HOBBIES CLUB - BEEKEEPING SECTION

The nectar-flow in July came to an abrupt stop owing to the drought. One small colony with no reserve stores nearly died of starvation. The two main stocks continued to flourish by withdrawing food from the supers. In spite of this, the two stocks gave a honey crop of about ninety pounds. This proved to be of even better quality than that of the 1955 season.

Two full strength stocks and two strong nuclei were given their full ration of sugar syrup, as well as sharing in the "unripe" honey. They were "closed down" in mid September to remain (it is hoped) undisturbed till next April.

HOBBIES CLUB - MODEL RAILWAY SECTION

Again most of the activity has been centred on track laying. The extremes of temperature and humidity in the loft have caused the old sleepers to part from the base board, so the whole track has been removed and replaced with modern flat-bottomed rail in place of the lighter bullhead type.

This relaying has given us a chance to remove a few of the ups and downs in the track, leaving steady gradients, with of course a lot less "rock and roll". The up track has almost been completed and the down track should not take long.

Over the sections so rebuilt a much-improved state of running has been noted. A train can now be sent at full speed with confidence that it will reach its journey's end in one piece!