Presidents Report June – July 2025
As we get ready for the 2025/26 Membership Year, I’d like to bring your attention to the following:
New Secretary: Clement Gribble from the Sydney Bee Club joined the committee in May and was appointed Secretary. An accountant of over 30 years experience, Clem has been beekeeping since the 1980s in both city and rural locations. He is keen to continue assisting others entering the hobby and maintaining beekeeping as an enjoyable pastime.
I am extremely pleased that after 12 months of acting Secretary whilst still undertaking my roles of President and IT Support, that the position could be filled with a dedicated committee member.
New Logo: Readers of The Amateur Beekeeper might recall that the Committee has been looking for some time to replace the ABA logo.
We have considered numerous proposals during the past couple of years, however none of them were really convincing until Max Zagorski, from the Northern Beaches Club, came up with the idea of a simple and clean logo without a bee. The committee is very happy with the final result and we look forward to rebranding the ABA with a fresh new look.
New Membership Year: in early June members will be invited to renew their membership for the 2025/26 Membership Year. As was the case last year, those renewing in June will benefit from the “Early Bird” fee of $15 instead of $20 for the ABA fee. Additionally, the ABA fee will now be included in the overall fee. ie Members will be asked to join or renew with one simple fee for the ABA plus their chosen club. This adjustment allows us to further streamline the process in the background and reduce the workload for our volunteers.
New Swarm System: For many years the ABA ran a webpage where members of the public could look up beekeepers who collect swarms within their postcode area.
The current system is simple and effective; however, some members don't want to have their contact details listed on the website and contacted anytime of the day.
In the 2025/26 season, if we get enough member support we might trial the platform “beeswarmed.org”, which is mainly used by US and Canadian beekeepers.
Beekeepers can register their details (email, mobile number, address) along with the radius around their address that they are prepared to collect swarms from.
Members of the public who report swarms will be asked to provide the location of the swarm, size and how long it has been there. The system also allows the swarm reporter to upload a photo. The system then notifies beekeepers in that area either by email or SMS (WhatsApp might follow). The first swarm collector who “claims” the swarm will be provided with the contact details of the reporter. Thus, your details remain confidential until you claim the swarm. More details later on in this newsletter.
