Yours truly has spent the past 5 weeks in Cape York with Tangaroa Blue Foundation collecting 8.5 tonnes of marine debris from two locations, Mapoon on the Western Cape and Chili Beach on the Eastern Cape. However not to be distracted from the native bees whilst away I did get the opportunity to visit my good friend at Chili Beach where I was able to split 3 of his hives which I helped rescue when there two years ago and all three hives looked fantastic. Because the boxes Neale made at quite short notice using recycled mate-rials like old ammunition boxes mate that he happened to have laying around (no Bunnings up here) were of different sizes, it was not possible to normal splits. Each of the broods were transferred using vertical splits and I can’t wait to revisit next year to see how they perform. The activity was also used as a special treat for my group of volunteers with me.
I also visited the Portland Roads Café where owners Greg and Sheree also surprised me with their own native bees. One of the hives originally came from Rockhampton and had never been opened in 35 years. Greg also showed me where he had hives located on the walls of his residence
Water Meter Rescues
Another 4 hives were reported to us by council in the last round of inspections in June, two of which have been successfully rescued and are now in boxes connected up to host hives for future placement as part of our fostering program. One more is to be rescued in the coming week.
Visit to Toolooa State High School
One of the first community groups to receive a hive as part of our Fostering Program is the Toolooah State High School in Gladstone as part of their environmental pro-gram. Last week 3 of our members met with the school staff to look at an ideal location for the hive to be placed and the school are now in the process of preparing the site and are eagerly awaiting the hive.
National Tree Day
As part of National Tree Day we were invited by Conservation Volunteers Australia and Gladstone Regional Council to support the community tree planting activity at Cashin Park, Tannum Sands by displaying some native bee information. This was a perfect opportunity to demonstrate and educate the public of the importance and benefits of native bees in our environment
For more info on branch activities, visit our Facebook page ANBA Gladstone Branch, https://www.facebook.com/groups/480678232538075