Published since 1986
AUGUST, 2020
www.farmernews.com.au
THE SHOW WON’T BE GOING ON THIS YEAR
High wine quality expected
THE class of 2019 (from left to right): Holly Webb, Annette Cavanagh, Zoe Weir, Jordan Hoban, Genevieve Saunders, Grace Calder, Alexander Bain, Catherine Bates, Annabel Grinter, Emma Henne, Lucy Powell, Stephanie Anthony and Meaghan Venables. An important part of the show calendar is awarding the Victorian Agricultural Show Ltd Rural Ambassador state finalists. Championing rural youth the ambassador program entails three levels of progression which are local, group and state. Each show society nominates an ambassador to represent their show society at group level, with some show societies running a local show competition as they have multiple ambassadors wanting to represent the showsociety. Judging is based on the entrant’s desire to be involved in the future and improvement of their local show society, as well as their local community. Turn to pages 4 and 5 for an update of Victoria’s agricultural shows.
PAGE 8
SAMMs a resilient breed PAGE 17
Dorpers can do it PAGE 18
Beekeeping it in the family By EMMA OLIVER CLEAR eyesight, very steady hands and great concentration are the attributes of beekeepers who diversify into the niche market of queen bee breeding. “It is an exact science,” Jay Hu, founder and owner of Organicsway bee farm at Mount Evelyn, said. “You need to be able to identify how old the larva is.
“For the first three days, there is an egg and on the fourth day it hatches into the larva. “It is then that that you carefully pick it up - grafting it’s called - and transfer it to a queen cup, where the workers feed the larva an excessive amount of royal jelly to enable the transition. “As queens and workers both come from the same egg, anything older than the one-day-old larva is already on its way to becoming
a worker bee, and so timing is absolutely crucial. “An older larva grafted into a queen cup will turn into a queen bee, but will be of poorer quality with a shorter life span, reduced fertility and a likelihood of being defensive. “And should you not pick the larva up gently - it gets damaged - resulting either in a low quality queen, or not even turning into one in the first place. “
Weather and environment also contribute to the success of the process, and Jay - as an experienced apiarist - adapts his craft year-to-year according to the conditions, with maintenance of the hives constant to ensure the specifications are ideal to create progeny. As a fourth generation beekeeper, Jay’s passion for these amazing insects was nurtured by a childhood watching and learning from his beekeeper grandparents.
When Jay emigrated to Australia with his wife, his intention was never to be a beekeeper. After obtaining a masters degree in Business Information Systems, Jay entered the professional world joining Accenture Australia and his working days were spent in an office as a senior business analyst, first at Accenture and then at Telstra. ■ Continued pages 2-3
BYPY TRANSMISSIONS
BONDIOLI & PAVESI and BIMA, PTO Shafts and Gearboxes
For all your agricultural power transmission requirements Call us for all your PTO Shafts, Gearboxes and Spare Parts
farming community since 1950
1800 932 113
Call Toll Free Fact 3, 16-20 Dingley Ave, Dandenong 3175 bypy@bypy.com.au www.bypy.com.au
37d07301/3219
Proudly supporting the