1.30 for a 2pm start 2pm - Whats happening in my hive Followed by our monthly Speaker - Simon Mildren Simon Mildren is the founder and CEO of HiveKeepers, an Australian company dedicated to making beekeeping simpler and more accessible. With a background in emergency management and a passion for innovation, Simon has spent years developing practical solutions that support beekeepers at all levels. His latest innovation, the Micro Honey Harvester, is designed to simplify honey extraction while preserving honey purity and reducing waste. About the HiveKeepers Micro Honey Harvester The HiveKeepers Micro Honey Harvester is a revolutionary, closed-system honey extraction device that removes the mess, hassle, and waste of traditional honey harvesting. Designed for hobbyist and small-scale beekeepers, it eliminates the need for cappings removal, filtering, and extensive cleanup—allowing beekeepers to harvest honey quickly, easily, and as needed. The harvester works seamlessly with standard Langstroth frames, making it a simple drop-in solution for beekeepers looking to extract high-quality honey with minimal effort. For more details, visit HiveKeepers.   Join us and keep up to date with local conditions that effect your hive, connect with other beekeepers, share resources, improve your apiary skills and learn more about honeybee ecology. Non members are welcome too. Meetings are held at ECOSS, 711 Old Warburton Road, Wesburn, in the ‘Coop’ (past the old house, over the green, down the bottom). Gold coin donation appreciated. 

Unfortunately tomorrows Bee Group meeting is cancelled due to the Central Total Fire Ban and Extreme fire rating.... Stay safe at home and see you next month instead.     1.30 for a 2pm start 2pm - Whats happening in my hive?  Followed by our monthly speaker - Simon Mildren from hivekeepers.com Simon has been keeping bees for 15 years.  He found extracting honey from the frames was slow and messy, and required a lot of bulky equipment, whether you have only one hive or fifty.  He thought there must be a better way.  Turns out there is.  He spent several years designing and refining it, and his new system will launch on March 5th.  It uses a small spinner about the size of the food scraps bin the council provides for your kitchen, no sieves, no tubs – you can pour the honey directly from the collecting canister into your jars.  It doesn’t disturb the wax caps over the honey so there is no mess (unless you drop the canister). Come along on Sunday 23rd Febraury to see this new system in action, and get yourself on the waiting list for when the Mirco Honey Harvester is released.   Join us and keep up to date with local conditions that effect your hive, connect with other beekeepers, share resources, improve your apiary skills and learn more about honeybee ecology. Non members are welcome too. Meetings are held at ECOSS, 711 Old Warburton Road, Wesburn, in the ‘Coop’ (past the old house, over the green, down the bottom). Gold coin donation appreciated. 

Unfortunately, the proposed Honey extraction day which was taking place on Sunday 26th Jan has been cancelled, due to lack of honey!  See you all instead at our usual club meeting on February 23rd.

ECOSS event Come and celebrate the end of another year and join us for an afternoon of locally produced food, live cooking demonstration with 5 star chef, Michael Lewis, using produce from local Artisan Agriculture farmers. Including our vey own members product - Cameron Walkers honey and Greg Huggins honey comb. Both winners at the 2024 Lilydale show. Talk to your farmers and find out where your food comes from. There will be a large market with-art, craft, produce stalls, food and more.. Live music, kids activities, Jigsaw Jumps & Costa's Book launch! Program includes: Welcome to Country, Awol Monks, Szara Fox & The Midnight Secrets, Formidable Vegetable & Smoke Stack Rino.  Further infomration can be found here - https://www.facebook.com/events/477001724797176

1.30 for a 2pm start Please join us for YVBG end of year celebration! In the spirit of giving and receiving; please bring: - a plate of food to share. (Bubbles and wine, and other drinks supplied). - any bee tools or equipment (no used wood items), cleaned, that you have never used or wont use again. You will get a raffle ticket at the door for each item you put on the table. Throughout the afternoon as tickets are drawn you get to select another member’s item to take home. - a tip or bee keeping hack that you have discovered, a piece of equipment, picture or video. It could be of your dream bee shed or workshop. Pic’s and videos on a memory stick please. Door prizes drawn over the afternoon and The Best Bee themed outfit wins a prize!   Join us and keep up to date with local conditions that effect your hive, connect with other beekeepers, share resources, improve your apiary skills and learn more about honeybee ecology. Non members are welcome too. Meetings are held at ECOSS, 711 Old Warburton Road, Wesburn, in the ‘Coop’ (past the old house, over the green, down the bottom). Gold coin donation appreciated. 

