Jamie Trimby
We’ve had a warm winter through Central Victoria. As a result cape weed (Arctotheca calendula) flowered two to three weeks early, at the start of September, canola crops to the east of Bendigo were three to four weeks early, whilst bottlebrush (Melaleuca viminalis), which on an average year sees buds breaking by the last week in September, appears to be later than usual. Consistent spells of rain through August to mid-September have proliferated a good variety of pollen sources (visibly diverse colours in hives) resulting in swarms from the 28th of August. Increasing warm winds in the third week of September significantly reduced soil moisture in Bendigo and surrounding areas, finally evaporating the flood water to the north of Bendigo, but which might slow bee population growth a little. Please ensure your bees have access to safe fresh water as the increasing brood will have greater water requirements.
Stafford, Angelique, and I presented on spring hive and swarm management at the September meeting to a full house. A number of beekeepers travelled hours to participate, and the blend and breadth of experience in the room allowed insightful questions, answers, and general wide discussion of variations within apiaries through the changes in the seasons. Everyone involved continues learning together.
We put on a hands-on spring management training at the BBVAA apiary, which, thanks to Doug and Stafford, still has all four of its hives. Several participants practised mite wash tests (average 10 per hive). Angelique and I went through the hives, demonstrating how to check the brood for diseases, signs of queenrightness or swarming, and how to provide additional space for growing populations. Angelique also gave a dry-run demonstration of oxalic acid vaporisation, which sparked plenty of discussion and tips on using an InstantVap safely, hazards, cleaning, and where to source compliant respirators and filters. Due to the need for respirators we had to wait until everyone departed and then did a live vape to get the varroa numbers down, with a plan to later add Aluen Cap strips as well.
The 45th Annual Beekeepers Field Day will have been held at Harcourt on 11 October by the time you are reading this. BBVAA committee members put a great deal of work into planning and organising the Field Day every year. This year, alongside regular contributors Stafford and Peta, Kris Barker and Jess Ruedin shouldered a lot of the responsibility. A magnificent effort, well done.
The BBVAA will have a stall at the Bendigo Agricultural Show on the 23rd and 24th of October at the Prince of Wales Showgrounds, Bendigo. Club members will be promoting the importance of the Victorian beekeeping industry to the general public, our observation hive, bee talk, the benefits of being in a club, plus the sweet taste of all their efforts
We are already looking forward to our Christmas Party on Sunday the 22nd of November with our annual honey competition. This is a wonderful social day, an opportunity to acquire the moral entitlement to boast about how awesome your honey is, catch up with like-minded friends and, paired with delicious food, makes for a great way to reflect on the year.