Bees, a disappearing race?
If you think you’ve noticed the absence of bees, especially the little native types in your garden of late, you may be right. It could be that this unusually fearsome spring weather has kept them indoors but recent disturbing agricultural and horticultural news reports indicate a disturbing lack of activity on the bee front during the critical spring blossoming season.

Admittedly many of our rural areas have been devastated by at least one of the terrible trio – fire, flood and drought – but those on the urban fringe have unknowingly played our part as well.
Just about every fruiting or seeding plant on earth needs a hand in the “sexual” sequence of reproduction. After all, fruits and nuts weren’t put on earth to feed us, they are just part of nature’s scheme to aid in the reproduction of our plant life and bees, and all the other flying insects, are but one of the many tools. By attracting them with sweet nectar and perfumes the insects accidentally transfer the pollen from the anther (male part of the flower) to the female stigma – not always of the same plant – hence cross-pollination aka hybridising.

Honey
The honey bee plays a major role, living in colonies rather than randomly as most other insect species do. Better than that, they have been given tiny hairs on the body and a tiny, sticky ‘basket’ on each hind leg, which enables them to unknowingly carry the pollen considerable distance to other similar plants. And let us not forget their wonderful gift to us…honey.
But we are their greatest enemy with our rampant use of chemical insectides and even some fungicides.
There are solutions. Avoid spraying during the blossom season and check if the product you are using is least harmful for bees. They do exist.
And if you think we live too far from any agricultural or horticultural activity keep in mind bees normally range up to 5km from home in their search for food, quite often up to 10km. Some have strayed as far as 20km at times of severe drought.
So let’s play our part in saving our bees by encouraging them into our gardens with sweet-smelling nectar-laden flowers. There are plenty to choose from besides the obvious such as lavenders, roses, and honeysuckle. Acacias, grevilleas and free- flowering eucalyptus are among the most obvious as a start.

Bee hotel
More than that placing a bee hotel in one of your trees will do much to attract the solitary dwelling and docile native bees. Not too forthcoming with honey but great pollen spreaders. They will reward you with improved crops from your fruit trees and vegies. (I’ve featured these in previous issues of The Local so just email me if you would like a copy.)
Maybe you would like to go the whole way with your own beehive among your fruit trees or even allow an apiarist to lease a space for one during the the peak season – just think of all that beautiful honey you receive as rent.
In any case, the danger of getting stung is minimal if the bees are left alone or don’t feel threatened in any way. I’ve been around bees since childhood.
My father, an amateur apiarist, kept a couple of bee boxes in the nether region of our family nursery and I managed to be at the stinging end a few times during honey collection time. It always hurt like hell but I never suffered any lasting side effects.

Who you gunna call?
If I have sparked your enthusiam to become an amateur apiarist you could get in touch with the Castlemaine Bee Sanctuary.
Through them you can either rent your own hive or sponsor one at the sanctuary.
Castlemaine Bee Sanctuary is online at www.adoptabeehive.com.au or call 0490 399 319 or email danielshepherd@gmail.com

