Wilson County Beekeepers

Meeting Minutes – Monday, 06 November 2017

Fifty-four members and guests attended the November 6, 2017 meeting at the Ward Ag Center.  Carey Mitchell, President called the meeting to order.   The minutes from the October meeting were approved with the checkbook balance being reported.

Old Business Discussed:

• Conference was October 20 & 21.  Carey reported on some of the speakers.  Those that attended said it was worth going.  WCBA gave away two scholarships
• The TBA Board Meeting was recaps:  The Hive Grant will continue, the Short Course Grant will be in the amount of $300, the Education Grant in the amount of $200, but the Conference Scholarship will be discontinued due to lack of usage.  TBA donated $5,000 to Pollinator Stewardship Council
• Short Course was last Tuesday-Thursday.  We had 12 newbees in class.  Thanks goes out to Trevor who helped with the class and provided a few PowerPoint programs.  Thanks to the mentors that were in attendance and Allen Ferguson and Dale McCleskey who provided frame components for the construction workshop
• Thanks to Sterling for donating the hive at the October meeting which was won by Beth Saddler.  There were 177 tickets sold, with the funds going toward the purchase of a digital refractometer.
• Petra picked up the refractometer plus a couple of books at Conference
• Jessica Dodds reported that the license plate sales have plateaued and needs everyone’s help to get the word across the state to get orders

New Business Discussed:

• Questions was proposed to the membership if the club wants to donate to the Pollinator Stewardship Council. In the past, we have donated $500 to the cause.   Leonard Walker asked if we could get Michelle Colopy to come to a meeting and explain what they can do for the beekeeper.
• Petra discussed the Christmas Dinner:  Dinner is at our regular meeting date…December 4.  RSVP’s need to be in by December 2 so we have enough seating.  Each family is asked to bring a covered dish AND a dessert.  The club will provide the ham, turkey, drinks and butter.  Volunteers were asked to purchase and cook two turkeys and bring rolls.  The club will pay for the turkeys.  Jake Balentine and Julie Harper will bring the turkeys and Jessica Dodds and Peggy Scholes will bring the rolls.  We will also have a gift exchange this year instead of the ornament exchange.  Everyone is to bring a wrapped gift (no more than $10…with no theme) and we will play Dirty Santa.
• We voted on the Christmas Charity for this year…The Place was the winner.   The runner up, which will be our charity for the picnic is Wounded Warrior Project.
• This is the day we vote for new officers.  There was a ballot in the last newsletter.  As there were no nominations from the floor, the ballot to vote on is as follows:

President—Carey Mitchell
Vice President—Jessica Dodds
Secretary/Treasurer—Petra Mitchell
Directors—Jessica Dodds, Carey Mitchell, Candice Thompson
Alternate Directors—Margaret Cantrell, David Thompson, Kim Walter

Membership voted to let the ballot stand.

• Kelcie Meador agreed to continue on as librarian, and Marla Welch has offered to step in Greg Tomerlin’s place as newsletter editor.
• Sterling Earhart, Jim Murff, and Leonard Walker will have nucs for sale this year.  Pricing is $165 each.  Sterling and Leonard are taking orders now, and Jim will have nucs available without preordering.
• Bobby & Susan Carter will be bringing back packages from Wilbanks again this spring.  Their first shipment will have 600 packages and Jim suggested that if you are planning on getting packages, be on the first shipment to assure you will get bees.
• Allen Ferguson suggested that new beekeepers that are looking to get bees this spring to lean towards getting nucs vs packages.  He purchased both this past year and found the nucs do so much better and better value for what you pay.

Margaret’s Final To Do List:

1. Check stores—need to make sure you have enough for winter…60 pounds
2. On a warm day above 50 degrees between Thanksgiving and Christmas, treat with oxalic acid vapor because this is the most bloodless time of the year.
3. Make next year’s plans—what equipment will you need, will you go with packages or nucs, and will you be making splits.  Whatever you decide to do next year, begin reading now how you will implement it.
4. Check out the WCBA library and READ!

As our Guest Speaker, John Pace, was not at the meeting, there was an Open Forum for anyone with questions or comments.

Announcements:

• December 2 — RVSP for Christmas Dinner
• December 4 — Christmas Dinner

Carey and Margaret handed out the evening’s door prizes to:  Jason Miller, Allen Ferguson, Larry Lowhorn, Paula Rogers, Petra Mitchell, Jason Brasel, Billy Springer, Mark Anderson, Sterling Earhart, and Kathy Bailiff.  Leonard Walker also offered a nuc as a door prize that was won by Timmy Balentine.  Congrats to the winners!!!!

Jimmy Cunningham drew the winner of the Hive that was up for raffle (177 tickets sold).  The winner was Beth Saddler.  Congrats!!!!

The meeting adjourned at 8:00 for refreshments and fellowship.

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Respectfully submitted:  Petra Mitchell, Secretary/Treasurer
Wilson County Beekeepers Association
November 7, 2017

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