The February meeting saw a return to normality for the Brisbane Branch with good numbers attending in person.
The Chair Dean Haley opened the meeting and welcomed attendees, especially those attending for the first time.
Dean shared items from the last Australian Native Bee Association Management Committee meeting. Dean invited discussion on a range of issues including:
• shirts, pins, banners etc.
• Privacy policy is being implemented to protect member data.
• ANBA has funds available for branch initiatives.
• Proposal to move Cross-Pollinator to a website-based approach.
• Movement of native bees between NT and Qld. Dean wanted the member’s views on the move-ment of native bees between NT and Qld being un-dertaken by a person in Townsville so that he can report back to ANBA. There are potential issues around invasiveness and biosecurity. There was some discussion but general support that bees should not be taken from their natural areas of dis-tribution into other area. Dean will report this view back to ANBA.
• The ANBA has a proposal to move the Cross-Pollinator publication from a PDF to a website. The matter was discussed with general consensus around maintaining the production of a PDF publication.
Guest Speaker: Tim Heard was the guest speaker for this meeting and presented the topic “POP, the cell provision-ing and egg laying behaviour of stingless bees”. Tim covered the complex and fascinating behavioural sequence involving the construction of cells by workers, provisioning of the cells with larval food by workers, oviposition in the cells by the queen and sealing of the cells by workers.
Next Meeting: The March meeting, at the Hut Chapel Hill, on Sun 7 Mar 2021, 1pm, Dr Mary Fletcher, a biochemist from the Uni of Qld will be talking about stingless bee honey. Mary and her colleagues discovered the unique sugar Trehalulose and is currently working to understand the synthesis of this sugar under natural conditions.
Future meeting venue: The Brisbane executive are exploring a new venue for our meetings. Although the Hut is rustic some members struggle with the heat on those host days. From the April meeting we may meet at a new loca-tion, perhaps the Bulimba Community Hall. Keep your antennae out for this change, but for the March meeting we are sticking to the Hut.