Please join us at Burfoot Park
Monday, 9 July
3:30 to dusk.
6927 Boston Harbor Rd NE
Main Shelter, with charcoal grill and electric service.
The club is supplying charcoal and some drinks, otherwise it’s potluck and BYOB.
Please bring a potluck dish to share!
Hope to see you there!
Sincerely,
The OBA Board
OBA Members, June 6, 2018
It’s going to be an exciting year.
The location of our summer scheduled meetings will NOT change. We will be meeting at Chinook Middle School in the cafeteria. 1 hour prior will be the Apprentice class in the cafeteria and the Sustainability group in the library.
As you may know, we recently had our 2018 elections for the 2018-2019 OBA board.
The results were:
President – Frank Scolaro
Vice President – Israel Marquez
Secretary – Caitland Anderson
Treasurer – David Bruun
Membership – Phil Johnson (vote to transpire in Jun)
We want to personally thank the previous board, Mechele Linehan, Tim Wieble, Shelby Albert and Duane McBride for dedicating their time to guide OBA over the last year. Your efforts do not go unnoticed or unappreciated.
We have a few important milestones that will need your vote during the June meeting and some in the very near future.
First, in June, we will be voting on our updated OBA by-laws. The OBA committee produced an excellent updated draft version of our future by-laws. These by-laws address previous deficiencies and set our club up for the future. It also allows us, if we choose, to begin the process of becoming a true non-profit as a 501c3. We will need your votes (2/3 majority) to make the draft by-laws the most current version. There have been numerous feedback emails that have been addressed and updated, if required.
Upon approval of the 2018 bylaws, we formalize the club’s compliance with them and address the administration of the new positions and requirements during the next few meetings.
Second, we will be creating chairpersons for most of our major projects and outreach activities. We already kind of do this to an extent but we want the members of the club to know who the chairpersons are and, with a majority vote of those present during that meeting, approve their position. These chairpersons will be the "belly-buttons" for those activities within the club. For instance, our Mentorship chairs of Roger and Kitty will handle (with our support) the Mentorship Program. Some other examples are: The Thurston County Fair, Olympia Airport Project, Governor’s Mansion, Prison Education Program, and the Librarian. Our expectation is a few minute update to the club monthly and a small written summary of previous annual, activities. As activities and outreach activities increase, we will need your volunteer help to support these community activities.
A future follow on to the by-law approval will be a set of OBA policies (guidelines) that the Board and members will use as a framework to guide management of the club and programs. The reason for the policies, as opposed to articles within the by-laws, affords the club and members increased flexibility to adapt with changes. These policies are "in work" at this time and should be available for review within the upcoming months.
Lastly, when the time is right we will be discussing the pros and cons of becoming a 501c3 and how it will affect the club. The discussion will be open and will need your vote to complete the process, when desired.
For our June 2018 meeting we will have a fairly busy agenda.
• Opening
• Guest Speaker
• Apprentice Graduation Ceremony (Celebration of Knowledge)
• Break
• Raffle results
• Official business
• Official Vote for Membership Coordination (tabled from last meeting)
• By-Law Q and A
• Vote on By-Laws (2/3d Majority needed)
• Vote on chairpersons (simple majority of those present)*
• Closing
*TBD if time permits
I hope the last month has been eventful with an excess of honey, successful splits, no swarms and few stings.
See you all at the next meeting.
Sincerely,
OBA Board
Olympia Beekeepers Association
May 14th, 2018
Chinook Middle School
Meeting called to order at 7:01 pm by Mechele.
Mechele let the club know that there will be no raffle tonight as we do not have any tickets as Duane was not present tonight.
Mechele ran through the agenda of the meeting that we would be taking nominations for all board positions. Also, the proposed by laws will be passed out for members to look at and the by law committee will be presenting those. Mechele gave a big thank you to the by law committee for all of the hard work they have done to produce the by laws. The by-laws are not up for open discussion at this meeting they are for members to take and review and come to the June meeting with any changes. Mechele let the club know that we will have a presenter and then a break and during the break the ballots can be put up front in the ballot box. Mechele asked for three to four volunteers to count the ballots after the break. The announcement of officers will be presented at the end of the meeting.
Mechele had Tim introduce the presenter who was Israel Marquez. He thanked Ernie and Thomas for a great job at the sustainability group.
Israel talked about how he compresses hives to make nucs. He went from 4 hives to 200 in one year. His company name is Pacific Coast Bee Supply. He does not sell supplies just mostly bees. Mechele thanked Israel for the presentation.
Mechele let the club know that she held off on nominations as she knew that a member wanted to run for a position and they had to be there to accept the nomination. Nominations proceeded once she arrived.
