Winter Workhops 2021

June 27, 2021, Sunday at the Collingwood Children's Farm - Make your own Wiring Jig. ($50)

July 25, 2021,  Sunday at the Collingwood Children's Farm - Make your own Embedder for wax foundation. ($40)

August 22, 2021, Sunday at the Collingwood Children's Farm - Make frames, wire them and add wax foundation. ($50)

Workshops are from 11am to 2:30pm with a barbecue lunch. (Let us know about dietary requirements.)

There will be a limit of six (6) participants in each workshop (for COVID safety and equipment availability.)

All workshops are independent, so you can attend any that you wish.

To request a place at any of the workshops, please email Rob Kerr at vaamelbournesection@hotmail.com. 

Monthly Meetings

VAA Melbourne Section face-to-face monthly meetings are back in 2021.

However, to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to protect the beekeeping community from the virus, the VAA Melbourne Section face-to-face monthly meetings will be COVID-safe with contact details being recorded and masks being worn.

Remember that many of our beekeeping community are in higher risk groups, so your compliance with COVID-safe procedures is important.

Future meetings: last Thursday of the month.

Next Meeting:

June Monthly Meeting

(Auction Night - CANCELLED owing to COVID)

Join a Panel Discussion via Zoom

Beginners' corner will be first

... then ...

Hear from the Panel:

.............

Opinion, Fact, Thoughts, Dreams,

Missed opportunities, Targets, Methods,

Technologies, misstakes?!

and who knows what else! 

The Zoom link will be here soon. Email invitation also will be sent.

7:15pm - 9:30pm on Thursday 24th June 2021

 Bee there!       or      Bee there! 

Past Meetings:

May Monthly Meeting

Cancelled - owing to COVID

The Honey Competition is postponed to the July meeting.

The Avenue Church of Christ, Surrey Hills.

7:30pm - 9:30pm on Thursday 27th May 2021      

Main activities:

• Beginner's Corner. Send your photos or issues to vaamelbournesection@hotmail.com or bring your questions along on the night. Beginners Corner will be buzzing from 7:15pm.
• John Edmonds. Featured speaker.
• Find out about the July VAA Conference
• HONEY COMPETITION - Judging will be tonight. Honey, Mead, Wax, Propolis, lots to look forward to.

Email Rob Kerr at the VAA Melbourne Section to check any details for the honey comp entries.

It's winter, so if you have to come straight from work, bring a mug, and for a gold coin donation, we can set you up with a hot cuppa cup and a toastie!

To cover costs of hall hire and supper, there is a $3 charge for VAA members and an $8 charge for non-members.  Enter the raffle for the monthly prizes. Perhaps you'll win the door prize, too!

Hope to see you there.

Mike Love

Chairperson VAA Melbourne Section

The NEW VENUE address is 1 The Avenue, Surrey Hills. It is located near the corner of Warrigal Rd and Canterbury Rd.

The Avenue Church of Christ is a versatile venue with good A/V and three spaces that we can use to spread out our activities. Beginner's Corner commences when you arrive in the Chapel. The shop and library are set up in the Hall.

April meeting

The Avenue Church of Christ, Surrey Hills.

7:30pm - 9:30pm on Thursday 29th April 2021

NEW VENUE         NEW VENUE         NEW VENUE         NEW VENUE          NEW VENUE      

The April meeting of 2021 will be held at the NEW VENUE: The Avenue Church of Christ, Surrey Hills. 

The NEW VENUE address is 1 The Avenue, Surrey Hills. It is located near the corner of Warrigal Rd and Canterbury Rd.

The Avenue Church of Christ is a versatile venue with good A/V and three spaces that we can use to spread out our activities. Beginner's Corner commences when you arrive in the Chapel. The shop and library are set up in the Hall.

Main activities:

• Bee Biosecurity: It never goes away. Ally Driessen, Bee Biosecurity Officer with Agriculture Victoria is our guest speaker. Ally has her own bees and works with commercial and hobbyist beekeepers.
• Beginner's Corner. Send your photos or issues to vaamelbournesection@hotmail.com or bring your questions along on the night. Beginners Corner will be operating from as early as you get there: Don't wait until 7:30 to give John van Weeghel and his assistants a tough question!

Hope to see you there.

Mike Love

Chairperson VAA Melbourne Section

March meeting

The Avenue Church of Christ, Surrey Hills.

