Well It has been a while since I last posted after the outbreak eof Varroa in Newcastle. As you could imagine it has had a significant impact on me and our bees along with everyone of our customers in the areas affected.
Over the previous month I had been working hard on the future of the Newcastle business strategy and ready to make this announcement on the 1st July but Varroa had other ideas for us.
So better late than never and under extremely difficult conditions we have some VERY VERY EXCITING news to tell everyone.....
The Backyard Beekeeper has expanded into now Two Locations - Brisbane and Newcastle
Please make welcome Jess to the team... franchisee owner of Newcastle and Greater Hunter area branch of The Backyard Beekeeper.
After an extensive process of selection and onboarding Jess is going to bring to the Newcastle and greater area the same great service (if not better even) and knowledge you have come to expect of us.
Jess and her family currently reside in Muswellbrook and have plans to move to a more central location with plenty of room for the kids, dogs and bees down the track, so if your out west your in luck with Jess nice and close by to you.
For those customers in Newcastle and Central coast, Port Stephens area don't worry Jess will still be available for you all, just make a booking.
The Newcastle Hunter regions new phone number to reach Jess is 0493500426 and we will have new emails shortly to send out to everyone.
It would be great if you can welcome Jess to the team via a text message or email, it would be appreciated making her feel welcome to our exclusive beekeepers circle 😉Thankyou.
Soooo I will just touch on the current Varroa situation and moving forward, unfortunately everyday I see mis- information via social media (even from the DPI Facebook).
Your best source of current restrictions is the ORDER within the DPI's website - this tells you what you can or can't do in each area. It is changing daily sometimes. As it stands right now some restrictions have allowed specific work to be conducted in most zones unless you are a known infected site.
With that being said, looking at hives and recent activity, spring is on us.... after the next week or two of rain swarming season will start.
If you need spring manipulation, work on your hives or help with varroa detection then book Jess in. She is out in the field again next week as part of the response team but I know she is super keen to meet everyone.
I'll be around for some visits between my return visits but I too have my hands full here in Brisbane.
