March, as they say, comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. Less than a week ago we had snow flurries, and today as I write it’s sunny and the temperature in my back yard is 10C. Foragers are out in numbers and bringing back lots of pollen, and I didn’t need to put my ear to the box to hear the reassuring hum inside. And if you had hives that unfortunately didn’t overwinter, packages are arriving over the next two weeks.
So, the season is already upon us! And with the mild winter and early spring, it’s promising to be a busy one! Time to check and ready your equipment and supplies – and get ready for an early swarm season!
And speaking of swarming, check out the new information posted to our website outlining our club’s Swarm Response Group and how they operate. Go to the members only side of the site and it’s under the “Policies and Processes” tab if you are interested in participating in any way, please read it!
Vancouver Island Agriculture Project
I want to draw your attention to this project; it is striving to catalogue the variety of and numbers of different pollinators appearing on the farms on Vancouver Island. It is a vital project to establish baselines and trends in existing pollinators – and we all know the value of pollinators!
Learn more about the project: https://mailchi.mp/vifarmmonitoring/pollinators
And as an encouragement to donate to their cause – the club will match every dollar donated by our members between now and midnight, March 31st, to a maximum club contribution of $500. This project is also being supported by the Cowichan, Oceanside (Parksville), and Comox bee clubs.
To donate, go to this website and click on the blue “Donate to the Project” button. On the next page there is a box defaulting to ‘General Donations’. Click on this and choose “Capital Region Beekeepers Matching Fund” – and let’s see if we can raise more than the other clubs on the Island!
Executive openings
We have two positions on the Executive to be elected at Thursday’s Annual General Meeting:
- First Vice-President: Don Lambert Is completing his two-year term
- Secretary: Victoria Schedel is completing her term as Secretary, and is stepping away for personal reasons.
- We also need someone to coordinate the club’s activities at the Annual Saanich Fair; for many years we have had a booth there with some demonstration equipment and a live hive, honey judging, and informational materials. It has been very popular, and is a lot of fun. Victoria Schedel has been doing this for several years – thank you, Victoria!! She is willing to stay on this year only, to mentor a person to take on this role going forward.
Please consider becoming involved, giving back to the club community. If you would like to do so, email me at president@capitalregionbeekeepers.ca.