Person County Beekeepers Association
Minutes
January 21, 2016
County Office-Auditorium
WELCOME. Todd Walker welcomed Bee School (new members) and existing members to the first Beekeeper meeting for 2016.
Introduced officers: (himself) Todd Walker, President; Whitney Barnes, Vice-President, Amanda Blanks, Treasurer; Jamie Latimer, Secretary.
Introduced Guest: Paul Westfall, Director of Person county extension office.
Asked for reports from the officers.
FINANCIAL REPORT(S). (Amanda Blanks prepared the attached report, dated December 19, 2015 and showing an ending balance of $5159.75.) She presented the attached report, dated January 21, 2016 and showing an ending balance of $5,021.93.
VP REPORT. Whitney Barnes stated that she is working on meeting topics, requested input from members. Planning to create a survey on Facebook. Some proposed topics: Top Bar hives, Queen rearing, Managing splits. Suggested workshops to see Splits and Cut-Outs made.
PRES REPORT. Todd Walker recognized the great out reach we have been doing in the community and proposed a new direction for this year... do more In-Reach. Help members become better beekeepers. He would also like the club to work toward the GAP (Golden Achievement Program) this year. We earned the award 3 years ago and it is time for us to do it again.
STATE CONFERENCE. Spring Conference: February 25-27, New Bern, NC. Come and join us at the Spring Conference to be held February 25th, 26th and 27th at the New Bern Convention Center, New Bern, NC. More details can be found at
http://www.ncbeekeepers.org/ .
MASTER BEEKEEPER STUDY GROUP. Randall Austin is coordinating Journeyman and Master Beekeeper study groups. Contact him if you interested in participating.
OLD BUSINESS. None discussed
NEW BUSINESS.
Christi Henthorn from Granville County Beekeepers Association (GCBA) introduced the Bee Jubilee. Sponsored by GCBA at Granville County Expo Center, Saturday May 14th. For more info contact Christi at 907-738-9047 or
granvillebeejubilee AT gmail.com .
Paul Westfall the Director of Person and Granville county extension offices. Introduced himself and would like to extend support to PCBA in going for our Golden Achievement. He has 3 main focuses as director: Agriculture (Bees and Forestry), Foods (safety, prep and storage) and 4-H. Stressed the importance of the Bee Hive mapping project and communication between farmers and beekeepers.
NC Association of Agriculture Agents - National Agriculture Association is planning 1 of many courses educating on the importance of protecting bees for pollination.
NCSBA is encouraging clubs to improve relations with their local Agriculture Extension offices. As a way to show our support of the education of agricultural entities about the importance of honey bee pollination it was proposed that PCBA donate $250 to help support the event. The motion was 1st approved by Lynn Wilson and 2nd by Larry Barnes, the club approved. The donation can help the NCSBA qualify for a booth. (They need to get a total of $1000.)
HONEY BEE BIOLOGY. Todd Walker continued the 2nd week of Bee School topics, Honey Bee Biology. A great presentation on the anatomy of the honey bee.
ATTENDANCE. 14 Members, 44 Bee School\Members and 1 Guest signed in.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, James Latimer, 2/16/16 DRAFT
