This years theme is Bees!! and what better way to celebrate than to have a honey competition. Click here to find out all about the honey competition. (run in conjunction with our YVbee group) We will also have a stall at the show so we'll bee looking for volunteers. email yvbeegroup@gmail.com if you're interested.   Visit their Website to find out whats on this year   ANIMALS     Horse Events all weekend on No. 2 Oval     Sheep Competitions and Sheering, Saturday int he David Wilkinson Pavilion     Poultry Competition , Saturday in the Chandler Pavilion     Alpacas - Young Handlers, Sunday in Melba Park     Boer Goat Competition, Sunday in the David Wilkinson Pavilion     Cattle - Educational Display and Handlers Classes, Sunday on No. 2 Oval     Animla Nursey all weekend in Melba Park     Reptile Display all weekend in Melba Park     Dog Obedience and Dog Agility Display, Saturday on the Main Arena     Dog Flyball Competition, Sunday on the Main Arena     Pony Rides all weekend in Melba Park     Sheep Dog Trials and Demonstrations all weekend in Melba Park ​​ ​ DISPLAYS FOR EVERYONE TO ENJOY ALL WEEKEND     Educational Display, Youth Club     Lego Display, Youth Club     Meccano Display, Youth Club     Art Display, Jean Eales Pavilion     Photography Display, Jean Eales Pavilion     cookery Display, Jean Eales Pavilion     Wool Display, Jean Eales Pavilion     Craft Display, Jean Eales Pavilion     Needlework Display, Jean Eales Pavilion     Horticulture Display, Briggs McDonnell Pavilion     Honey Display, Briggs McDonnell Pavilion ​​ ENTERTAINMENT     Carnival Rides for young and old     Side Show Alley - step up and win a prize!     Free entertainment on the stage all weekend in Melba Park     Woodchop Events - outside the Youth Club     Showbag Vans - outside the Youth Club     Rockabilly Babes!! - Fashion Parades, hair and makeup tents     Balmoral Highland Dancing, Saturday     Victorian Scottish Dancing, Sunday     Alpaca Display - producers, animals, fleeces, Sunday in the Chandler Pavilion     Soccer Stars - Main Arena     RUCKUS - 6pm Saturday, Main Arena     FIREWORKS - dusk Saturday, Main Arena            

Box Hill Institute’s Biosecurity Centre of Excellence is running a 1hr Bee Biosecurity Masterclass at its Lilydale campus (streamed live). Jessica Millar and Joe Riordan will be speaking and answering your questions about the recent Varroa mite detection in the Port of Melbourne and other biosecurity challenges facing Victorian bee keepers.   Time/date: 11:00am, Tuesday 30 October 2018 Location: BHI Lilydale Lakeside Campus, Jarlo Drive, Lilydale. 3140  Cost: Free Registration: Eventbrite ticketing   Speakers: Jessica Millar, Victorian Bee Biosecurity Officer. Dept. Economic Development, Jobs, Transport & Resources Joe Riordan, Senior Apiary Inspector. Dept. Economic Development, Jobs, Transport & Resources Online streaming The Event will be streamed online for people unable to attend. Please email m.blake@boxhill.edu.au for a URL link to the streaming service.  

  1:30 - What's Hapening in my Hive? Followed by main meeting Neil Barraclough from Gippsland will be speaking to us about pollination, from the plant and the bee's perspective. (He will also be running a Queen Raising workshop the day before at ECOSS. Click here to find out more) 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).

Neil Barraclough is an experienced beekeeper and horticulturalist, with decades of experience keeping bees, both as a sideline and commercially. For many years, he selectively bred his own queens for production and temperament. Amongst other roles, he was Seed Production Manager for Diggers Seeds, and he coordinates the Heritage and Rare Fruits Network and annual fruit tree grafting workshops across Victoria & NSW. Introduced to beekeeping on his family farm before beekeeping suits were available to him, this hands-on workshop with Neil will inform and guide you in: Bee Handling Queen Management Introducing a caged queen Selection & Genetics Raising your own queens Environmental needs & impacts This is a hands-on workshop; participants must bring their own veil or suit to be part of the beehive opening (subject to weather).  Participants will practice during the day and leave with a tool to undertake their own queen raising at home.