Got a gardening question? Email glenzgarden@gmail.com

NEW Gisborne’s Wooling Hill Memorial Estate is the venue for this year’s Mount Macedon Realty-Wooling Hill Run, with proceeds going to Kyneton Health’s palliative care program.
Locals and tourists can visit the beautiful grounds of the Wooling Hill Memorial Estate, open from 8am to 6pm daily, and run 7.2kms (six laps) or walk 3.6km (three laps) until Sunday, December 12 at 6pm.
Members of Central Highlands Rural Health’s executive and board have met with Troy and Liddy Upfield, owners of Wooling Hill Memorial Estate, to walk the course and formally launch the event.
Troy and Liddy’s first fundraising target is to raise enough money to cover the cost of a cuddle bed; a specially-designed bed that allows family and friends to provide physical comfort to a loved one during end-of-life care as physical closeness can deepen connections and improve quality of life.
The cuddle bed offers an opportunity for loved ones to lay together and provide compassionate care as people near the end of their life.
The Wooling Hill Memorial Estate owners would like to raise enough funds to not only purchase a cuddle bed, but to also update the palliative care suite with new furnishings, artwork, paint, carpet and a fold-out sofa bed, to create a comfortable and relaxing space for patients and their visitors.
Troy said: “We are passionate about supporting local healthcare and believe that with the support of our local community, we can give a gift that will make a real difference to Kyneton Health’s patients and their families. We’re looking forward to welcoming lots of people to our all-ability Mount Macedon Realty-Wooling Hill Run and most importantly, raising lots of money for a great cause.”
Central Highlands Rural Health CEO Maree Cuddihy said Troy and Liddy’s generosity and commitment to others’ wellbeing was extraordinary.
“Palliative care helps end-of-life patients manage symptoms and improve their quality of life. Our nurses focus on the needs of the individual and their family and through a combination of medical, emotional, psychological and spiritual support, we enable people to live with dignity, peace and comfort for the duration of their illness.”
Details: www.woolinghillestate.com.au/charity-run/

Pictured, from left, Maree Cuddihy, board chair Peter Matthews, board member Kate Redwood and Clinical Services executive director Susan Jennings, with pooches Goldie and Hugo
Image: Contributed

TWENTY years ago I was sitting in my university dorm room watching TV as two planes flew into the World Trade Centre. I didn’t know that one year later I would be blind. I also didn’t know that the evil individual labelled as the ‘mastermind’ of that horrific attack was blind. I only learned that last week, watching a doco about the 9/11 anniversary.
Could that have been me? I wonder. It’s a stupid question. But how can I do anything but wonder? The world is pausing to reflect right now. We’re remembering. We will never forget. But I also am remembering the last global event I ever saw. That I ever will see. And that one, tiny fragment of a bond I share with the evil individual that did it. Is it a link? Or is it just a shadow? Do we get lumped together just because we are both blind? Because we both have a disability? I don’t want to wonder about it. But I can’t help it.
There’s a book currently on the New York Times bestseller list, called What Happened To You? It’s by Oprah. And it asks that very question, and encourages us to ask that very question, of the people around us. What Happened To You? It kind of assumes that we are products of our environment more than we are products of genetics. The old nature-versus-nurture debate, wrapped in shiny new Oprah paper and sending book clubs around the world into a frenzy. And I can’t help but wonder. What made him so evil?
Because we have something in common. We’re both blind. And I know, I know that I could never be like that. I’m not evil. But what made him evil? What made him thrive in one of the most barbaric, brutal environments on our planet? In certain cultures, parents who have babies born with disability are encouraged to abandon them. Why did this baby survive? And why did it grow up to kill so many others?
I can only imagine what happened to that individual. No, I cannot resist asking myself What Happened To You. I wonder if his life was so immeasurably awful because he was born with a disability, that he took it out on the world.
And then…and then. Do you think it’s like that old serial killer argument – that yes, a lot of them grew up through horrific childhoods, but not everyone who had a horrific childhood grew up to be a serial killer?
Because there are a few other people I think of, too. Did you know that scholars widely believe that Homer was blind when he wrote the Iliad? And a tiny boy born blind in India, Srikanth Bolla, grew up to start his own eco-friendly tableware business and made the Forbes Magazine 30 Under 30 list? Alicia Alonso was blind when she danced the part of Giselle and is to this day remembered as one of the greatest ballerinas who ever lived. They were blind. Like me. Like the evil individual.
So…what happened to them? None of them are evil. A poet, an industrialist, a ballerina. There are so many more. Do they, the good, outweigh the evil?
Maybe the evil will always happen. Remember Oscar Pistorius? Maybe we all assumed that because he had a disability, because he was admired by a global audience, because he was on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, because he was the Blade Runner, he wouldn’t be evil. Did we assume that just because he had a disability, he wouldn’t kill his girlfriend, that he couldn’t be evil? I hope not.
I hope that I’m not assuming the evil 9/11 individual was who he became, simply because he was blind. Or that being blind was even the tiniest part of the reason. Because I think I don’t care now, what happened to him. He was evil. That’s all I need to know. But I know what happened to me.
I never returned to study at that uni. I didn’t feel welcome without my sight. But I did have another monumental event. And it happened 20 years after I witnessed that first one. This one wasn’t a world-altering event. It did change my world, though. Twenty years after sitting in my dorm room, watching the twin towers fall, now, this year, I returned to that university to deliver a guest lecture. To journalism students, just like I was, back on that day.
Because what happened to me was, I didn’t need a terrorist network like that evil individual. I had a beautiful network of my own. A network full of friends, and family, and as it grew it began to include co-workers, and other mums, and support workers. I lost my sight. But I didn’t lose my beautiful network. That’s what happened to me.

