2025 Programme of Club Meetings
We meet on the second Saturday of each month at 1.30pm, at Southern Youth Development, 45 Maori Road, Belleknowes, Dunedin.
Non-financial-members are always welcome, we ask a $5 donation at the door. Tea and biscuits, an interesting speaker, a wealth of knowledge and hands on experience with the club hives (depending on the weather) are available at every meeting.
February 1.30pm Saturday 8th Practical session: How have your bees done over this season?
Wasps a looming problem, briefing on vespex. Varroa treatment will be necessary after honey collection.
March 1.30pm Saturday 8th Honey tasting and competition.
April 11am – 2pm Sunday 13th Participating in the Wild Dunedin Festival of Nature at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
May 1.30pm, Saturday 10th May 2025 We welcome back Dr Anna Gilmour to speak to us about allergic reactions to bee stings. Epipen use will be demonstrated and practised.
June 1.30pm, Saturday 14th June 2025 This meeting will be maintenance of the club’s hiveware and a Special General Meeting to approve the club’s new constitution.
Hive maintenance
While hiveware and frame maintenance is an essential skill for all artisan beekeepers, the club also needs the help of members to keep our stuff in good order, otherwise Jane would be spending all winter doing this job on her own!
There is also much we can learn and also much we can show to novice beekeepers on wiring and embedding frames, the differences between Hoffman and Manley frames etc. Please bring along your tips and tricks and ingenious tools to demonstrate and share.
Special General Meeting
This SGM and the revised constitution is a necessary consequence of the club achieving incorporated status (Incorporated Societies Act 2022).
July 1.30pm, Saturday 12th July 2025 AGM •
Previous AGMs have been known to be wrapped up in under ten minutes so don’t let the thought of an AGM put you off coming along and, it’s the AGM so you can be sure there’ll be a nice cake!
Membership fees will be due at this time, please bring cash or pay online.
Westpac Bank Acc: 03 0903 0391655 00
Enter family name and initials, and SUBS in the information fields.
If you’re a new member please fill out the registration form at a meeting or on our website here.
• Speaker: Stephanie Godfrey
For this meeting, we’re pleased to welcome Dr Stephanie Godfrey, a senior lecturer from the Department of Zoology at the University of Otago. Her expertise lies in wildlife parasite and disease ecology, behaviour, and social networks.
August 1.30pm, Saturday 9th August 2025
For our August meeting we will be welcoming well known Dunedin chef and regular ODT columnist Alison Lambert. Alison will demonstrate recipes featuring honey from her new cookbook book Seasons.
September 1.30pm, Saturday 13th September 2025
Urban greening efforts like parks, rooftop gardens, and streetside planters aim to combat biodiversity loss. But why is that necessary, and how well do these greening strategies actually work?
Our speakers this month are:-
Jacqueline Theis is a PhD Ecology candidate at Otago, dedicated to understanding how urban environments can enhance biodiversity and improve urban living. Her research focuses on developing biodiversity assessment tools and studying invertebrate colonisation in urban areas to inform urban planning and conservation efforts.
Connal McLean is a Teaching Fellow at the University of Otago in the Department of Zoology and a Science Communicator at Te Papa Tongarewa and Tūhura Otago Museums. His research interests span the behavioural and pollination ecology of NZ fauna and flora, and using science outreach and communication to improve biodiversity and conservation of taonga ecosystems.
Their research investigates the new streetside planters along George Street in Dunedin. They’ve been observing the invertebrates they attract, how these communities change over time, and how they compare to invertebrate communities along Dunedin’s rural-to-urban gradient.
Even the smallest green spaces can support a surprising range of life. Jacqui and Connal will share tips for gardening with native bugs in mind – from choosing the right plants to creating nest-friendly spaces. A little does go a long way.