7:30pm - 9:30pm on Thursday 25th March 2021

NEW VENUE         NEW VENUE         NEW VENUE         NEW VENUE          NEW VENUE      

The March meeting of 2021 will be held at the NEW VENUE: The Avenue Church of Christ, Surrey Hills. 

The NEW VENUE address is 1 The Avenue, Surrey Hills. It is located near the corner of Warrigal Rd and Canterbury Rd.

The Avenue Church of Christ is a versatile venue with good A/V and three spaces that we can use to spread out our activities. Beginner's Corner commences when you arrive in the Chapel. The shop and library are set up in the Hall.

Main activities:

• From recreational beekeeper to commercial beekeeper. John Winkels is our guest speaker. John started at the Melbourne Section as a recreational beekeeper with ambitions to be a commercial beekeeper. He now runs a large scale commercial beekeeping business. 
• Beginner's Corner for 2021. Send your photos or issues to vaamelbournesection@hotmail.com or bring your questions along on the night. Beginners Corner will be operating from as early as you get there: Don't wait until 7:30 to give John van Weeghel and his assistants a tough question!

Hope to see you there.

Mike Love

Chairperson VAA Melbourne Section

7:30pm - 9:30pm on Thursday 25th February 2021

NEW VENUE         NEW VENUE         NEW VENUE         NEW VENUE          NEW VENUE      

The second meeting of 2021 will be held at the NEW VENUE: Church of Christ, Surrey Hills. 

The NEW VENUE address is 1 The Avenue, Surrey Hills. It is located near the corner of Warrigal Rd and Canterbury Rd.

Theme

• Everything Queens!  David Briggs will be our guest speaker. David is a well known and very experienced queen breeder.
• Featuring the return of Beginner's Corner for 2021. Send your photos or issues to vaamelbournesection@hotmail.com or bring your questions along on the night.

Hope to see you there.

Mike Love

Chairperson VAA Melbourne Section

The Collingwood Children's Farm Apiary

6pm - 9pm on Thursday 28th January 2021

The Collingwood Children’s Farm Apiary (CCFA) is the setting for the first Monthly meeting of 2021.

Theme

The three themes of the evening are

• Gadget Night - focusing on honey extraction and wax rendering alternatives
• Acknowledging 65 years of the VAA Melbourne Section
  
• Collingwood Children's Farm Apiary introduction
  

Raffle and Food

There will be no charge to attend this meeting. We will be running a raffle with lots of prizes like packs of wax foundation, queen vouchers, Nuc boxes and frames.

We will run a sausage sizzle with soft drinks and a fruit platter. The food will be served to you rather than you selecting from open plates.  

COVID-Safe

Now that the COVID restrictions have eased, we can hold (almost) normal meetings again. We will still be practising social distancing and request that you bring and use a mask.

Many of our members are in the higher risk categories, so please keep COVID-safe. We are asking you to register prior the event so that we can ensure tracing if required.

Register please

To ensure that we are running a COVID-safe event, we will need to record the names and contact details for every attendee.

Please reply to this email address (vaamelbournesection@hotmail.com) with the names and contact numbers of yourself and anyone coming with you.

Getting there

This outdoor meeting will be in the apiary paddock.

For a map of the apiary location, please visit https://farm.org.au/visit/the-apiary/ . 

At the end of St Heliers St, walk past the vehicle gate and follow the Main Yarra Trail bicycle path to the right, past the farm office entrance, past the farm cafe and about 50 metres around the curve you will arrive.  

Don’t go through the Convent because you can’t get to the apiary that way.

Parking

There is a carpark on St Heliers St opposite the convent: charges about $7 for 2 hours. The nearby streets have many local parking variations. Studley Park Rd has a clearway travelling east until at least 6:30pm.

Backup Plan

If COVID rules change or the weather is looking poor, we will revert to a Zoom meeting. A final decision will be made on Sunday based on the weather forecast. A confirmation email for the Apiary or the Zoom meeting will be sent out on Sunday 24 January 2021.

We look forward to seeing you for an entertaining night, catching up with long separated friends and some new knowledge at the CCF Apiary on Sunday 24th January.

Thank you and regards,

Mike Love

VAA Melbourne Section Chairperson

Collingwood Children's Farm Apiary

The Collingwood Children’s Farm apiary is now open for beekeeper assistance and practical activity on the second and fourth Sundays of the month. Members of the public will be accepted back for apiary aexperiences in the near future.