Yarra Valley Bee Group | Community

Yarra Valley Bee Group

Phone: +61 490 663 980

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25.01.2022 If you missed last month's meeting - or want to hear it again - click to watch the video on youtube (thanks to Luke for Video editing) https://youtu.be/TQHxPfYnyOs

20.01.2022 SORRY - link to BOLT course was wrong ... Apologies if you have wasted time trying the previous link, it will only take you to Plant Health. Specific Honeybee link below: https://honeybee.canopihr.com.au/auth/login/

17.01.2022 Well peeps, no meeting this month. Take a look at these recent research articles instead: https://news.utexas.edu//bacteria-engineered-to-protect-b/ AND ALSO... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3052591/

15.01.2022 Recreational Beekeepers (i.e. non-commercial): Do you have to travel beyond the 5km circle to check your bees?

14.01.2022 A word about buying & selling wax and honey. WAX: the group doesn't usually sell wax, but if members have wax to sell they can post on this page how much they want to sell and a price. HONEY: We now have the honey from this year's extraction labelled ready to sell. $20/kg available in a range of jar sizes. Call the swarm hotline number (0490663980) to arrange pickup from Mooroolbark

13.01.2022 Tune in this Sunday at 12.30 to see what we’ve been working with Pip Courtney and the ABC Landline crew. The story will feature a few familiar faces from th...e QBA and will breakdown the issues beekeepers across the country have faced from drought, bushfires and the uncertainty about the continuation of access to critical floral resource. In the meantime we need you to SHARE this post as far and wide as possible. This is the story we need you to share with every Australian. If you value where your food is grown help us by sharing this message! Here’s a few sneaky behind the scenes photos shot by our State Secretary Jo Martin.

11.01.2022 Well getting info from the government has been difficult and the uncertainty has created unnecessary drama, but finally some official confirmation. You can indeed travel, beyond 5km, to look after your bees. Apply all safety & hygiene procedures. Read the screenshots to get the full story. Thanks to Phil McPherson (of the VAA) for pushing this to a conclusion.

11.01.2022 Will some lousy virus stop you Hero beekeepers working your bees? Nope. Stay home and use the warm weather to do your Autumn health and stores checks, and maybe you might decide to pack down early for winter. It's still possible hives may add a few stores in April, but if you have empty boxes on, you likely don't need them now. If you need equipment, both Bec from Bec's Beehive, and Bron from Bob's Beekeeping, have advised us that although their physical shops are shut they are still operating via online ordering. EDIT: Also Beewise in Kallista is operating - call them first.

10.01.2022 In the last lockdown, we drew the conclusion we could travel for bee welfare. Stage 4 lockdown is much more severe, and the question resurfaces. On another facebook page, someone reading a Dept. of Ag. letter said it was "very clear" - hobby beekeepers must stay home. I read the same letter and my interpretation was more like "we have no idea, we're waiting for someone on a higher pay-grade to make a decision".... So, here are my thoughts. Firstly, I'm assuming you ensured your bees had plenty of stores before/through winter. The lockdown finishes mid September. Bees are unlikely to swarm before that (we hope). In this unusual year, we just have to count the period up to the end of stage 4, as lost. So if stage 4 ends as scheduled, you will be able to get out and check your bees then. If they were well stocked, the worst that should happen would be, maybe we lose a swarm or two. Them's the breaks, kiddo's. If, on the other hand, stage 4 is extended... we will revisit the question; that's when we must demand Government give a clear and definitive answer. =Prez

09.01.2022 A cold, bleak day in Coldstream... I am here to check out a feral colony I have been notified of in this dead tree... Bureau website tells me current temperature here is 8.2C... and bees are flying. AT EIGHT DEGREES