Mechele opened the floor for nominations. Mechele made a motion for Frank to be president. Seconded by Maria, Frank accepted the nomination and gave a one-minute presentation as to why he is running.
Maria made a motion to nominate Israel for Vice President, seconded by Shelby and Israel accepted the nomination. He gave a quick background on him and why he is running.
Colleen made a motion to nominate Caitlyn for Secretary, seconded by Ashley and Caitlyn accepted the nomination and provided the membership with a brief presentation of why she would like to be secretary.
David let the membership know that he would like to run for another year as Treasurer, Maria seconded David’s motion. No other nominations for Treasurer.
Gail let the club know that Phil would like to be Membership Coordinator but he could not be present at the meeting to accept the nominations. Frank and Tammy verbally told the membership that he can confirm that he would accept the nomination. Kitty moved to hold the Membership Coordinator vote next month, seconded by David and motion carried unanimously.
Motion was made on the floor to unanimously accept all position since there were no other opposing people. Motion declined by President.
Meeting went for break at 8:13 pm
Mechele called the meeting back at 8:23pm.
Mechele asked for Officer reports.
Vice President Tim Weible- Let the club know that Alan Woods from Woods Bee Company would be the speaker for the June Meeting and he would be talking about queen rearing. The accelerated course will have its last class on Tuesday May 15th, 2018 since the last meeting and will have 26 more Apprentice beekeepers. He also let the club know that he went on Bee Cruises to different places to expose the class to different experiences. The graduation for the class will be taking place next month.
Mechele thanked Tim for ordering/making plaques with the clubs registered hive number to put on all of our Beehives.
Secretary report: None to report
Treasurer’s Report David Bruun: Checking account- $3650.19, Savings account - $4571.53, Cash on hand - $12.55
Membership Coordinator Duane: Not present for report
Mentorship Kitty and Roger- They are still looking for mentors and with the new Apprenticeship class with 26 new people they will need them.
Librarian Ernie- The library has over 100 books and he is trying to come up with an easier way to let people get books without having to carry around a ton of weight on the cart. He also let the club know that the sustainability group was talking about the Varroa Mite and his article he would be writing.
Education Chair Bob- none to report
Mechele let the club know that Paul ran the bee booth at the fair and is on the fair board. Mechele asked Paul to come and speak to the club. Paul let the club know that he will not be running the fair booth anymore. It is up to one of the members to take it over. He will help with getting that person started. The fair is the first Wednesday in August to Sunday. Israel let the club and Paul know that he will make the fair happen and do whatever it takes to make it work.
Mechele asked Dixon to come and speak about McNeil Island project. He let the club know that him ad 5 others are helping with this project and they will be putting three colonies on the island.
Airport Hive- Frank let the club know that he knows has six hives they caught a puppy swarm and all are doing well. He let Colleen have the rest of his time as she came up with a design for the pollinator garden at Port of Olympia. The garden spot would be 70 feet by 20 feet. All the plants that are in the garden would be great for caterpillar, butterflies, hummingbirds and bees. She will be finding out what the approximate cost will be and they are hopeful to get some nurseries to sponsor. The garden will be in bloom from March to November.
Mechele’s report was last. She let the club know that package bee pick up was a great success and went very smoothly. She thanked Phil, Duane and Maureen for bringing samples of OA for members to take and try on their hives. Dewey is currently working on analyzing his data from the recent survey and he will be back to present that information. The fair is coming up and the club makes two baskets for the baking contest. We ask for any donations that are honey related or bee related.
She also gave a thank you to Annie for the analysis she did and providing the club with a five-year strategic plan.
Mansion hives- the north hive is strong and the south is a little weaker but overall doing well. The hives are on First Lady Trudi Inslee Facebook page.
Mechele then let David come up on behalf of the By Law committee to speak about the By-laws. He believes that they have a good set of by laws to move the club forward. He let they club know that back in March the club was handed a set of proposed by laws that they based their work off of as well as the other versions they had. He also informed the club that to keep the by-laws small they have a by-law document and 9 documents that outline polices and procedures which are separate. The election date will be November instead of April as Spring is more of a busy time for people with hives and fall/ winter is slower and better to make transition. The new officers will be voted on in November but won’t take office until January to go along with the fiscal year. The new by laws have 7 elected officers as opposed to 5 in current set. The new by-laws propose to add the educational chair and the outreach/communications chair.
Kitty the ballot volunteer read the number of votes. We had 55 members vote and the new elected officers are President: Frank Scolaro, Vice President: Israel Marquez, Secretary: Caitlyn and Treasurer: David Bruun.
