The Beemergency Project – NUCLEUS HIVES FOR THE BUSH

Words by Gavin Smith

It seems an age since our last gathering. Sydney Club has donated a thousand dollars to help kick start the Beemergency Project. Thank you all for your generosity.

As well as the long drought bush fires and floods added further destruction of habitats and the death of millions of bees of all types.

The Men’s Sheds from Hunters Hill, Leichhardt, Pyrmont, Ultimo, Glebe (PUG), Canada Bay and Waverley have made nucleus hives for beekeepers in the bush who lost hives. Bee hotels for our native bees are also being built.

As you know you can reproduce a colony quickly by splitting five frames of bees and brood from an existing healthy hive, putting them into a nucleus hive and adding a new queen.

So far 120 nucs have been completed, painted and stored at Mungo Scott Mill, Summer Hill. The first one hundred are on the way to Elands, inland from Taree. Mid Coast Honey is owned by Peter Matthison and he will repopulate his area so badly damaged by fire.

The ABA and other Men’s Sheds are now helping by contacting other groups in fire affected areas.to join the project.
Donations have been coming in from many interested people. Online stories about the project have been published by the ABC country news, the NRMA and the Men’s Shed News.

More nucs are expected to arrive for finishing and storage in coming months as the Sheds get back to work.