News, meeting notes, and stories from the Rodney Beekeepers Club — 59 articles
31 January 2024
After a lovely Christmas break it was back to business with the hives at 1333 Old North Road. All four hives are doing well and the bees are very busy bringing in lots of honey. A…
Read article →26 September 2018
Having googled, read books I took the plunge and got into bees, and with prodding from my neighbours I joined the Rodney bee club. Attended most meetings, I listened , learned,…
Read article →19 February 2014
On 12th February 2014 a meeting was held at Farmlands Mill Road Helensville. Arising out of this meeting the Rodney Beekeepers Club was formed. As with all new organisations an…
Read article →9 April 2014
Betta Bees Research Ltd. Betta Bees are running a Honey Bee livestock improvement program based around improving the Italian strain of Apis Mellifera. With the goal of producing…
Read article →3 September 2025
It is unlikely that Linda will be able to give her talk on Trees for Bees tonight as we have a pretty packed schedule but as always she has prepared notes which she has kindly…
Read article →20 May 2014
Each Tuesday during the school year my wife Robin and I spend the morning at Helensville Primary School, helping with the school remedial reading program. We have both been…
Read article →19 September 2023
At last we were able to hold a field day at the Kaipara Coast Garden & Sculpture Centre. A beautiful day to inspect the hives. Well done team!!!
Read article →18 September 2018
Richard receiving our RBC congratulations for his gaining his Bachelor of Applied Science (Biodiversity Management).
Read article →11 March 2014
Photo credit: ricetek from morguefile.com There will come a time for every beekeeper when the need to re-queen a hive - or more than one - arises. I am hoping that RBC can guide…
Read article →11 February 2025
For those who were not able to make Wednesday's Club meeting, Linda has very kindly given her notes for our Blog. Thank you Linda for not only taking your time out to source…
Read article →10 October 2023
A fantastic talk on splitting hives was held at last Wednesdays club meeting. A big thank you to Kim and Ian.
Read article →9 December 2025
Here are some photos taken at Wednesday's meeting. Kim gave us an update on the Yellow Legged Hornet with supporting documents from MPI. More information can bee seen in the…
Read article →1 April 2014
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Read article →21 November 2019
Upcoming Field Day , November 23rd, see you all there
Read article →16 January 2020
If you have a couple of kilos of spare honey lying around, Ian has provided us with his recipe for mead. Cheers Ian! Scale: 3.8 L of water and 1.59 (1.6) kg of honey will make…
Read article →3 April 2014
A picture of Stu known as the Hive Doctor working his bees. Note the use of his Base Board and the height of his hives. - RBC have recently purchased several of these bases for…
Read article →30 March 2014
Come slowly Eden. Lips unused to thee - bashful sip thy Jasmine's as the loving bee. Reaching late her flower, round her chamber hums, counts her nectar - Enters and is lost in…
Read article →30 December 2018
Sunday 30 th, last hive check of 2018, some hives doing well with good caped honey frames, looking forward to extraction day.
Read article →23 March 2014
There is a legal requirement for all apiaries whether small or large to be registered with Assure Quality. Register or be fined.This requirement was bought into force to help…
Read article →16 March 2014
Claude and girls observing a frame of bees Two pupils from Helensville Primary School - Devon and Danielle, aged 11 and 12 respectively spent a few hours looking at the internal…
Read article →5 October 2025
At this months club meeting Ken gave us information on collecting swarms as well as many the inventive ways on how to collect and store bees, which he has discovered over many…
Read article →5 October 2025
Attached are Linda's notes from her Trees for Bees talk at Wednesdays meeting. I have also posted a "spot the difference" picture to help tell the difference between Old Man's…
Read article →4 May 2014
The sun's arising in the east. Lo it brings light and the east perfume, and to the busy bee warmth and a new days work. RBC have received its first club hive - courtesy of Joanna…
Read article →24 May 2014
The pictures included - show the manner in which my hives are set up for ease of working.Just at a good height for handling frames and when the lid is lifted off and placed…
Read article →22 March 2025
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Read article →22 March 2014
Love's Labour is not lost and this was clearly shown today when four members of the RBC spent about 1 1/2 hours preparing sites for 4 hives and two nucs. The hive locations were…
Read article →22 June 2024
Thank you to our lovely members for turning out this morning to clean our club equipment. Ian and John also gave demonstrations on applying wax to foundation with a roller and…
Read article →11 October 2025
This morning, we checked the club hives. Thanks to our new members for participating. It's helpful for members to be hands-on and compare to their own hives. Afterwards, we dipped…
