Roger the dog has gotten used to putting on his red plaid jacket before heading out of doors. That just means he does not chew on it when it is finally over his head and wrapped around his tubby little body.
It is time for sweaters and comfort food; pot roast and steaming vegetables, apple pie and a nice glass of mead. The trees have turned a beautiful red to match Roger’s jacket and all the rewards of the garden are tucked away on the shelf. If it hasn’t been picked, squeezed, filtered or jammed, then it’s probably too late and you will have to wait for next season.
And it is time to make sure the bees are snuggly tucked away with their own blankets and winter candy. If these last few weeks have been confusing for you and the bees (because mine have continued to suck up syrup right to the end of October), then the shadow of snow will resolve that issue very quickly. The October theme of insulation, ventilation and sheltering should have given you timely advice in preparing your hives for the next few months and I want to thank Barry Denluck for organizing the meeting.
And it is time for comfort food of our own. Come to the meeting on Thursday, November 9th and share in some spirits, coffee, desserts and goodies and compare notes on the past year and the year to come. Bring your favourite dessert to share and bring a jar or two of your honey to contribute to a good cause. Your honey will be used by the Single Parent Support Network to teach young families how to cook nutritious meals for themselves.
The season has raced by and for many it has been a great year for honey production. For those of you in on the joke, this will be one of Larry Lindahl’s two best years (1977 and this year). For others December will be a time of planning to get that first hive set up and ready for a Nuc. There is no meeting in December though your executive will be laying plans for the coming year. We have the potential of club hives in Central Saanich, work to be done with demonstration hives at Swan Lake and in Francis King Park; website work and, of course, the plans for the 2018 BCHPA conference. Watch for your opportunity to get involved with other like-minded bee people, and in the process learn more about bee keeping.
See you at our November meeting.