Sydney Illawarra Beekeepers (Assoc)

Flow Hive is donating 100% of their profits from sales of their Flow Pollinator House to organisations that support local projects in Australia and we have been lucky enough to be on the shortlist! Please show your support for us and vote by TOMORROW! We are project #11: Introduction to bees and pollinators (a school holiday program)

Catalyst via ABC Science are looking for participants!

ABA CONFERENCE 2018 Update
Our night meeting for July 2018 will be a presentation covering the recent 2018 ABA conference.
Presented by Illawarra Branch Members:
... Chantelle Gartside Penny Downy Leah Healey Kevin Dolan-Brown Tanya Dolan-Brown Lamorna Osborne
Illawarra Bee Club had a strong representative presence at the conference. The program was exceptional with very topical and interesting speakers. The conference was opened by NSW Governor David Hurley. Governor Hurley did his Introductory Beekeeping Course at Our Club. He is a passionate beekeeper and has had some success in the Easter Show Honey Competitions.
Some of our members who attended will give a short overview of the topics.
You can read more about The ABA Conference on the ABA website
The presenters were:
Costa Georgiadis: Planting for Bees Stuart Anderson: Inventor of the Flo Hive 3 years on. Dr Mark Greco: How Bees Learn and Remember Des Cannon: How to turn a hobby into a business Dr Rosina Rader: Bees as Pollinators What’s New Dr Emily Remnant: Bee Genetics & Developing Resistance to Viruses Prof Simon Haberie: The Australasian Pollen & Spore Analysis
Q and A at the end of the session if you have any concerns you need to be answered.
Special mention and thanks to Sue Edwards and Bronwyn Musulin for preparing this information.
The shop will be open from approx 6.30 pm The meeting starts at 7.00 pm in the clubhouse Supper including tea, coffee & refreshments will be available For members and their guests
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Varrora mite found in a colony of bees at the Port of Melbourne on an inbound cargo ship.

Is your honey 100% Australian? Or only 30%?
If you're not already aware, new Country of Origin labelling laws have been in effect since 2016. A two year transition period has been in place, but becomes mandatory on 1st July 2018. This means food products packaged for retail sale from 1st July 2018 MUST display the new labels.
You may have already noticed the new labels on some products. Whilst there are some exceptions (for example, tea, confectionary, biscuits, snack foods...) honey sold in a retail setting will be required to adhere to the new law.
What does this mean for beekeepers who sell their bottled honey to stores or at markets?
Honey you pack after 1st July 2018 must include the new label. The ACCC has an online tool which will generate the new logo for you for free. You can find it here:
http://www.originlabeltool.business.gov.a u
What does this mean for consumers?
It means businesses can no longer hide behind the previous statement of 'Made in Australia from local or imported ingredients' which implies it may have all Australian ingredients, some Australian ingredients, or none at all. A very ambiguous statement. Just how much of a product IS Australian, will now be much clearer.
Look for honey labels that state 'Made in Australia from 100% Australian ingredients' or 'Product of Australia', or better yet, support your local beekeepers and know exactly where your honey is from.
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News from illawarra beekeepers for 06/21/2018 -

Did you know...

Reminder: June night meeting tomorrow night

Second one from Gruen - the world would stop !

Love this from Gruen :)

The surge in demand for already scarce beeswax has not only caused the prices to increase dramatically, it's also caused 'fake' beeswax to hit the Australian market.

News from illawarra beekeepers for 06/05/2018 -

David Mumford: Beekeeping & Pollination
Our guest speaker David Mumford is a second generation beekeeper and has been involved in pollination since 1976. Today with his wife Wendy they maintain over 450 hives that produce 60,000kg of their King Bee Honey annually. David also heads to Robinvale, Victoria for the annual almond pollination along with 110,000 other hives.
David gets a real buzz working with the bees and is very passionate about the sustainability of our beekeepin...g industry.
The shop will be open from approx 6.30 pm The meeting starts at 7.00 pm in the clubhouse Supper including tea, coffee & refreshments will be available For members and their guests
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Some facts about bees 🐝

May Field Day this Sunday at Sydney Illawarra Beekeepers (Assoc) Club House

Thank you to all those who attended our Open Day earlier this month! A huge success and we look forward to welcoming you all back again soon.

Your Chance to Learn Tips, Tricks on Making Your Own Mead!
Our presenter Matt Reed and other Mead enthusiasts meet regularly to focus on the best methods for making mead. This night features lots of information including methods, things you need, resources and tastings of mead.
If you keep bees and extract honey, making mead is the perfect answer for making use of some of the extra honey your bees produce! Come along and ask the mead makers any questions you have and share yo...ur experiences and mead with other participants.
These meetings are currently scheduled to be held every 1 – 2 months depending on the numbers attending.
The meeting starts at 7.00 pm in the clubhouse Tea & coffee will be available Mead Tastings may be available! For members and their guests
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