Read article →9 November 2024
Members had fun at Wednesday's meeting when we covered "How to mark a Queen Bee". No queens were harmed in the meeting as we used drones to practice on. I must say we did very…
Read article →9 November 2024
Thank you Linda for this months thrilling installment of the best plants available this month for our bees. At the Meeting on Wednesday Linda covered Rosemary and Citrus and her…
Read article →9 March 2024
How fortunate we were last Wednesday at the Club meeting to have a speaker from Sri Lanka explain the main differences in beekeeping between New Zealand and his home country. His…
Read article →9 March 2024
Well done to everyone who helped extracting the honey from the club hives last weekend. I believe the grand total was 6 1/2 buckets. Thanks to Ian for all your hard work and Jo…
Read article →9 March 2024
A lovely time was had by all at the Helensville A&P Show, even the weather could not have been any better. Gillian did an amazing job showing the live hive frames to passers by.…
Read article →6 July 2024
Our Speaker this month was The President of the Auckland Beekeepers Club, Ken Brown. His enthusiasm and humour was amazing and very entertaining. He covered so many aspects of…
Read article →5 October 2024
Thank you Linda for this months presentation on our star performers. The pipfruit tress in the Rose family and the New Zealand Flax. A wonderful talk and for those who were not…
Read article →5 October 2024
Thank you Richard for your presentation at Wednesdays Club meeting. Your talk on grafting queens was so very well presented and packed with information and how to's. Thank you…
Read article →1 March 2014
photo credit: net_efekt via photopin cc Hi, We have managed to locate a venue for monthly meetings at the old Paraki Tavern building next to the hot pools at Paraki meeting time 7…
Read article →27 April 2020
6 to 10 Feijoas depending on size, scoop out flesh 50 grams butter 1 cup water 1/2 cup Honey 1/2 cup Suagr mix together, boil for 5 minutes, then cool. once cool add 2 cups flour,…
Read article →24 February 2014
We have had a very nice e mail from the Southland beekeeping Group – itself a newly formed bee organisation - offering congratulations of the formation of the Rodney Beekeepers…
Read article →20 January 2025
Last Saturday we had a great turnout for our annual club BBQ. The day started with our usual hive checks and Kyle gave all four hive a wash which gave an excellent varroa mite…
Read article →14 October 2019
Market Day at Kaukapakapa Library featuring bees and beekeeping! Rodney Beekeepers Club Live display hive, info on beekeeping, trees for bees Sunday Nov 17th at Kaukapakapa…
Read article →12 May 2025
On Wednesday Linda gave us quite a different take on her normal Trees for Bees. This month she covered plants that were "BAD" for bees. Well done Linda for covering a different,…
Read article →12 August 2024
A big thank you to everyone who came to help us celebrate on Wednesday for the Clubs 10th Anniversary. The club was formed back in 2014 and we were privileged to have a few…
Read article →10 November 2025
A few photos from Wednesday's meeting. Kim is holding a new hornet trap.
Read article →9 September 2024
Linda Cremer gave a fantastic talk on a couple of plants she wanted to showcase this month. She did a wonderful job. Thank you so much Linda for entertaining us as well as being…
Read article →7 April 2025
Last Wednesday, our club members gathered with their homemade honey for a fun tasting session. It was a great fun as we sampled and judged each other's honey. Everyone put in a…
Read article →3 March 2014
Many years ago I purchased on old badly dilapidated book first published in May 1901. The style is, by today’s standards, archaic – but the book contains some fundamentals about…
Read article →26 April 2019
Local residents and bee enthusiasts, Sean ,Kyle ,Marilain and Llewelyn have developed a new innovative bee hive entrance system call the BeeIQ Solutions Hive Gate. The BeeIQ…
Read article →13 March 2026
Ken is working with SPS Biota to help eliminate the Yellow Legged Hornets nests. These hornets are more vicious than other pests and special clothing has to be worn.
Read article →11 July 2025
Sorry for the delay in getting Linda's notes posted - but here thay are. Once again Linda, thank you so much for your fantastic talk and for bringing in samples.
Read article →8 August 2025
We are sorry that you were not able to give your talk on "Trees for Bees" this month Linda. But thank you for giving us your notes to be posted on our blog. Wednesday 6 August…
Read article →7 November 2025
As summer approaches, the honey flow will soon begin. Linda provided some valuable insights into the plants currently in bloom, and here are her notes. Additionally, a few other…
Read article →6 December 2024
Gillian demonstrated how she collect pollen from her hives by bringing in some of her equipment and explaining how it all works. If you have been lucky to sample her pollen you…
Read article →6 December 2024
Linda's talk this month was on the California Lilac (ceanothus) and The Magnificent Tulip Tree. A specimen of escallonia red night was also brought in along with a platter of…
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