The last meeting, 7 March at THECA Chapel Hill was attend by about 30 members in person and another 30 online. The Chair Dean Haley opened the March meeting and welcomed attendees, especially those attending for the first time. We launched straight into our main business, the guest speaker, and moved the club business to the end, to work better with online attendees.
Guest speaker: Professor Mary Fletcher presented a talk titled “Trehalulose, a sweet but healthy sugar in stingless bee honey”. The presentation was very well received and prompted discussion and questions. The feedback that continued over coffee, cheese and stingless bee honey at the end of the meeting was very positive. Read a sum-mary of Mary’s research in the next issue of Cross-Pollinator.
General business: The minutes from 7 Jan meeting were presented and accepted. The Treasurers report for February was presented and accepted. We discussed our bank account and difficulties in dealing with the CBA. The sub-ject of keeping honeybees in QLD natural areas was dis-cussed, and whether the ANBA should have a position on this. Feelings were that any position on this should be based on science, and that we are not a lobby organisation. No vote was taken, but we will consider developing a set of facts and perhaps a position statement
Next Meeting: The April meeting comes from the Brisbane branch, on Sunday 11 April, at 1 pm, Brisbane time. Matthew Middleton will present a talk on: Matthew’s experiences with PNG bees. We will deal with branch business following the talk. Read more and get the details to attend either in person or by Zoom, on page 11.
Future meeting venue: The Brisbane branch will meet at a new location, the Bulimba Community Hall. The Hall is larger, cheaper, air-conditioned, more central, and with better parking. The April meeting will be the last at the Hut; from May 2021 we will move to Bulimba.