RESPONSIBILITY OF:
Rotarian Ian Dempsey

08-12-2004

Working Bee at the Beunhe Memorial, north of Kilmore. Planted 10 native trees, tidied up around the Memorial and the area in general.

The Beuhne Cairn is located on the Northern Highway roundabout just north of the township of Kilmore, toward (north) Broadford and (west) Bendigo. It was relocated from its original site due to local roadworks.

I (Rotarian Ian Dempsey) would like to share some information on Frederick Beuhne (pronounced Boyner) a very early pioneer of the Victorian/Australian beekeeping industry.

From “Monument Australia” http://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/people/science/display/31812-frederick-beuhne

“Frederick Richard Beuhne (1859-1933) is known as the father of Victorian beekeeping. Frederick migrated from Germany to Australia in 1880, became involved in beekeeping and established himself at Tooboorac, today about an hour's drive north of Melbourne, Victoria. He was responsible for the establishment of the Victorian Beekeepers Association in 1892. This association was the forerunner of the Victorian Apiarists Association (VAA Inc.)

Fellow Rotarian, Rose King is a member of the Kilmore Historical Society, and her excellent research provided me with letters and documents in regard to the site. Southern Mitchell Rotary is very keen to establish a bee/pollinator environment close to this site. The Cairn is only an hour north of Melbourne and would be a good place for us to meet.

Here are some of the things my wife Heather and I are doing around our home to promote conditions favorable to our local bee population.

  • We have a number of native bee motels

  • We are currently creating a bee/pollinator native garden and pond

  • We have just constructed 4 above ground vegie/flower gardens

  • I have placed an order for a beehive and mentoring - due in spring

  • We recycle where we can and have a compost system

The above ground veggie/flower gardens consist of:

  • Eight 3m x 200mm x 50mm sleepers cut in half and joined to form a box. We screwed the ends together and just placed them on the existing lawn

  • The first layer was wet newspaper. About 4 pages completely soaked

  • The next layer was compost we produced for the project – about 25mm

  • We then topped up the boxes with first-grade veggie soil from one of our local suppliers

Thanks

Ian Dempsey

Rotarian

Frederick held a number of positions in the VAA over many years, including editor for a beekeeping journal which became the Australian Beekeeping Journal. He was appointed by the government as the first Apiary Inspector, a position he held until 1926, when he retired. During this time, he wrote "Honey Flora of Victoria" which formed the basis of subsequent republications by the department and is still used by many Victorian beekeepers today.”