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Things to think about
by Robert McDonald -
As I sit here to write this, I must say I feel quite distracted. The reason for that is quite simple; in less than twenty four hours my wife and I will be boarding a plane for Europe for a seven week holiday. So, inevitably my thoughts are more on what I need to do before we go (have I packed everything etc), rather than what are the bees doing. But I’ll get to them in a minute.
In the course of our busy lives, be we full time beekeepers or any variation from that to someone with one or two hives, it’s important that we make time for ourselves. It’s quite easy to rush around doing all that needs to be done, and forget that we also need some down time. Believe me, it is quite often only after taking a break that we realise how much we needed it.
Of course in saying that, we also have to work around the bees that we take care of. The next two to three months, when the bees are less active, is the only time that most of us can plan a holiday. And as long as we have done our job and wintered them down well, they should suffer no harm for the lack of attention.
The other thing that comes at this time of the year is the round of state conferences, including our own. As usual we have made every effort to provide an interesting agenda for all our members, and hope to see as many of you as possible there. The dates are at the back of the Journal, and fall on Wednesday 20th and Thursday 21st of June in Bendigo. Details will of course be in the Journal as they become available.
Finally, I must mention two things that members need to think about before I go back to my packing.
The first one is the Apis Cerana incursion up at Cairns. Some Victorians are considering going up there in the near future, and the more volunteers that we get will help the effort to contain and/or control this pest. From all accounts, this bee will do major damage to the Beekeeping Industry if unchecked, so this opportunity must not be squandered.
The second subject is the Beekeeping Museum. This is situated at Huntly and is presently being underutilized. If we want the Museum and/or its contents to tell the story of beekeeping in this state we need to have options to consider at conference. The Executive has had the opportunity of seeing one proposal that was put up, but the decision must be made by the members. This is why it was brought to conference last year and hopefully will be resolved at this year’s Annual Conference. See you there!
Yours in beekeeping
Robert McDonald