**Entries close Monday 11th November Honey Competition YVBG will be running the honey competition in conjunction with the show. Click here for the schedule and to find out how to enter your jarred honey, frame of honey, wax block, honeycomb and mead! CLASSES 1. Jar of Liquid Honey (H) 2. Jar of Creamed Honey (HCR) 3. Jar of Crystalised Honey (HCRY) 4. Capped Frame of Honey (F) 5. Wax Block (W) 6. Cut Honeycomb Block (CHB) 7. Home Made Mead (M)-Sub classes M1A Dry Mead, M1B Semi-sweet Mead and M1C Sweet Mead  Download the schedule for all the details To enter you need to purchase tickets https://shop.lilydaleyarravalleyshow.com.au/ and drop off your entries Monday between 2-8pm. Details are in the schedule. Visit the Lilydale Show Website to find out whats on this year Volunteers needed We also need volunteers to man our YVBG stall. Each year we have a stall to sell our honey, educate the community about beekeeping and the joys of beekeeping clubs. You don't have to be an expert on beekeeping, Newbees will be rostered on with more experienced people. 2 hour timeslots. All volunteers will now need a Working with Childrens Check. However, this is free and easy to complete online.  Please email your interest to volunteer to yarravalleybeegroup@mail.tidyhq.com.   

The National Varroa Mite Management Program is hosting training workshops to provide beekeepers with the latest information on Varroa mite and managing Varroa mite in your hives. This FREE ONE DAY WORKSHOP will provide information on:  Understanding Varroa mite and its impacts  The importance of monitoring and treatment thresholds  Integrated pest management and Varroa  Chemical treatment options including organic options  Brood location, frame rotation and management  Best practice record keeping  Time: 9:00am - 3:00pm (Check in from 8:30am) Venue: Gembrook Community Hall Trainers: Tony Wilsmore, Andrew Wootton. You can find out more about your trainers here. Morning tea and lunch provided. Dietary requirements will be met where possible.  Registration is required as places per session are limited.  If you have already attended a National Varroa Mite Management Training Workshop in another location, please consider leaving space for beekeepers who have not yet completed this training. Click here to register YVBG is promoting this event via our website. For all enquiries, please contact National Varroa Mite Management Program via the Humantix registration page. (Link above)

Our October meeting will be hosted on Friday 25th October (instead of Sunday 27th) 6.30 - 8.30 Ashton Edgley is the Senior Varroa Development Officer | Plants, Chemicals & Invasives | Biosecurity and Agricultural Services for Ag Vic, who is coming to talk about all things Varroa Management. Ashton will have all the treatment products and information available to look at and discuss, and explain how and when to use them. He has also invited members to submit any questions by 18th October. You can do this by emailing your questions to Lyn  secretary.yarravalleybeegroup@mail.tidyhq.com for collation and forwarding to Ashton prior to the meeting. This will give Ashton time to ensure he covers exactly what you want. Bio: Almost as soon as I began my working life, I had a great passion for both Agriculture and bees, so it wasn’t long after that I joined the huge world of the Apiculture. I have been extremely lucky to be involved in this space over the last several years and enjoy beekeeping without the impact of Varroa mite. For me, it’s the constant changes in beekeeping with the seasons and challenges that we are faced with on the day to day. Each colony that bit different and each day unlike the last. Something I have been closely following is the impact of Varroa globally and the diverse technologies and treatments that have evolved throughout the years. I know that beekeepers as a collective are resilient and I look forward to sharing my passion for learning with you as we face the greatest battle yet for Australian beekeepers. Join us and keep up to date with local conditions that effect your hive, connect with other beekeepers, share resources, improve your apiary skills and learn more about honeybee ecology. Non members are welcome too. Meetings are held at ECOSS, 711 Old Warburton Road, Wesburn, in the ‘Coop’ (past the old house, over the green, down the bottom). Gold coin donation appreciated. 