Kate Taylor is an award-winning journalist…and she’s also blind. In the final of this series, she explores world issues through the lens of living in regional Victoria with a disability. Sometimes dark, sometimes funny, her stories will always make you think.

Cauliflower, chickpea and halloumi tray bake (Serves 4)

This is a delicious and easy vegetarian dish. You could add a bunch of asparagus spears (with woody stems snapped off) when you add the halloumi for a bit of spring flourish. Adapted from a recipe by Kate Gibbs.

1 small cauliflower or half a big one, cut into florets
¼ cup olive oil (plus 2 tblsp extra)
1/3 cup raisins (about 40g)
¼ cup verjuice or very hot water
1 400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 teaspoons sumac (or sweet paprika)
150g halloumi, cut into slices (about 5mm thick)
3 tblsp vino cotto or balsamic vinegar
Parsley leaves, to finish

Preheat the oven to 200C. Place the cauliflower on a baking tray lined with baking paper and drizzle with about ¼ cup olive oil. Season generously with salt and pepper, toss and spread evenly on the tray. Bake for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, put the raisins and verjuice or water in a small bowl and allow to soften. Toss the chickpeas in a bowl with the sumac/paprika and season with salt and pepper. Take the cauliflower out of the oven, toss well then add the chickpeas and halloumi (and asparagus if using) and spread on the tray in a single layer. Return to the oven for a further 20 minutes until the halloumi is nicely coloured.

For the dressing, mix the vino cotto/balsamic and remaining olive oil until well combined. Add the raisins and verjuice and season to taste.

To serve, place the cauliflower, chickpeas and halloumi on a serving platter and drizzle with the dressing. Scatter with chopped parsley and more sumac if desired.

THE Mount Players Youth theatre leaders have won the Macedon Ranges 2021 award for Pure Imagination – young people pursuing their passion for creativity through the arts.
The Mount Players president Karen Hunt said the young adult volunteers had given tirelessly of their time, some of them for several years, to run the theatre’s weekly youth theatre classes and direct and produce full length productions at the end of each year.

“It’s been a difficult time, and 2021 has seen them running rehearsals via Zoom to ensure this December’s production is on schedule. Thank you from all of us at The Mount Players, and thank you also to all the other youth leaders who have gone before them.
“The theatre will wind up the year in December with its annual Christmas picnic for members and then look forward to opening night for Love Song on February 18.
“There is lots planned for 2022 so please keep in touch via our website for everything theatre at www.themountplayers.com or call 5426 1892.
“From everyone at The Mount Players, we wish you all a peaceful, happy Christmas season with friends and family and look forward to bringing you a theatre-packed year in 2022.”

