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
