May meeting:
Our decision to move our meetings to the weekend and have somewhat of a roving venue proved fantastic. The weather could not have been calmer and the peaceful atmosphere proved beckoning, relaxing and informal. We decided to abandon Thursday nights at a “room” to opt for the great outdoors, members’ homes or go on excursions – and the move was right! So, this beautiful sunny Autumn Day on Saturday 6th May in a private garden proved ideal. We met at 11am to chat, coffee and cake then held our formal meeting at 1pm. Later we wondered the small garden – snipped some cuttings from a variety of bee-loving salvia plants, had a look at the Tetragonula carbonaria nursery-hives and chatted more. It was a wonderful day and reinvigorated our group.
We also welcomed new members Nona, Desley and Peter, and Greg and Kay who moved from Queensland to our area.
Books:
The ANBA donated eight books to our Branch. These may be borrowed by members and Joan, our secretary/treasurer, will operate our Library. Most were snapped-up as soon as the box was opened!
Lake Cathie Community Garden:
On May 13th, two of our members, Jim and Diane, crewed a stall at the Autumn Fair at our local Community Gardens. Jim held a bee-hotel workshop with two stylish “bee-lodges”, made on the day, donated to the garden. The interest in native bees was obvious and it was most rewarding to know that new members for our ANBA Branch were enrolled. Our banners, posters, photographs, sample hives and planting guides drew a crowd. Jim also raffled two of his own hand-crafted bee-hotels with proceeds donated to the garden.
Varroa response update:
Currently we have five native bee hives, Tetragonula carbonaria, safely housed in local gardens. These all came from the red-zone near Newcastle and are thriving as they holiday in our area.
From Diane Norris
Next meeting—July 8
Our next Branch meeting will be on Saturday 8th July at the home of one of our members. After morning tea at 11am, our meeting will start at 12noon followed by a bee-hotel construction session.
The idea is to bring your own equipment and building materials but some old untreated fence palings will be available on the day. A full list has been sent as part of our May minutes but is available on request.
For more information, please contact Diane Norris on 0422 639 336. Simply leave a message or send a text and your call will be returned within a day or so.