Pictured, left to right, back row, Jack Smith, Max Pickin, Chris Santamaria, Dara Hunt and Sian Wilson, front row, Erica Vandenberg, Ben Obermoser and Adele Gehling

Macedon Ranges Shire Council has welcomed Bushfire Recovery Victoria’s Storm and Flood Financial Counselling Program.
The Storm and Flood Financial Counselling Program is open to Victorians affected by the June 2021 storms and floods.
The program can connect people to a financial counsellor to help them:
Access relief for utility bills and other payments;
Understand government income and other entitlements;
Negotiate with banks on debt issues;
Identify if insurance outcomes are fair and appropriate; and
Explore options and advocate.
Speaking to a financial counsellor early can help stabilise finances, reduce stress and allow people to focus on other areas.
Council CEO Bernie O’Sullivan said from community feedback it was clear that the cost of storm clean-up was an ongoing concern for many people.
“If the costs of clean up and recovery are playing on your mind or causing you any anxiety, reach out and use the Storm and Flood Financial Counselling Program. Don’t wait until things are dire before accessing this service.”
The counselling program is available on the Storm and Flood Recovery Hotline on 1800 560 760. The hotline is open from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays).

The Tylden Cemetery Trust is having a working bee on Thursday, November 28 from 11am to clean up after the storm events of June.
The cemetery is in need of some help with only four dedicated trust members unable to get it back to looking its best.
Everyone is welcome and people will need to bring rakes, lawn mowers and chainsaws, trailers to take away the wood, and muscle power.
Any enquiries to Kath Morrison on 5424 1583.

The state government is backing compelling local tourism projects that will drive the recovery of regional tourism and grow jobs.
Labor Member for Western Victoria, Jaala Pulford, has welcomed the launch of the $100 million Regional Tourism Investment Fund, encouraging great projects to be put forward.
The Regional Tourism Investment Fund will support the creation of new experiences and attractions and the reimagining and revitalisation of existing favourites – focusing on nature, epicure, arts and culture, and First Peoples’ experiences.
The fund will deliver grants up to $10 million per project, with a minimum funding amount of $150,000 per project.
Applications are encouraged from private sector businesses, local and state government entities, incorporated associations, not-for-profit organisations, traditional owner corporations and Aboriginal organisations and groups.
For further details on the fund and to register interest visit business.vic.gov.au.
Ms Pulford said this had been an incredibly challenging period for tourism businesses and that was why the government was “backing great projects that can elevate Victoria’s renowned and varied regional offerings”.
“The Regional Tourism Investment Fund stands to play a key role in bolstering local tourism appeal, attracting new visitors and supporting job growth.”

AFTER a difficult year of uncertainty and lockdowns, the Clunes community plans to reconnect around one big dinner table. On Friday, December 3, Fraser Street will shut down to host Feast on Fraser, a community Christmas dinner complete with Santa, live music, and entertainment.

“Clunes has always come together around Christmas,” says Lana de Kort, manager at Clunes Neighbourhood House. “When the pandemic first began, the community had a conversation about what they’d most like to do when the world settled down – and it was a chance to eat and be merry together.”
Past Christmas in Clunes events have been elaborate affairs, and last year, beyond volunteers decorating the historic streetscape, no festivities were held. As vaccination levels have increased and restrictions have eased, it’s now possible to host a true, country Christmas celebration – and everyone in the town is getting behind it. “We’ve got Santa joining us for the night,” said Lana. “The Ballarat High School Band, including some of our own Clunes-based musicians, and some fun salsa vibes with Los Locos finishing off the evening.”
Clunes Neighbourhood House, in partnership with many local community groups including the Clunes Tourist Development Association and Creative Clunes, wanted to ensure that local businesses benefited. Local eateries will be providing a special take-away service of food and drinks, which will be enjoyed around common tables down the main street.
“There is something exciting about planning for a Christmas where we can be together,” said Lana. “Community connections have played a huge role in helping us get through the last 18 months. Being able to celebrate that in a safe way provides us with a great opportunity to enjoy the moment, and be with family and friends.”
Christmas in Clunes has been a series of celebrations for more than five years now. Featuring lights and christmas decorations, Christmas in Clunes wouldn’t be possible without the help of Clunes’ many volunteers.
Feast on Fraser Street is from 6pm ’til late on Friday, December 3. Tickets to this free event at tinyurl.com/clunesdinner or call 5345 4078. Pre-booking required. Evidence of double vaccination status to be shown on ticket collection on the night.