Introduction to bees and beekeeping Spring management workshop & field day   Program will include; Spring Management – optimising the opportunities of the season including hands on manipulation of hives Assessing colony health, queen performance – reading the brood Honey bee nutrition – anticipating colony needs for nectar and pollen Pests and disease – identification and management options Honey harvesting for small operations Hardware assembly, small scale extracting, flow hive discussion and more! Floral resources of NE Victoria Redpaths Beekeeping Supplies will be in attendance on the day and will take orders prior to the workshop. Visit http://www.redpaths.com.au/ Participants are asked to bring with them any personal protective equipment they own and a chair for seating outdoors. Veils will be available for purchase on the day. Please bring own wide brimmed hat. Covered shoes, long pants and long sleeves are required dress code. All smokers/ hivetools etc for working with hives will be supplied by Committee members Register via Eventbrite listing here https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/neaa-spring-field-day-registration-49594362072

1.30 - What's happening in my hive? session 2.00 - At this month's meeting Phil will take us through Bee Swarms and Hive Splits. We will look at things like - what makes bees swarm anyway? What can I do to prevent my bees from swarming? How do I catch a swarm if I see one? We will also look at the difference between Splitting Hives, Nucleus Hives, and Artificial Swarming - and how to artificially swarm whether you can find the queen or not. We may also do a practical demonstration, weather permitting. Buzz Groups - Come along prepared with any questions you may want answered as we'll split in to groups at the end of the meeting so that you can connect with other beekeepers in your area.

ECOSS SPRING FEST! Saturday September 22nd, 10am- 4pm at ECOSS. Wake up and Bloom for Spring. This year's abundant festivities include 'The Great Ecological Race'- wheelbarrow race between Middle years kids and their parents, MC'd by the Fabulous and Fantastic Will Tait. Multicultural Stage performances from Aztec Dance, Zaar Belly Dance, Japanese Kids Choir, Tuvaluan Dancers, Chin Community Dancers, the incredible Sarita McHarg- Sitar Player, Latino Drumming with Gustavo, Looping Cello, Tomi Matsumoto, 8 Foot Felix members Will Tait and Brendan Jones wildly entertaining us all! MC'd by the charismatic and talented Mr Simon Oats. Tiny House tours and talks, Bio-dynamic Farm tour, ECOSS projects tour, Yarra Valley Bee Group talks, Migrant Information Centre talks and GRAND OPENING OF RELAB- (rehab for old items- up cycling and boutique craft centre!). Roving Performers : MOOP Patrol- hopefully there will be no Matter Out of Place! Eco - Market with delicious local, healthy food and drinks! For the kids: Clay play in the Community Pottery Studio, LGBTQI+ rainbow flag painting, apple peeling and loads more activities underway.  

Guest speaker - Bob Owen, author of The Australian Beekeeping Manual. Bob has recently returned from Nigeria and Lebanon and will have fascinating insights to share about beekeeping in this part of the world. Calling for nominations to our Committee Take your interest in bees to the next level. Join or friendly and focused committee to work together to help this group thrive. Put your skills and abilities to work with only four meetings a year. Nominations are invited for the following executive positions: President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. (Click here for position descriptions and see below links to nomination forms). 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 yvbeegroup@gmail.com. We look forward to seeing you all there.  

Bec McBride from Bec's Beehive is coming to talk with us about Bee Nutrition When: Sunday 29th July 1:30 – What’s happening in my hive? Q&A 2:00-3.30 –  Main Meeting 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).

Come and see us at this ECOSS event. We will have a honey stall and would welcome anyone who can volunteer some time to tell everyone about our great club and the benefits of bee keeping! More information  

  Matt and Vanessa from Rooftop Honey will be judging our In-House Honey competition!  Here are the Competition Guidelines so you can prepare: Jar of honey o Honey to be in a standard cylindrical 500gm [375ml] clear glass jar with no ornamentation. o Plain 63mm lid only, either gold, white or black. o Jars to be filled halfway between neck and lid, with no wax particles evident. o Small sticker on bottom of jar showing name of entrant and hive location. 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. Frame of capped honey o Langstroth full depth or ideal frame of capped honey. o Top bar of capped honey. o Both sides of frame must be fully capped – those with exposed honey/nectar in a frame will not be accepted for judging. o Small sticker to be on the bottom of a Langstroth frame, indicating entrant. o Top bar frame to have a numbered sticker on top [as supplied by steward] to indicate entrant. Frame to be judged on fullness [30 points], cappings colour [30 points], evenness [20 points], and general appearance [20 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! Concerning prepping a frame - best to have a brand new Lang frame that has been freshly drawn and capped. This will minimise any propolis or brace comb to be cleaned for showing, and give a better light penetration when the frame is back-lit for judging. Your frame needs to be presented in a sealed, but openable, display case. See the pic from Lilydale show. If you don't have a suitable jar, Linda has club jars for $1 each available at the Kilsyth equipment library. Phone Linda on 0413 627 732. If you need more info re the comp, call Greg on 0414 673 592 Is there a prize????? Yes, full and unequivocal bragging rights .....until next year!