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ANBC2018 Field Trip

Above: Epic Selfie -Bus full of happy campers out for the field trip.

Hive Exhibition

The day started with a Native Bee Hive Box Exhibition at the house of Gene Rosser. The Gold Coast Botanical Gardens land was originally owned by the Rosser family and donated to the council.

I had some of my boxes there on display with plenty of interest in the Mail Box and Outhouse Hives. Unfortunately i was kept busy and didn’t get photos of everyones displays. Some exhibitors were John Klumpp, Dave Gilbert, Hivehaven and David from Northside Native Bees.

Below: Tim talking about the 80 year old Native Bee Hive on the property (center of photo). The hive construction or design is called a Skep, which is a basket shape made of straw or similar material.

Below: Tobias, Karen and myself

Below: David  / Wendy / Isaac / Steve /  (photo by Kit Prendergast)

Below: My display of whacky boxes. The red Mail box had live bees in it, and I also had the Log Cabin there set up Budding from another box with bees in it. The Log Cabin has a viewing window in the top.  (Photo by Tobias Smith)

Macadamia Farm

After lunch at Tropical Fruit World we ventured on to a local Macadamia Farm owned by Ken Dorey, father of James Dorey, one of the presenters at the conference and shared winner of the Three Minute Thesis. Ken was a great character with plenty of knowledge about farming and ecology. Tim has a number of Native Bee Hives on Kens farm, hoping to help with pollination.

Below: Ken and Tim

Below: The crowd at the car park. With a long steep walk ahead there was an option for a lift in the van

Below: The walkers – What a view! Plenty of time for chats on the way down the hill.

Below: Tim and Ken talking about the Macadamia Plantations

Below: Tim talking about the hive stand configuration. This stand can hold 12 hives and is protected from the weather by a large roof. There is a few of these hive stands scattered around the property.

Below: Tim demonstrating a hive split to some very eager listeners.

Below: Tetragonula Carbonaria brood structure of a very healthy colony.

Below: Tim and Isaac. Isaac was visiting from Sydney where he runs Bush Bees

Below: Ken talking about the different species of trees in the area and his efforts to regenerate the forest. I got the impression Ken knew every tree on the property.

Below: Tobias strolling through the magical light of the Macadamia Plantation

Below: The loooooong steep driveway back to the top where the bus awaits. You can see people in the distance being sucked through the vortex back in to the real world, i was reluctant to follow……

Another great day out with a whole bunch of interesting people! It’s always good to get out in to nature, bush land or a farm and away from social media isn’t it? Looking forward to the next event.

Cheers
Steve

Hivecraft - Australian Native Bee Supplies

Native bee boxes available at www.hivecraft.com.au

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