Mechele adjourned meeting at 9:06 pm
I
NAME
The name of the Association shall be the Olympia Beekeepers Association (OBA). Its location and place of business shall be in Thurston County in the State of Washington.
II
OBJECTIVE
The Olympia Beekeepers Association is organized to engage in activities that educate its members and the public on subjects related to bees and beekeeping practices.
BYLAWS
ARTICLE I
Membership
Membership is open to any individuals willing to honor and support the objectives of the Association. Any individual interested in becoming a member of this association may do so by completing the membership form and paying the dues.
Each membership is allowed one vote. Members in good standing may vote on general meeting business, in association elections or on bylaws changes. “In good standing” means that membership dues are current. In no case may a person be entitled to vote or receive other perquisites of membership whose dues are unpaid. Reinstatement of membership is automatic upon receipt of dues in full.
Dues, Terms, and Membership types are to be recommended by the Board of Directors and approved by the Membership.
ARTICLE II
Meetings
The general membership meeting of the Association shall be held monthly.
Executive Sessions of the Board may be called by the President or a majority of the board. Minutes and information provided in an executive session shall be kept confidential. In an executive session the board shall take no actions except to produce recommendations for action to be taken in open session or by the membership.
The first meeting of the board shall be held within 30 days following the date that they take office. Other meetings of the Board of Directors shall be called by the President or a majority of the Board of Directors. Notice of each such other meeting shall be sent, via e-mailed, text or by phone call, by the Secretary to each member of the board at least 10 days prior to the date of the meeting. The quorum for a board meeting shall be a majority of the board.
Special meetings may be called for any lawful purpose by the President, a majority the Board of Directors, or at least 20 percent (20%) of the Members having a right to vote. A special meeting called by Members shall be called by written request, specifying the general nature of the business proposed to be transacted and signed by the required number of Members, and submitted to the President or any Officer. Notice of time, place and purpose of any special meeting called shall be given to each member of good standing by the Secretary by website posting, newsletter, and e-mail to the member’s e-mail address of record at least 7 days prior to the meeting time. No business, other than the business that was set forth in the notice of the meeting, may be transacted at a special meeting.
Any question concerning parliamentary procedure at meetings shall be determined by the President by reference to Robert’s Rules of Order
ARTICLE III
Directors and Officers
The Board of Directors shall be comprised of the officers, all of whom shall be members in good standing.
General management of the Association’s affairs shall be entrusted to the Board of Directors.
The Association’s officers shall be President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Membership Coordinator, Education Coordinator and Outreach Coordinator. They shall serve in their respective capacities both with regard to the Association and its meetings and the board and its meetings. The officers shall be elected for renewable one-year terms as provided in Article IV, and shall serve until their successors are elected or the position is vacated.a) The President shall preside at all meetings of the Association and of the Board of Directors, and shall have the duties and powers normally appurtenant to the office of President in addition to those particularly specified in these bylaws. The President shall have general supervision of the affairs of OBA. The President also has the authority to appoint committees and to appoint individuals to do specific jobs.
b) The Vice President shall have the duties and exercise the powers of the President in case of the President’s death, absence or incapacity.
c) The Secretary shall carry on all correspondence of the Association and keep minutes of all meetings of the Association and of the Board of Directors and of all votes taken on any issue. The Secretary shall post the minutes of the general meetings to the website no later than 7 days prior the next general meeting so the Membership may review in order to approve or call for changes to the minutes. The Secretary shall post Board Minutes to the website once they have been approved. The Secretary will also keep all current policies available for review by the Officers or Membership.
d) The Treasurer shall collect and receive all moneys due or belonging to the Association. Moneys shall be deposited in a bank approved by the board, in the name of the Association. The Treasurer shall maintain accurate records of OBA finances, budgets, and assets. The Treasurer shall be authorized to sign drafts and checks of the Association in the discharge of day-to-day budgeted business accounts. Spending limits are to be set by policy that is proposed by the Board and approved by the Membership. In case of extended absence or incapacity of the Treasurer, the President may approve and pay bills, or may appoint a member of the OBA to act as temporary Treasurer with approval of the Board. The books shall at all times be open to inspection by the Board of Directors and the Association Members and a report shall be given at every meeting of the condition of the Association’s finances.
e) The Membership Coordinator; shall keep a roll of the members of the Association with their addresses, phone numbers and email addresses.
f) The Education Coordinator shall organize and implement formal education programs for the training of beekeepers. The Education Coordinator shall collect, produce, and disseminate educational materials for educational programs of the OBA. The Education Coordinator shall maintain a list of volunteer speakers/educators for the training of beekeepers.
g) The Outreach Coordinator shall organize and implement OBA community outreach activities, including but not limited to public education activities at local fairs and community agricultural festivals and presentations on bees and beekeeping to community groups and schools. The Community Outreach Coordinator shall maintain a list of volunteer speakers/educators for community outreach activities.
