Bee Talk 21 March @ 7pm @ Foreshore Pavillion

Basalt to Bay is holding a Bee Talk at the Foreshore Pavillion La Bella Room on Wednesday the 21st Of March at 7pm. Our guest speaker is Rob Arnst, an apiarist from Stawell- who will be talking about the importance of bees in the landscape for our food security and biodiversity. Rob farms at Dadswell Bridge near Stawell, and recently became the first Victorian beekeeper to complete a FarmPlan21 course run by the Department of Primary Industries. The course will help Rob and his family to manage his 40ha property, which includes over 100 hives. "FarmPlan21 showed us the gradient overlay for the property, where the water runs, and how we need different management for different soils, to help rejuvenate the farm". According to an interview with Rob in the Weekly Times of 7 March 2012, he is looking at the potential of his farm to produce queen bees if the parasitic Varroa mite ever reaches Australia."Queens are essential to successful beekeeping and we think we have a good opportunity to raise them on our farm. Research tells us that a good mixture of pollen generates peak fertility in our queens. FarmPlan21 has provided us with the first step towards making these plans for our farm, our family, and our industry's future".
If you wish to attend the evening ( and anyone is!) , please RSVP to Lisette on 0459524556 for catering and seating by Monday 19th March.