It’s the last week of December and I, as my daughter says, am home “chillin’ like a villain”. It’s time to reflect on what the year has taught me and plan what next year might bring. My kids have introduced me to podcasts downloaded onto my smartphone and one of the first I tried is called: Outside. The episode entitled: “Bee Still My Heart” and the description sums it up: “… but bees won’t really hurt you unless you are allergic. Or at least that’s what you thought until you disturbed a hive of African bees …”. By the time I reached the end of the podcast, I wanted to hang up my bee suit and take up knitting or some other indoor sport. I will have to try the Honey Bee Man or the Honest BEE podcasts and remind myself that every step outside is not one step closer to disaster.
Resolutions for the New Year are shaping up both personally and for the CRBA. The smaller group lists will be distributed soon and perhaps some of the members will commit to reading a bee book from cover to cover. Beekeeping for Dummies should not be the only book on your shelf. Try The Biology of the Honey Bee or Bee Time, Lessons from the Hive, both by Mark L. Winston. A book club may be the best way to get to the end of a book that is on your list of resolutions.
Our theme for club meetings in 2018 will be healthy bees and will thread through both the new beekeepers’ corner and the regular meeting agendas. A slight change to our format will place our guest speakers at the top of the agenda at 7:00pm followed by club business and social time at the end. To know your enemy better and to stay ahead of the game, a new standing agenda item will be a 10-minute talk on mite control (the bane of our existence) at each meeting rather than the occasional whole meeting devoted to the topic.
Of course the big goal or resolution for 2018 is to work in partnership with the BC Honey Producers Association to host the October annual conference at the Union Club here in Victoria. A new page on our website will guide you to volunteer opportunities for both the conference and other club activities throughout the year.
In a couple of days we will be into January and the next question will be: did I do enough to prepare my bees for the next three months of rain. Let’s hope so. See you on Thursday, January 11th. Happy New Year!