Along with snowdrops and heather sprouting up along our roadways in the few warmer days so too have cement blocks, painted green boxes and the occasional red box. The former vegetation delights me – the latter manmade not so much. With all the painted lines, cones and curbs sprouting up, I feel somewhat lost along routes I used to know well. If you have been a beekeeper for awhile the same may be true. New processes, physical and on-line have given us all pause to wonder: is this the right way? Is this the new normal?
We are at the beginning of a new season and with it come changes to our club executive and membership. We ended the calendar year with 214 members and just over 100 have renewed their membership for 2023. Many are giving serious thought to the escalating costs of new packages of bees and then the ensuing costs of nurturing them through the upcoming season. Your club will be there to help you, on-line and in person. Looking at the agendas for the past two years one can see that we have weathered the dips and turns of Covid and its multiple iterations. We have continued to meet in-person and on-line and we will continue to share our collective knowledge so that we can all enjoy a harvest of honey at the end of the season. Our club location provides us with great meeting space. Our website is robust and informative for members and visitors. Our equipment rentals (available to club members) reduces the costs and our outyard provides a nectar source during the dry days of July and August in the city. And a lot of hard work by club members has resulted in a truckload of bee equipment on its way to Vancouver to be sterilized before a new season.
Our success in 2023 is up to you. Attending the meetings in person will help you build connections and knowledge. Getting involved with projects or serving on Exec for a term will make it that much more rewarding for you. Give thought to filling the role of Membership Secretary, Treasurer or as Director-at-Large (the roles are described on our website).
Well. This is it! After eight years in the chair, it is time to hand off the gavel to a new president and then help the club in whatever way I can. Thank you to everyone who has made my job so easy.