Annual General Meeting of the Yarra Valley Bee Group will be held in person on 15th September 2024 beginning at 2pm. NB: To avoid the AFL Grand Final weekend, this meeting has been changed to the 15th Setember (not the usual last sunday of the month) Followed by Whats Happening in my hive? In preparation for the meeting, please view the following: AGM Minutes 2023 Agenda Activity Report Financial Report Committee Nomination Form Proxy form Oridinary Resolution-First Aid Training All are welcome to attend the AGM. However, only financial members are entitled to vote.  If you are unsure of your financial status, please email us to check at yarravalleybeegroup@mail.tidyhq.com   Do you love your Bee Group? Do you want it to continue? Then we need your help! To allow this great club of ours to continue, we need nominations for the Office Bearers for the YVBG Committee. These include President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. You don't need to be an experienced beekeeper to nominate for these roles. Whether you're a Newbee or an Oldie, we'll look after you!  Like any club, there is a lot going on behind the scenes. However, the more help we have, the more we can grow. Please join our friendly and focused committee so that together we can help our YVBG group thrive. Did I mention that there are only four meetings a year! Click here for position descriptions or go ahead and fill out a Committee Nomination Form. Please return to us no later than the 25th August. Positions are also available for the General committee. Examples of how you could help as a general committee member: Book Borrowing and Equipment Library Newsletter Social media Help to coordinate our presence at public events  Monthly meeting coordination  Membership Coordination Swarm Collection and Bee removal Want to talk to someone before committing? Feel free to email us on yarravalleybeegroup@mail.tidyhq.com Meetings are held at ECOSS, 711 Old Warburton Road, Wesburn, in the newly renovated ‘Coop’ (past the old house, over the green, down the bottom).

1.30 for a 2pm start 2pm - Whats happening in my hive?  Followed by our Speaker - Janis Feldgren - Preparing for Spring! We are lucky to have Janis, from Beewise, return to talk to us about what we need to do in preparation for Spring.  Join us and keep up to date with local conditions that effect your hive, connect with other beekeepers, share resources, improve your apiary skills and learn more about honeybee ecology. Non members are welcome too. Meetings are held at ECOSS, 711 Old Warburton Road, Wesburn, in the ‘Coop’ (past the old house, over the green, down the bottom). Gold coin donation appreciated. 

1.30 for a 1.45pm start What better to do on a rainy day than sit in a nice warm coop (fire will be going) and talk about bees! 2pm - Shane Doran - Varroa, history, genetics and more! Shane Doran is from Bee Removals Victoria/Wondermazing Honeybees. He specialises in beehive relocations, especially from impossible locations. He runs two successful bee related businesses and is getting ready to start his Masters in Bee Research. At this meeting, Shane will be talking to us about Varroa, history, genetics and more. Shanes presentation is a 2 hours session, so make sure you're there by 1.45 :) Im told its very informative and interactive.  Non members are welcome too.  Meetings are held at ECOSS, 711 Old Warburton Road, Wesburn, in the ‘Coop’ (past the old house, over the green, down the bottom). Gold coin donation appreciated. 

