Monday, January 25, 2016

JANUARY 23RD CLUB MEETING MINUTES

The meeting was called to order at 9:38 by Presdient Jeff Champeau.

New members: Justin introduced himself.

VP Fred Ransome and Treasurer George Wigall were not present due to scheduling conflicts.

OLD BUSINESS

Discussed the proposed club brochure/flyer.  Patti Igram had previously been authorized to make a prototype.

NEW BUSINESS

a) The annual $200 allocation for additional books was discussed.  The decision was to hold off on additional purchases for now.  NOTE: All club books have been donated to local libraries.  A list of the books is in the club blog.

b) The Green Lake County Fair is August 4-7.  There was a discussion of whether we want a presence at this or other fairs.  Jack Bremmer will follow up with the Green Lake County Fair organizers for details.

VOTING FOR CLUB OFFICERS

This year the club President and Secretary positions are to be filled for a 2 year term.  Patti Igram was nominated for the Secretary's position.  She accepted the nomination and was unanimously voted in.    As stated previously Jeff Champeau was not standing for re-election as club President.  Thanks Jeff for your service in heading the club as President for roughly the past 8 years.  The potential replacements for President were not able to attend this meeting.  Nominations and the voting for President was deferred until the March meeting.

ANNOUCEMENTS

1) The next club meeting is tentatively scheduled for March 12th in Ripon.  Watch the blog for when this is finalized.

2) The time, topic and location of the spring field day was discussed, but nothing was finalized.  This will be a topic of the March meeting.

3) The Wisconsin Honey Producers Association annual convention will be in Fond du Lac this November.   They have asked ECWBA if we would like to help out.


OPEN DISCUSSION

1) Club members were invited to discuss hive survival in light of our mild winter.  It was brought up that the warmer weather would increase bee activity and therefore the bees would consume their winter stores faster.  Emergency feeding may be in order.

2) There were questions on where to buy northern  queens.  NOTE: The blog lists a few suppliers.

3) There was a discussion about providing speakers for other clubs, schools, nature centers, etc in return for a donation to the club treasury.

4) Is anyone interested in donating land for a fenced club bee yard where demonstrations for beginners could be hosted?

5) Should the club procure observation hives for nature centers or schools?  This lead to the discussion on who would do the periodic maintenance of these hives.

6) How about creating a HOST A HIVE PROGRAM.  What kind of outreach can the club do to find landowners willing to do host a hive in return for some honey rent?

7) Several suggestions on how to improve the blog were offered.
a) Add a BEE FACTS PAGE
b) Add the club's mission statement to the home page.  (The current primary goal of the club is education of current and new beekeepers).
c) Add a CONTACT page with phone numbers and email addresses.



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