PRESIDENT'S MONTHLY LETTER

Well, it would appear that the warm dry spell is over and winter is actually on its way. From what I can gather, most of us have completed packing down - it’s a task I’m behind with and still have some work to complete in that regard.  Hopefully I’ll be able to do so next week!

At our last meeting we had 8 new members join the club.  I was blown away when I asked for a show of hands and delighted to see that our hobby is increasing in popularity in South Gippsland.  Speaking to some of those new to the club it seems most are genuinely new to the hobby and not crossing over from other clubs dealt a death blow by Covid.  This can only bee a good thing!

Members will have noticed that we are taking a survey on the type of hives managed within the club.  It would seem the Flow Hive is gaining popularity, and there was a ‘visit a Beekeeper’ event to observe harvesting 2 weeks ago.  I’m looking forwards to hearing how that went at the next meeting and we will try to build a bank of knowledge on the flow hive so that we can best inform interested parties on how to manage them.   It’s not as straight forward as one might think so collective experience in the club is most welcome.

For the first time we had club produced videos on installing new queens, Varroa mite detection and installing small beetle traps.  We had talks on packing down various types of hive and demonstrations on frame wiring, applying beeswax to plastic foundation and honey extraction from Langstroth frames.  It was a great example of how a club should bee – happy, knowledgeable and forward looking.  It was a great meeting and I am especially grateful to everyone who contributed to the educational part of the evening, complemented by our talented catering team.  Well done to everyone; and thank you to our membership for an enjoyable evening.  

It the Honey tasting and Honey based product testing next meeting, so don’t forget to bring your honey, mead, creams and potions!

Andy Teitge
Your President