PRESENT: Andrew Beach (Vice Pres.), John Burnet (Sec.) and 29 members as listed in the attendance book.

APOLOGIES: Frank & Mary Ann Lindsay, Pam McDowell, Les Solomon

NEW MEMBERS & VISITORS : Richard McCullough (Newlands)

MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING: Minutes of meeting held 11 Mar as detailed in the April newsletter were read and confirmed.

MATTERS ARISING: Pauatahanui Incident: The 5km exclusion zone around the sawmill continues to be maintained by MAF and it is confirmed that Frank’s hives in Murphy’s Road are the only colonies now within the zone. Secretary confirmed that Paul Bolger from MAF had acknowledged receipt of the Club’s offer to monitor surveillance traps within the zone but no further communication had been received.

Varroa Update : Andrew advised that all registered NZ beekeepers should have now received the March copy of the NZ Beekeeper magazine which included details of the varroa management workshops being held around the country. At this stage the Wgton workshop date options are either Sat 18 May or at next month’s Club meeting on Mon 13 May. Because of the duration of the workshop (3 – 3 ½ hours), members agreed that Sat 18 May was the better option with a 9am start. Andrew emphasised this workshop was an opportunity to invite new members to the Club and to share varroa control product preparation and costs. It also encouraged all local beekeepers to apply controls at the same time.

Ivan Pedersen advised that MAF had now approved formic acid for use in controlling varroa. He had obtained various quotes for an 85% solution and prices for 25kg ranged from $102 (Takapuna) to $47 (Napier). 1000 plastic bags (120 microns) cost 12 cents each and 250 mls of formic acid were added to each bag. Ivan advised members that bags should be removed from hives after 6 days when their weight should be 100 grams or less – it was an extremely hazardous job and masks and gloves should be used, the beekeeper should stand upwind and the bags can’t be used again. The cost was no more than $1 per hive which compared very favourably with $40 per treatment with Apistan.

TREASURER’s REPORT : Details were outlined to members.

GENERAL BUSINESS:

Honey Competition : Deferred to next month’s meeting. Andrew reminded members of the requirement to use standard 200 gram glass coffee jar. Some discussion followed over the inclusion of a class for organic honey and whether heating was permitted in this instance. It was generally agreed that while heating improved honey composition for competition, it could also destroy essential qualities. There was no means of determining if honey had been heated, other than the beekeeper certifying accordingly i.e. it came down to the entrant’s honesty. To determine possibility of an organic class in future honey competition’s the Secretary agreed to research the issue and obtain the appropriate criteria.

Mead Competition : Considerable debate and discussion centred around the acceptance of half size bottles for entry in the competition. A vote amongst members determined that either a 750 ml or a 400ml bottle would be acceptable.

Beekeeping Levies : Andrew drew members attention to the item in the March NZ Beekeeper which detailed the proposed flat rate Biosecurity and Commodity Levy system which ALL registered beekeepers would be required to pay to cover education, management and administration of the AFB Pest Management Strategy. An additional hive levy was also proposed for beekeepers with more than 10 hives or 3 apiaries for NBA research and development.

Andrew advised that Graham Lusty was giving up beekeeping and his books and equipment including a 4-frame stainless steel extractor was for sale.

The second part of John Furski’s video on English beekeeping was shown, and the meeting closed at 9:15 pm.