09.01.2022 Are you allowed to travel to check your bees in Victoria, in Virus-World? Our Vice-Prez Jim decided to get the answer "straight from the horse's mouth", as it were, and wrote to State MP Bridget Vallence. Here is her response: "Good afternoon Jim... Thank you for your email. I agree, it would be a terrible circumstance to lose bees. They are so important, and precious, for biodiversity and to our agricultural and horticultural industry. The short answer is yes. Beekeepers can continue their work activities. In referring to the Restricted Activity Directions set out by the Chief Health Officer, which details business/activities that are restricted, beekeeping is not listed and therefore you are able to continue to operate, as long as you comply with hygiene and physical distancing rules (hand washing, etc., and keeping 1.5m away from others you may be working with). Additionally, this document also provides (at clause 13) that you may continue to operate for the purposes of treating/caring for animals and the maintenance of their facilities. Also, in referring to the Stay At Home Directions (at clause 8) you are allowed to leave home for work (paid, voluntary or charitable), and do anything necessary to attend that work. That would include attending other properties where you may keep the bees (as long as you comply with hygiene and physical distancing). Much like a plumber/electrician/tradesperson is able to continue to operate and attend someone’s home to carry out a job, as a beekeeper you can also attend a (private) property if necessary in order to perform the activities of your work. The key is if you happen to be asked by authorities why you are on the road, it is necessary for you to perform the duties of your work and care for the welfare of the bees. Furthermore, if you are needing freight or logistics to transport bees, please also note that the government has recognised this sector as essential to the Victorian community to transport goods to where they need to go, and as such if you need to transport bees you may continue to do so. This is the current health advice and information available, which may be subject to change. So yes you can, and good luck wintering down bee hives. I hope this helps. If there is anything else I can assist with, please let me know you may directly email [email protected]. Take care, and all the best, Jim. Kind regards Bridget Vallence MP State Member for Evelyn " So there you go. If stopped, answer that it is necessary for you to perform this work for the welfare of the bees. All the best with packdown - if they can survive without it, take it off.

09.01.2022 Happy World Bee Day 2020!

09.01.2022 Three notices... 1. AGM of YVBG - probably postponed until November - check your next Newsletter 2. AGM of Victorian Apiarists Association (VAA): if you are a VAA member, their AGM is 24th July - register on VAA website for zoom - or arrange a proxy (using the proxy form emailed to you) ... 3. STERITECH is no longer operating out of Dandenong; apparently you must now take equipment for Gamma Irradiation to Mickleham. Watch for full details in next Newsletter

07.01.2022 University of Sydney researchers recently determined that Drones will fly 3.75 km to a Drone Congregation Area (mating ground). Full story in link below. Sound interesting? Go to Plant Health Australia and sign up for their email newsletter for regular updates of this type. https://beeaware.org.au//bee-ballooning-measuring-honey-b/

07.01.2022 A recent concern from AHBIC regarding Beeswax. Read full memo below. (SHORT VERSION: Australian beeswax is the purest in the world, free of Miticide residues. Don't buy beeswax unless the seller can explain exactly where it was sourced from: and don't import any beeswax, as it will likely be contaminated, and possibly adulterated with parrafin wax). https://honeybee.org.au/beeswax-in-australia/

06.01.2022 We have been told of a new book by a Melbourne lady, about her experience becoming a new beekeeper... Kathryn Goldsmith's "Mind your own beeswax". Now, I haven't read it myself, but it claims to be a humourous look at a busy local mum's life journey into bees while all the rest of life goes on around her. Sounds familiar to most of us! There are links on this page where you can contact her for more info ,

06.01.2022 You may have heard about a Virtual Beekeeping Conference being held soon, but on some pages you have to be a group member to access any info. But you can get information and buy tickets on this webpage: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/australian-virtual-hobby-be

04.01.2022 EDIT: LINK WAS WRONG... LINK below will now take you to the bee page Everyone likes a FREEBIE, right? So here's some good news... The BOLT Course (Biosecurity Online Training) has now been made FREE for Aus Beekeepers... previously it was $40. So now you can learn, or revise, your bee pests & diseases info, at no cost. Even if you think you have a fair understanding of Bee Biosecurity, give it a run - you may discover there is more you can learn!... Register on the page linked below https://honeybee.canopihr.com.au/auth/login

03.01.2022 Waggle Dances from World Bee Day

02.01.2022 Never having used a Flow frame before, it was interesting to try to crack it... thought it was going to bust checked Flow Youtube vids to make sure I was doing it correctly... much harder than it looks! Eventualy succeeded by cracking a few inches at a time So, when we escape Virusworld and have our next non-digital meeting, we will do a blind taste test with honey from same site/same time... is there a difference in the taste of Flow frame honey? We'll find out soon!

02.01.2022 Not difficult to find the queen in this hive, because- 1.) she has a blue spot on her back, and 2.) there are hardly any bees in the hive... and no brood either, sealed or unsealed. And yet, there is a plump queen, clearly alive. What do you think has happened in this colony?