THE forests of the Central Highlands are lovely in the day. A bucolic place, abounding with precious orchids, meandering butterflies and grazing kangaroos. A benign arcadia, safe, beautiful, serene.
But as the sun goes down and shadows lengthen, the atmosphere turns menacing. Night soon must fall and within this penumbral darkness horrors await. Or so director Shannon Young would have you feel when sitting down to watch Stricken.

Shannon has been obsessed with film making since a very young age and studied film making at RMIT where he studied with James Wan and Leigh Whannell who directed and produced the film Saw (2004) among other things.
And like his friends, one of the things that really motivated Shannon was trying to be unique and original in a film landscape that is often cluttered with predictable and cliched output; especially in the horror/thriller genre where his current project is firmly based.

Stricken, featuring Stephanie Kelly, Simon Berman, Tyler Young, Michaela Pascoe and Tom McCathie, has been in development for several years and, after lengthy delays brought about by Covid lockdown restrictions, is finally about to move into post-production.
But for the past 10 months or so Shannon and his crew have been completing photography at an out of the way location in the bush near Glenlyon. The story follows the plight of Kirsten, a woman who lives alone on an isolated woodland property. Her struggle is with fear itself as she tries to survive a world rapidly being undone by a strange, unknown disorder consuming those around her.

How this production came to be situated in the environs around the village was simple enough.
“We were looking for a regional location, an isolated property,” says Shannon. “Fortunately, co-producer Paul Moder was friends with Tom McCathie, a local actor and voice-over talent. His property was so unique and had such character that we just couldn’t pass it up and we even ended up tailoring the script to fit his place.”
As part of the project they put numerous requests for extras in the area to perform as the numerous stricken figures that lay siege to Kirsten’s house once the sun goes down.
“We had an unexpectedly enthusiastic response and had up to 30 people performing as extras. A lot of them did not have any prior experience acting, they just came in wanting to try something different. In some cases our extras were in heavy effects makeup and costumes right into the evening and there were some exceptionally cold nights during filming. But they stuck through it till the end.”
The tentative release date for the completed feature will be somewhere in the second half of 2022. And while the goal is some limited theatrical release, the way things are these days the project is most likely distributed on a streaming platform.
“However,” Shannon adds, “we would love to get back to the region and hold a special screening for everyone. Our production assistant Nadine Jade has looked into some options for venues we could make use of for a local presentation. There would be nothing better than to get all our local extras out to see the finished project.”

Pictured, above, film production at Tom McCathie’s property local, centre, Stricken director Shannon Young on set with actor Michaela Pascoe, below, local extras
Words: Tony Sawrey | Images: Courtesy of Shannon Young

SINGER/songwriter, and former Smeaton resident, D’Arcy Spiller is one of the stars of Menulog’s reworked Snoop Dogg’s Did Somebody Say track.

The track aired last month and features D’Arcy along with Baker Boy, Kirsten Salty and Big Twisty.
Mushroom Group chief executive Matt Gudinski said the campaign was a platform for young talent. “We’re excited by the opportunity to give some of the country’s most exciting young talent a platform with the new Menulog campaign.”
The Local ran a feature on D’Arcy in May last year. D’Arcy said she first realised she had talent when she started having success in national and international song writing comps. “That’s when I thought ‘hmm, maybe I could do this, maybe I could do song writing’. It’s a series of little things I guess. Being asked to perform at events, people acknowledging my voice or musicality. Of course, being signed to 100s + 1000s, a Mushroom group label, was the ‘exciting, I must have some talent’ moment.”
D’Arcy will play at Major Tom’s in Kyneton on Saturday, November 27.

Image: Brian Purnell of Mushroom Creative House

Daylesford Trading Co owner Gary Grach has always loved Christmas so what better time to go overboard with his own store.

