around, wheels slipping on dewy grass, finding never-before-seen creeks and walking the fences with torches for over an hour. They did have enough foresight to leave the light on in the trusty truck so that they didn’t lose it as they traipsed around in the moonless night looking for tracks to lead them out of the paddock.
12.00am. Two exhausted and very hungry beekeepers pass through Yass only to find that all food outlets are well and truly closed. Bee-1 muses to Bee-2 that perhaps they could be up for an empty super award. Bee-2 says, “Not if we don’t tell anyone!” They then very bravely decide that, if the story does get out, they will simply deny all knowledge or say that the story was one they put out to escape trouble after a very late night out on the town!
1.45am. Bee-2 finally arrives home. Loyal, supportive and now very experienced wife thinks the whole “adventure” hilarious and is hard-pressed to muster support and sympathy for exhausted beekeeper. However, next time Bee-1 suggests a visit ‘to take the bees to the canola,’ Bee-2 may have to pack multi-day survival gear, complete with GPS!
Loyal,
devoted, supportive and
very amused beekeeper-wife.
Last night I had a dream. It must have been a dream. It certainly wasn’t from the real world.
A pretty lady from the land of Pathways and Ponds visited me. The Land of Pathways and Ponds have swarms in spring, just like the real world. She did not come from the Land of Trees and Swamps. The people from the Land of Pathways and Ponds and the people from the Land of Trees and Swamps do not talk to each other.
The nice lady said I could collect bee swarms from the Land of Pathways & Ponds if I do it for no money BUT I have to collect the swarms in the pixy ways of Pathways & Ponds. I have to wear a bright red and sparkling yellow pixy tu-tu and collect the bees in a fairy circle of upside down red pixy mushrooms - called cones. I have to learn to wear the tu-tu the correct way and set out the magic circle just so. The Nice Lady will show me the magic pixy ways if I cross her hand with a whole one hundred and forty dollars. (Pixy money not acceptable) The reason for the pixy way, I was told, was that in the land of Pathways and Ponds a bee collector in a big white (oh well! off-white then) suit looking something like a cross between a spaceman, a Martian and an Iraq biological weapons inspector, and enveloped in a trailing cloud of smoke blends perfectly into the suburban background of the pixy land of Pathways and Ponds. To stand out and be seen you need to dress in a pixy tu-tu and be surrounded by a circle of fairy mushrooms. I think I agree that you would stand out. The Nice Lady from Pathways and Ponds did not say if I have to buy my own tu-tu and fairy circle or whether I have ride my magic steed, called Holden, all the way across fairy land and back to collect a tu-tu and magic circle every time I want to collect a swarm from the Land of Pathways and Ponds for no money at all. My great steed, called Holden, does not know of carrying me along for no money at all and does greatly consume large dollops of hay at ninety something cents per bundle. My great steed, called Holden, would refuse to carry me at all, dressed in a tu-tu and carrying a bunch of fairy mushrooms.
I told the nice lady from Pathways and Ponds "Thanks , but no-thanks. "
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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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