Dave and Pete were not expected to attend but there was still a pretty good turnout for a chilly evening in September; with eight altogether. Excellent range of banter that occasionally veered towards bees and beekeeping. There was a lot of discussion regarding winter feeding and, as is often the case, there were several conflicting views on whether to or not, and how to go about it. It is often quoted that 'you will get as many answers to a beekeeping question as there are beekeepers listening' and that was certainly the case tonight. Feeding is also a hotly discussed topic on the Natural Beekeeping Forum and they to have not managed, as you would expect in such an un-dogmatic organisation, to come up with anything definitive. It really is a case of doing what you think is best for your bees (or not!) and being prepared to change or take on board other ideas if things don't turn-out as planned. Below are some links that might be of interest:
http://www.biobees.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=71947
http://hollamoor.wordpress.com/2011/08/06/top-bar-hive-feeder/
I will try to draw a plan of the feeder I made (now in the possession of Alison) which is different to the one seen in the biobees forum.
There was also discussion about whether the next meeting will take place at The Shakespeare Inn as it has a large 'Pub To Rent' sign up outside which doesn't bode well. I looked at our 'membership' distribution, with the extremes being Belper, Loughborough, Ilkeston and Moira, and quite by chance Shardlow is about roughly in the centre. If anyone has any suggestion for a new venue please fire away (it is not set in stone).
So "Thanks!" to those who made it and "Maybe see you next time!" to those who didn't.
Regards
Boyd
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