He has brought in visual merchandiser Jocelyn Robbins to decorate his Vincent Street windows, has the Carols on repeat and has even painted a Wombat Wall. After all, what is Christmas without a wombat or two.
Gary opened the Daylesford Trading Co a week before last Christmas, so a quiet start, but says over the past few weeks the town has definitely become busier with both locals and visitors out and about.
“People love my fun shop and there are plenty of positive vibes as people come to shop local with lots of great value and products for Christmas giving. “Or maybe just something for yourself!”
Gary’s background is business teaching so he said it was fantastic to have his own store and build up a loyal customer base.
“I have some really lovely customers from Daylesford and Ballarat, and now we have Melbourne back it really is starting to look a lot like Christmas.”

THE shopfronts of Daylesford and surrounds came alive over the weekend with 120 beautiful floral installations designed to celebrate spring.

Sprout is a collaboration of many local groups and individuals, spearheaded by the Daylesford and District Horticultural Society in association with the Friends of Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens, designed to lift the spirits of traders and shoppers alike after long Covid restrictions.
The Daylesford Town Hall was taken over on Friday, November 19 for the creation of the floral displays with them delivered to shopfronts by noon.

The state government will more than double the capacity of Victoria’s Youth Prevention and Recovery Care (YPARC) network, giving more young Victorians access to the mental health services they need closer to home.
In a major boost for mental health services designed to support young people – particularly those across regional Victoria – Premier Daniel Andrews and Minister for Mental Health James Merlino has announced the locations of a further five centres to be built across the state.
The new centres will support more than 900 extra young Victorians each year to get the tailored support they need in a crisis – more than doubling capacity of the state’s current YPARC network.
An investment of $141 million in the Victorian Budget 2021/22 will see new 10-bed residential facilities built in Ballarat, Geelong, Shepparton, Heidelberg and Traralgon – as well as existing YPARCS in Bendigo, Dandenong and Frankston completely refurbished and modernised.
The five new facilities will be operated by Austin Health (Heidelberg), Barwon Health (Geelong), Goulburn Valley Health (Shepparton), Grampians Health (Ballarat), and Latrobe Regional Hospital (Traralgon).
A key recommendation of immediate priority from the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health system, YPARC services provide around-the-clock clinical care on a short-to-medium term basis for people aged 16 to 25.
The sites reduce pressure on hospital beds by providing early intervention care and an alternative to hospital admission with recovery-focused treatment.
The facilities will be designed by NTC Architects to create a welcoming and home-like environment with private bedrooms and ensuite bathrooms.
Communal kitchens, dining and living areas, breakout spaces and an outdoor garden will also encourage rest and recovery – as well as support family visits for people during their recovery.
Delivered by the Victorian Health Building Authority, construction of the five new facilities and refurbishment of the three existing YPARC centres will support around 400 local jobs right across the state, with all projects to begin construction next year, and be completed by late 2023.
The YPARC facilities follow the adult Prevention and Recovery Care (PARC) facility model, providing tailored support for young Victorians to match the 22 adult PARCs across Victoria delivering the early intervention support people need to recover quickly in a home-like environment, providing an alternative to inpatient hospital admission.

Grassroots sports clubs and organisations across Victoria can now apply for grants for new uniforms and to support volunteer and coach training, thanks to the state government.
Minister for Community Sport Ros Spence has launched the latest round of the Sporting Club Grants Program, which provides grants of up to $1,000 for new uniforms and equipment, up to $2,000 for training coaches, officials and volunteers, and up to $5,000 to improve club operations.
The Sporting Club Grants Program has provided a boost to clubs getting back on track after the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since 2014, the program has injected $13 million to support clubs through 8,600 grants.
Recent grant recipients include Croydon North Cricket Club, which received $2,000 for first aid training for coaches, and Sale Baseball Club, which scored $1,000 to purchase new uniforms. Benalla and Keysborough Junior Football Clubs both received $1,500 for COVIDSafe signage and cleaning supplies.
The program is making community sport more accessible and inclusive, helping stimulate local economies, building sustainable sport and recreation and volunteer opportunities, and increasing local participation.
The Labor Government’s Community Sport Sector COVID-19 Short-Term Survival Package has provided $50 million to clubs, leagues, state associations and other organisations.
To find out more visit sport.vic.gov.au.