Visiting Tassie

[Geoff]

  Any beeks in Tassie online in the next few days. If the opportunity comes up would like to meet. Moving out of Hobart tomorrow (Thursday) probably heading north.

[Simon]

Hi Geoff,
How far North are you going?  I am in the North West and if your coming this way, I might be able to arrange something for you.  There is at least 1 member on here somewhere from around Launceston I think and there's a commercial beekeeper based in Perth (or maybe Longford) who might be interested in letting you have a look around.

Simon

[Richard05]

Hi Simon and Geoff. I am also in Wynyard and just checked my hives today. Although it is the last day of winter I was surprised that one hive was very full and I put on another ideal box. I have had bees for about 15 years but have never really worked them hard. This year I am thinking about feeding some from the top.
Have either of you done this?

[Simon]

??? ...don't know what happened to Geoff's visit to tassie.  Maybe my reference to Perth made people think I was having a lend of him (there is actually a town called "Perth" in Northern Tasmania).  The offer is still open and the commercial guys are building frames and painting supers frantically, so bee activity is starting to build up around here.

Richard, feeding bees in late winter/early spring really gets them going.  I was talking to a commercial beekeeper recently and he said that his bees had gone through a 44 gallon drum of syrup in a week (about 100 hives I think) so they must be building up fast. I've been renovating some old gear ready to try and catch a couple of swarms so that I can get some bees again - by the looks of things, I'd better get a move on!!!

Ha ha, apparently it is a small world after all Richard. Since we live in the same town we should meet up some time if you are interested.

Simon

[Richard05]

I was speaking to Leon at the foreshore market yesterday and he was also telling me about feeding bees with a 44. He also made the suggestion for smaller amounts of hives such as I have that using a kitty litter tray with floats inside a half super on top works well. I will try this and cover it with fly screen.
I am up reservoir drive, and you Simon?

[Simon]

Ha, ha ...sprung!  I was talking about Leon too, I conscripted him the other day to modify a couple of my supers (that used to be his) to make some swarm traps.  We have the same last name coincidentally.  Leon just buscuit joined a heap of his kitty litter feeders into ideals ..he should have sold some of them to you!  You'll have to wait for Shiploads to open to get a cheap supply of suitable plastic trays though.  They work well with the floats to minimise drowings.  The flyscreen across the top would be a good addition too and then you wouldn't get a face full of bees every time you topped them up.  I'm going to try out the Fat Beeman's "No Drown" Feeder (Miller Feeder variation) with a screened ramp - a bit more work than Leon's design and probably no better, but doesn't require a kitty litter tray.

I live in Saunders Street near where the yellow one tonner is, but I'm looking for a bit more space.  Desperately need a bigger shed.  We went for a drive down your road recently looking to see what's for sale, but I can't remember seeing any hives.

Looks like we should start a new topic like "Wynyard, the beekeeping centre of the world" as I'm getting off topic with all this excitement.

Simon

[Geoff]

   Sorry I did not get back to you sooner Simon but part of the trip was to seek out a family member who was believed to be living in Tasmania but had not contacted any family for almost 12 months.
   We were chasing possible locations from north to south which meant a day here and there before heading off to another possibility. We did get some definite sitings from the knowledge we had but all to no avail in the end. Since arriving home we have had news that he is OK and probably living in the Hobart area which will be a better start next time.
   In the travels we got to stay in Hobart, St Helens, Ulverstone and Ross and yes we did get to drive through Wynyard twice
   I got to talk to beekeepers at Salamanca on the Saturday and the Farmers market on Sunday in Hobart so hopefully next trip we will have more time for our own interests and will spend more time up North.
   Just as you fellas are I am busy refurbishing frames and hives at the moment.
   The reference to Perth did not throw me Simon as I think it was the Sunday when heading to Ulverstone we stopped and had lunch in the old church building there, it was pouring rain and the pub was over full which is why we ate at the church. Nice menu, had a bowl of soup which almost enough for 3 persons.

[Simon]

No worries Geoff. You certainly picked the wrong month to visit Tasmania. We've had the wettest August since about 1955 apparently, well over 300mm!  So far September has been nice and warm and sunny - you should be here today!  It's amazing how a couple of windy days and some sunshine will dry things out and get the lawn growing fast.

There's plenty of beekeeping activity to plan for next time, especially in the NW.  Between Mole Creek (near Deloraine) and Smithton there are quite a few characters to visit. R Stephens at Mole creek even have a honey shop at their factory door - have a look at http://www.leatherwoodhoney.com.au/  (I have no association with them, but their web site is interesting).

I reckon that Leon (as mentioned by Richard) would be happy to get you a look at some interesting stuff too.

Simon