Dear Oxfordhire natural beeks,
the Wye Valley natural beeks are having a Christmas get-together on
Thursday, 6th Dec at 7:30PM, at Lower Wythall (about 2 hours' drive West of
Oxford). They have extended an invitation to any OxNatBeeks who wish to
come - see details below. This is an excellent opportunity to meet and
network with a wider range of beeks 8)
Paul
--Forwarded message follows--
*From: *wyenaturalbeekeeping <wyenaturalbeekeeping@xxxxxxxxx>
*Subject: **December meeting - Thursday 6 December 2019 at 7.30pm*
Dear Paul
We have decided a date for our Christmas meeting of Wye Natural Beekeepers,
and would like to extend the invitation to you and any members of
Oxfordshire Natural Beekeepers who would like to attend. The message below
has more detail. Do share the invitation with your ONBs but please let us
know if any of you may come this far afield on a winter night so that I can
give Sheila an idea of numbers. We will have some folk from Bee Friendly
Monmouthshire and from Bees for Development there, along with our core
group of beeks.
Our December meeting will be held on Thursday 6th December at 7.30 pm at
Lower Wythal, near Ross-on-Wye: thank you to Guy and Sheila for hosting us
yet again. As those of you who come regularly to meetings will surely know
(!) it will be the eve of the Feast of St Ambrose, the patron saint of
beekeepers, wax refiners and candle-makers. A most appropriate day for our
beekeepers’ get-together.
Sheila will make soup but please do bring a contribution of food to share
at the feast: sweet or savoury (but a little reminder that many are
vegetarian..:)). Please do let me know if you plan to come so I can give
Sheila an idea of numbers. Directions can be found on the Lower Wythall
website:
https://www.lowerwythall.co.uk/en-GB/directions-contact
Instead of a talk we thought we would suggest a local honey tasting. It’s
been a good honey year for many, so please do join in with this if you have
taken off honey and feel able to share a small amount of it. The idea is
that we each bring along a small jar of honey, so we can compare and
contrast the different flavours from the varied landscapes where our bees
have been foraging. Although we all live in a relatively small geographical
area, our nectar plants are many, ranging from wooded valleys through
orchards to fields of clover and urban gardens. If you can say a few words
about your local landscape and where your bees may be foraging, we can all
try to identify the different flavours. We will provide a large stash of
honey tasting sticks (no double dipping!) and you will, of course, take
your jar of honey back home with you. Don’t feel obliged to join in but
more honeys will make for more interesting comparisons.
As always, please bring your questions and observations too. Our bees are
flying on the warmest sunny days, when we still see bright yellow pollen
going in, but the chill in the air is keeping them snuggled up inside most
days.
Hope to see you there.
Monica
Wye Natural Beekeepers
We are an informal group of people from Monmouthshire, Newport,
Gloucestershire and Herefordshire. We meet quarterly to talk about bees,
and we welcome sharing of questions and answers. We are interested in all
aspects of natural beekeeping, caring for bees in many different ways.
