We held our AGM on 4th August and a few changes have happened.
All outgoing committee members were sincerely thanked – Michelle Lawler (Treasurer), Jenny Wadsworth (Secretary), Jim Marchment (Events Co-ordinator) and Diane Norris (Chair) – for their input and commitment through a trying 12 months.
Sadly, due to other commitments, some of our group will be unable to continue in a committee-capacity. So, we gladly voted Diane Norris (Chair/Secretary) and Joan Opbroek (Treasurer/Assistant Secretary) and thanked them both for embracing these roles. However, all our active members will help-out if and when available.
Clever Artificial Log Hives
Sometimes a mere glance at something really catches the eye and sparks the imagination. This recently inspired one of our long-time members to hatch an idea and he gave a most interesting presentation at our last meeting about this.
Ken Towle brought along a largish “plastic log” that he purchased after seeing it on an episode of ABC TV’s Landline. This “hollow” was created by two NSW ecologists, is manufactured from recycled and UV stabilised plastic, and was originally developed to offer nesting boxes for native parrots (and other birds), gliders, possums and bats. Ken has seized on the idea to ingeniously refigure this for native bees and happily consulted with the inventors about slight modifications. With some creative wooden inserts and size re-adjustment, he is excited to use the eduction method (which he has skilfully mastered!) to fill his new hive. We look forward to further reports and photos after the colony propagation begins in spring. But until then, please enjoy these couple of snaps . . .
We all thank Ken for a most fascinating, informative and creative presentation!
And to end our year, we have been invited to have a stall at a couple of local events – THE LOST PLOT SPRING FAIR in September and CAMDEN HAVEN AGRICULTURAL SHOW in mid-October.
From Diane Norris