3. Duties.
An officer carries only the rights necessary for executing the duties of their appointment.
Any Board member may resign at any time by delivering written notice to either the President or the Secretary or by oral notice at any meeting of the Board or of the members. Resignations shall take effect at the time of receipt or at a date specified in the resignation notice.
Any Officer of the association may be recommended for removal from their appointment for gross misconduct, excessive neglect of duty or excessive absences by a majority vote of the board at an executive board meeting. The Board shall present the recommended removal to the general membership at a regularly scheduled meeting or at a special meeting called in accordance with Article II, Section 3 of these bylaws. The removal must be approved by a 2/3rd vote by members present.
The membership may initiate and conduct removal of a board member or members by a 2/3rd majority vote of members voting at a Special Meeting held for that purpose in accordance with Article II, Section 3 of these bylaws.
With the exception of the presidency, when a vacancy for an office occurs, the vacancy shall be filled by a majority vote by and from the Association members at the earliest possible regular meeting or special meeting if deemed necessary by the President.
ARTICLE IV
The Association Year, Voting, Nominations, Elections
The Association’s fiscal year shall begin on the first day of January and end on the last day of December. The Association’s official year shall be the same as the Association’s fiscal year.
At the general membership meeting or at a special meeting of the Association, voting shall be limited to those members in good standing who are present at the meeting. Voting by proxy shall not be permitted. Other than officer elections, voting will be verbally with an “aye” or a “no”. If a voice vote is unclear, then a vote by counted raised hands shall be taken.
Elections for Officers shall occur annually in the month of November. The elected officers and directors shall take office on the first day of the January. Each retiring office shall turn over to his successor in office all properties and records relating to that office within 30 days after the successor take office.
a) Making Nominations. Any member in good standing may make nominations or be nominated for an office. No person shall be a candidate for more than one position. Nominations will be taken from the floor at the October general meeting. The member being nominated must be present at the time of nomination to declare acceptance. Once all nominations have been made, a majority’s vote on a seconded motion to close nominations shall be made and no further nominations will be accepted.
b) Ballots. The election of officers shall be conducted by secret paper ballot during the November meeting. To be validated, ballots must be received by the Secretary. Ballots shall be counted by three inspectors of election who are members in good standing but are neither members of the current board nor candidates on the ballot.
c) The nominated candidate receiving the greatest number of votes for each office shall be declared elected.
ARTICLE V
Amendments
ARTICLE VI
Financials
The Olympia Beekeepers Association shall not be conducted or operated for profit, and no part of any revenue or remainder or residue to the Association shall inure to the benefit of any member or individual. No indebtedness shall be incurred by any officer, committee member or any other member of this association on behalf of the Olympia Beekeepers Association except as authorized by the Executive Board.
ARTICLE VII
Dissolution
OBA may be dissolved at any time by written consent of not less than 2/3 of the members in good standing. In the event of the dissolution of OBA, other than for purpose of reorganization, whether voluntary or involuntary or by operation of law, none of the property of OBA nor any proceeds thereof nor any assets of the OBA shall be distributed to any members of OBA. After payment of the debts of OBA, its property and assets shall be given to a similar organization, and an alternative similar organization, proposed by the Board and approved by the Association Membership.
RATIFICATION
These Bylaws are hereby adopted this ____ day of ______ 2018 does repeal and supersede any and all existing Bylaws of this association.
President: ______________________________________Date_______________
Secretary: ______________________________________Date_______________
Witness: _______________________________________Date_______________
Witness: _______________________________________Date_______________
Olympia Beekeepers Association
April 9th, 2018
Chinook Middle School
Meeting called to order at 7:07 pm by Mechele.
Mechele introduced Yolanda from the USDA to the meeting to speak to the members. Yolanda let the club know that the USDA in each state is taking a Bee pest survey. This year volunteers will collect samples of 15 beekeepers per state. They take about a ¼ cup from each colony/sample wax. The survey is completely confidential on the state-wide level. They test for two pest that are exotic. If any members are interested in participating in this study there are flyers at the head table to take with more information.
Mechele introduced Dewey Caron at 7:10pm.
Dewey’s main topics centered around Do you have an April plan? Also, he let the club know that he would be going over the Pacific Northwest Honey survey results as well.
Dewey let the club know that there are some new titles out for bee biology. World Bee Day is May 20th and would be a great opportunity to help educate others about bees.