1.30 for a 2pm start - If you plan on entering your honey into the competition, please arrive by 1.20. 1.30pm - Honey Judging will begin 2pm - 4pm Main meeting - beginning with Whats Happening in your hive? We are incredibly lucky to have Matt & Vanessa from Rooftop Honey judging our members in-house honey competition. They will begin judging at 1.30 (as it takes a bit of time), so remember to arrive at 1.20 to register your jar of honey. Whilst they are tasting and judging, we will continue with our meeting. Once they are done, they will announce the winners and give us pointers on preparing for the Lilydale Show competition in November. So, remember to prepare your best jar of honey! See below on how to best to do this. Here are the Competition Guidelines: You will need to be a current member to partake in this competition Honey to be in a standard cylindrical 500gm [375ml] clear glass jar with no ornamentation. Use a new jar to ensure there are no contaminants. Jar to be filled halfway between neck and lid, with no wax particles evident. Do not place any stickers or names on your jar. It must be plain. We will number your jar on the day. Honey will be judged on colour [25points], density [25 points], flavor [25 points], general appearance [15 points], and aroma [10 points], giving a potential score of 100 points. Tips from the VAA: One hint that the VAA has shared concerning preparing a jar exhibit is this - start with approximately 1kg of honey, let it stand for several weeks to settle. Any wax particles and air bubbles will rise to the top, and any heavier bits will sink to the bottom. Carefully and slowly decant the top 250 gm off, and jar the next 500gm. Theoretically, you then have a clean and clear exhibit! REMEMBER: Arrive by 1.20 if you want to enter your honey in the competition.  If you have any questions, please email us at yarravalleybeegroup@mail.tidyhq.com    Join us and keep up to date with local conditions that effect your hive, connect with other beekeepers, share resources, improve your apiary skills and learn more about honeybee ecology. Non members are welcome too. Meetings are held at ECOSS, 711 Old Warburton Road, Wesburn, in the ‘Coop’ (past the old house, over the green, down the bottom). Gold coin donation appreciated. 

Hurry - ticket sales end midnight Thursday 6th!  Mead Making Workshop 2024 Cost $107 using your own honey (1.6kg) $132 honey included (1.6kg) - recommended as using the same honey is easier to compare like for like. Includes:  1 x intial workshop on the 16th June and 2 x follow ups (late Sept / early October) for racking and then bottling. 2 x 5l glass demoijohns, bungs and airlock 12 x 375ml new clear glass bottles with stelvin closures Yeast, fruit, spices, fermentation nutrient, steriliser etc. 1.6 kg of honey (supplied by beechworth - if all participants use the same honey we can then compare like for like) Once you know how to do it, you can then use your own  *This is a members only event. Tickets are essential  Enquiries - Greg Huggins president.yarravalleybeegroup@mail.tidyhq.com  

1.30 for a 2pm start 2pm - Whats happening in my hive?  Followed by an information session run by Greg Huggins What do Beekeepers do over Winter? What winter jobs can we do to keep ourselves busy whilst our bees are "quiet"? Greg will share some of his must-do jobs to ensure he is ready for Spring. Cleaning boxes and frames, storing euipment, rendering wax, making new frames. What's on your list? Bring along your ideas to share with the group. Join us and keep up to date with local conditions that effect your hive, connect with other beekeepers, share resources, improve your apiary skills and learn more about honeybee ecology. Non members are welcome too. Meetings are held at ECOSS, 711 Old Warburton Road, Wesburn, in the ‘Coop’ (past the old house, over the green, down the bottom). Gold coin donation appreciated. 

1.30 for a 2pm start  Speaker - Janis from Beewise - Wintering Bees We are thrilled to have Janis, from Beewise, talk about what we should do between now and spring and how we can assist the bees to stay cosy and dry? Join us to hear Janis answer questions such as: How many boxes?   What about queen excluders? Did I leave enough feed in the right places for the bees to successfully winter. When should I feed?  There are plusses and minuses to feeding at the wrong times. Conditions for your bees, Supplements, Safe storage of gear into spring? So what happened after the last three seasons and what are we likely to experience in the coming one?  Can we survive any type of season?  Will I be ready for what is coming in August and September?   and of course, biosecurity matters. Come along and keep up to date with local conditions that effect your hive, connect with other beekeepers, share resources, improve your apiary skills and learn more about honeybee ecology. Non members are welcome too. Meetings are held at ECOSS, 711 Old Warburton Road, Wesburn, in the ‘Coop’ (past the old house, over the green, down the bottom). Gold coin donation appreciated.