The Beekeepers Club Inc.

Club Meeting-
* Beginners corner: Opening the Hive - by Ian Brown
* Bees and their history. A bit of a Bee Biology - by Robert Owen

"Paid-up members Raffle"
The prizes won were:
1. Set of decapping strainers
2. Small Smoker

Club Meeting with topics such as-
Gadgets & Hands-on night
building boxes and frames

All paid-up members who have renewed their membership for the 2010/2011 season by 15-July-2010 will automatically be in the draw for the Raffle in August.
The prizes to be won are:
1. Set of decapping strainers
2. Small Smoker

Club Meeting with -
1. Annual General Meeting (AGM) - election of new committee
2. Honey Competition with the following entry categories:
- light coloured honey
- medium coloured honey
- dark coloured honey
- creamed honey
- frames with capped honey comb
- capped honey comb in box or container
3. Photo Display - the winning photo will feature in next year's club calendar

Apitherapy and Beekeeping Lecture Evening
Guests Chilean speakers:
JUANSE BARROS & Dr ALEJANDRA LOPEZ

Club Meeting with DPI inspector Daniel Martin as guest speaker
Topic:
* Pests & Diseases - in particular those nasty Hive Beetles

The Beekeepers Club Annual Field Trip (Bus Tour) - for members and their partner
Destination: Bob & Eileen McDonald - Sawmill Road, McKenzies Hill, Castlemaine.
VicRoads Directory Map 59 - D3

Club Meeting - topics:
Hive close down for winter - by Ian Brown

Pests & Diseases - by DPI inspector Daniel Martin was cancelled due to double booking

Club Meeting - topics:
2. Identifying Eucalyptus trees for beginner beekeepers - by Florian Gentu
1. Hive close down for winter - by Ian Brown (had to be postponed as we were running out of time)

Club Meeting with topics -
1. Finding the Queen - by Ian Brown
2. Introducing a new queen into the hive - by Ian Brown

Club Meeting with topics such as-
1. Demonstration of Honey Extracting - different methods
2. Converting a pressure cooker for a steam knife
3. Question & Answer Panel

The Beekeepers Club Christmas Party with our Xmas raffle
This year’s prizes were:
1. Three-frame honey extractor - won by Deb Capozzi
2. $150 beekeeping gift voucher - won by Brian Madden
3. Beehive (wood) – ready for bees to go in - won by Erwin Zuber
4. Hasson Beehive (Polymer) – without frames - won by Bernhard Sellner
5. Smoker - won by Helen Brown

Club meeting
1. Queen Raising presented by Vin Anderson
2. Capturing a swarm made easy by Dietmar Klimkeit
Raffle tickets were on sale for our Xmas raffle ($2 each)

Club meeting with guest speakers
1. Elwyn Papworth - 'A life of beekeeping'
2. Daniel Martin (DPI) - 'Bee Pests and Diseases'
3. Len Hasson & brother presenting the 'Aussie Hive' (If you are looking for new hives and don’t want to assemble and paint them – this could be the solution - Food-grade polymer plastic beehives)

Marong Field Day
30th VAA Bendigo Branch annual Beekeeping Field Day - at the Marong Recreation Reserve
featuring:
* Caged queens for sale
* Supplementary bee feeding
* Honey extraction demonstrations for the hobbyist
* Catching / hiving bee swarms
* Bee hive manipulation-hands-on
* Bee Box Nailing Competition
* Trucks & Hive Loaders
* Equipment Suppliers
* DPI Disease Information
* Auction of used bee gear

Club meeting - meeting was held at The Pines Learning Centre
1. Guest speaker Mr. Warren Worbois from the Botanical Gardens Cranbourne presented Eucalyptus trees and their role for bees and honey.

Club meeting - meeting was held at The Pines Learning Centre
1. Topic: 'Opening the Hives' - Ian Brown
2. Topic: 'Swarm Control' - Ian Brown
2. The winner of the raffle was David Hobday, winning a set of decapping strainers.

Club meeting
1. "Show & Tell" - some very interesting tools and gadgets were brought along and presented, among them a prototype honey press to extract honey from a top-bar hive.
2. Guest speaker Lindsay & Martyn Wilson from 'Bees for Development' presented their Hives, boxes & skeps they have built. Very impressive, although inpracticle and expensive, their UK hive.
3. Most members have renewed their membership for the 2009/2010 season. With 15 new members the count of paid-up members is 87. They will be in the raffle in August.
4. Enrolment for the next Beekeeping Course has started.

Club meeting -
1. Annual General Meeting was held, two new mebers for the committee were elected.
2. We had this year's Honey competition with Stan Starke as honey judge.
3. We had a Photo Display and selected the photo for our next calendar.
4. 27 members renewed their membership for the new financial year. Five new members joined our club.

Club meeting - Our Guest speaker John Edmonds from the Geelong Beekeepers club had everyone captured by his knowledge, his sense of humour and his enthusiasm.
We also enjoyed Nikolai Faizoulline from the Geelong Beekeepers club presenting his way to reduce water condensation in the hive by insulating the roof.

Club meeting - The previously announced agenda "Native suburban flora with Guest speaker John Edmonds" did not happen, instead we all got a pleasant surprise when Eric Smith from The Honey Shack "rolled up" with his big truck and lots of equipment to demonstrate how he handles his 500 beehives - this surprise was enjoyed by everyone. Following this we had a Question and Answer session to tap into Eric's knowledge. - In summary: A very interesting and worthwhile evening.

Club meeting - Topic: Preparing the hive for winter (the non-productive season). We have also handed out glass jars to members for the honey competition in June this year.
A representative from Clayton Plastics, a new Club Sponsor, has been attending and has presented the club with a few gifts.