He let the club know that the survey could be found at pnwhoneysurvery.com- the survey takes about 3 to 5 minutes to take and it based from the Fall to the Spring. Some of the results from the survey are as follows:
2016-2017 WA Backyarder- Olympia 67.5% out of 52 beekeepers that lost hive last winter.
23 people or 47% lost 1,2 or 3 hives.
Common reason for the loss was Varroa mites.
April Plan- Contradictions starvation vs Expansion
Due inspections- Look for Cap Brood
Start new colony- Packages, nucs, splits
- Feed (Avoid starvation, stimulate)
- Reverse (Guide expansion)
- Cull Frames (healthier bees)
- Draw Foundation Frames (need more)
- Make nucs (loss make-up, slow division)
- Reduce swarm preparations (queen cells)
Capture a swarm (great easy way to get free bees)
- Wax producers
- Early swarms build rapidly to productive
- Captures create teachable moments
Disadvantages of Swarms
- Temporary- be gone before you capture them
- Medicated/treated for mites
- Sometimes a swarm has stayed temporary for too long and can get very defensive and can be bothered by onlookers.
Spring Splits = swarm management + make up winter loss + mite control
Natural or Darwinian Beekeeper
- Away from neighbors
- Away from beekeepers
- Not using nucs or packages
- Can afford losses
- Not seeking honey
- no time or interest in inspections
- small brood so swarming promoted “natural” area nearby for swarm nest sites
Dewey also let the club know that Apivar if used for several years can build up some resistance to the medication
Dewey was thanked and finished at 8:28 pm.
Break at 8:28 pm Refreshments were served
Meeting resumed at 8:36 pm
Mechele let the club know that Louis Morrison was selling his 3-frame hand crank honey extractor. If anyone was interested his phone number would be up at the front table.
Mechele asked the club if there were any changes or corrections to the March minutes. Becky made the motion that Gail’s comment of taking nominations at the March meeting for new officers. Mechele seconded and motion carried. Minutes were amended to reflect the motion made.
Vice President Tim Weible- Let the club know that the accelerated course that starts on April 10th has 36 students signed up to participate in just one month of lobbying from him and Shelby.
Secretary report: None to report
Treasurer’s Report David Bruun: Checking account- $5182.93, Savings account - $4571.42, Cash on hand - $12.55
Membership Coordinator Duane: 86 paid members
Mechele asked if any of chairs would like present information to the club. Frank with the airport project presented the club with an approximate spending of $315 for equipment for supplies for the Airport hives. Roy made the motion that we go ahead with spending $315, seconded by Phil, motion carried.
No other chairs reported.
Mechele moved to new business of nominations.
Paul asked the Mechele if he could come address the club. Paul asked that the secretary read from the bylaws about how officers are elected.
Secretary followed through with the request and read Article three section two: “All officers shall hold office for one year or until their successors have been duly elected and installed.”
Paul then talked to the association that by saying duly elected our bylaws have to be amended in order to set up a nomination process. So, he made the motion that the nominations be tabled until the bylaws can be amended.
Mechele addressed the association and let the club know that the bylaws that club was suppose to be following was not being done by her predecessors.
Tim addressed the club about what the board has been trying to accomplish for the year such as create a set of proposed bylaws which we did, try to establish a software system to fix the issues with our website and membership.
Mechele talked about why the club missed Green Congress as Lori has been using her personal email and phone number for communications. All of the flyers and cards that have been passed out are with Lori’s name, email and phone number. That is why Mechele established a phone number with direct lines to different members of the board to avoid this problem in the future.
Phil motioned to fix the bylaws that we are using now and bring to the next meeting. David added that they will post them by the May meeting and vote in June.
David moved to table the nominations until next month. Paul let the club know that this means their can be no elections at this time.
It was also motioned that the Roberts Rules of Order be amended for this meeting to hold the nominations and elections. Paul and Mechele let the club know that you can’t amend Roberts Rules of order.
Michele Clark moved to meet in the middle and have the bylaws revised by May and then approve at June. There was a second but motion did not carry.
Mechele asked Paul if they make the amendment to the bylaws and every member got a set of bylaws with the notification of changes via, email, mail and the website that at the next meeting we could vote on the bylaws, adopt them and then vote in elections.
Frank made the motion that a committee form, create bylaws, propose to the president and then to the club. David seconded. Motion carried
Frank made a second motion that if in 30 days the committee did not complete the task that we hold elections at that time. Seconded by Michele. Motion carried
A motion was put to the floor that we move to adjourn the meeting and carry the raffle over until the next meeting. Seconded by Mechele, motion carried.
Meeting adjourned at 9:27 pm
