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July 2016

Greetings members and friends of the Illawarra Beekeepers Assoc. inc. and welcome another edition of “the Buzz” for 2016. We need your contributions so if you have anything to mention here, please contact us.

See our 2016 Events Calendar

Night Meeting: 7pm Thu 14 July 2016

Topics: Assembling Flow Hive
Presented by: Duncan McLeod
Duncan has graciously volunteered to go through the process of unpacking and setting up a new flow hive. We know many of our members have either ordered or considering the flow hive so this meeting is bound to be an interesting one, make sure you come along!

Field Day: 10am Sun 31 July 2016

Agenda: Honey Extraction
After a bumper season, some of our colonies still have a surplus honey waiting to be harvested. So this month we will conduct our last honey extraction for the season. The day will include demonstrations of how to take honey off, when to take it off and actual honey extraction. We will have access to the newly renovated honey house so make sure you come along to look and learn.

Honey Bees in the Wild

Recently a few of our members, Roy Janice and Mick, stumbled across a wild honey bee colony on the edge of the coast in the Royal National Park. They were lucky enough to grab a few shots of the bees perched on the rocks overlooking the bay. We are lead to believe that it has been there a number years, it had a very good aspect facing about north east with warming sun from west etc on rock. They seemed quite happy! This is evidence that honey bees are enjoying good numbers in our community. Thanks Roy for sharing this and the photos.

What We Did Last Month

Last month at our night meeting, Chairman of Rural Industries & Development Corporation [RIRDC] Michael Hornitzky visited us to discuss the work of the corporation and its’ involvement in agriculture and the beekeeping industry. Our field day featured some interesting tips on wintering your colonies over the cold nights ahead.

Honey Extraction Kits

We now have 4 good honey extraction kits available for members. These kits include, a 3 frame honey extractor, heated knife, uncapping fork plus wax cap bag to spin excess honey from your wax. There is a bond plus a nominal fee of $20 to cover repairs and maintenance of the equipment. For more information please see Ivan in the bee keepers shop.

T&C's when Visiting

We are currently shooting footage for our short film on bees in our community. This means on field days and anytime you visit the apiary, we may be capturing more footage. Please be aware visitors and members to our apiary and museum are now subject to our terms and conditions. These terms are now published on our website and can be viewed here. You are advised to read and understand them completely before your next visit to our apiary and museum. If you have any questions relating to this, please contact us.

Detection of Varroa in Queensland

On the 29th June, a colony of Asian honey bees (Apis cerana) was detected in a container stand in Queensland. The hive contained approximately 5000 bees with their queen. On inspection of the hive two Varroa mites – Varroa jacobsoni – were found. You can learn more about the varroa and this detection at the link below.
View Slides Here

Membership & Insurance Half Price

If you are yet to to renew your membership and insurance please make sure you renew ASAP. The current rate is half the normal price so it’s a good time to update your membership now.

Renew Your Membership Today

Get Ready For Swarms

We are currently in the midst of a very cold period in Sydney but the days will soon start to warm up again and that mean swarms will start to emerge in the next month or two so now’s a great time to prepare for the busy season. We will soon feature discussions and workshops covering swarm capture and preparation of your gear. Stay tuned for more info soon.

Beginners Beekeeping Courses: Book Your Place Today!
We have already announced 2 courses for Spring 2016. These dates usually book out very quick so if you want to ensure a spot in a course select the option on the beekeeping course page below!!

Beekeeping Beginners Course

We are now on Twitter: Follow Us

Over the summer break, we have set up a new twitter account where you can see all the news and up to date info from our club. We will also feature an exciting live feed soon. More info will be released there when it’s finalised but in the meantime you can find us on twitter @illabees so check us out there and follow us please.
Follow us on Twitter

until next time...
See you all at our meetings soon. All the best in beekeeping to you all.
Emmanuel Farrugia [editor, the Buzz]

all images, "the Buzz" logo and content © 2015-2016 SaveOurBees.com.au for illawarra beekeepers assoc. inc. all rights reserved
Illawarra Beekeepers Assoc. Inc, Waratah Park, 98 Eton Street, Sutherland NSW 2232, AUSTRALIA
(Your local Branch of the Amateur Beekeepers Assoc. of NSW)
the Buzz by SaveOurBees.com.au