Wilson County Beekeepers

Meeting Minutes – Monday, 06 February 2017

Wilson County Beekeepers Association’s President, Carey Mitchell welcomed a large crowd of 107 to the February 6 meeting.   The minutes of the January meeting were approved and the checkbook balance was reported.

Old Business Discussed:

• DUES are DUE!!  New membership books are available for those that have already paid.
• NABA held their Advanced Beekeeping Winter Workshop on Saturday, January 14 with Clarence Collison and Jennifer Berry.
• A big Thank You to Jessica Dodds, our WCBA Ambassador, for taking on Batch & Bushel at the last minutes with help from Dale McClesky and Peggy Scholes for the Friday event and going solo on Saturday.
• If you missed the January program on cleaning wax and molding candles, Susan Welchance had handouts that were available.

New Business Discussed:                                                              

• Refresher workshop is Saturday, February 25 at 9:00 am.  We will do a brief rundown of the basics and weather permitting, light our smokers.  Bring your smokers.
• At 1:00 on that Saturday, TBA will be having their Spring Board Meeting, with WCBA hosting.  Anyone that is willing to bring treats (cookies, brownies, etc.) can do so by noon.  Delegates confirmed are Candice Thompson and Carey Mitchell.  With our other delegate, Chuck Grogan in attendance, David Thompson said he would be the alternate.
• Brushy Mountain Bee Farm will be bringing a shipment down with no shipping charges if pre-ordered.  They are also giving a 5% discount with code TNBK5.  All orders have to be pre-paid!  Order by February 18th.  If you can’t pick up your order on that Saturday, we can leave it in the closet for the March meeting.
• New catalogs are coming in weekly.  If you are needing any, please check the closet
• Carey talked about the winter feeding patty that Kent Williams uses.  A copy of the recipe was available.
• Swarm lists were circulated for folks to sign up and have it posted to the website

·         Field Day will be in May…asked for volunteers…Jim Murff and Sterling Earhart have opened their yards

Margaret Cantrell is back from Beirut, Lebanon and had two jars of honey to sample.

To Do List:

• Check stores for emergency feeding—warm weather may have depleted stores.  Most bees don’t freeze, they starve!
• Order bees—nucs or packages
• Order equipment and be ready for bees
• On a warm day (over 50 degrees) when bees are flying, open hive and do a quick inspection—avoid chilling brood
• Read!

Jay Williams from Williams Honey Farm had a very informative program on solitary bees…their pollination work, their habitat, and their value to gardens (especially where honeybees can’t be kept for various reasons).

Announcements:

February 25—Beginning Beekeeping Refresher Workshop—9 am to noon
TBA Spring Board Meeting—1:00 pm

March 6—Making and Using Nucs with Charlie Parton from Blount County Beekeepers

Carey and Margaret handed out door prizes to:  Jonnie Meador, Mark Anderson, Lindsay Gunter, Debbie George, and Doug Bowes.

The Club’s current checkbook balance is $xxx

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Respectfully submitted:  Petra Mitchell, Secretary/Treasurer
Wilson County Beekeepers Association
February 8, 2017

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