25 people in attendance; 21 in-person and 4 online

Updates from the President:

  • Reading our new OBA diversity statement – tldr: all you have to do to be welcome here is show interest in bees!
  • InspireOlympia – applied again for the second year again for $30,000, and we received $22,500! Plan to use the money to build a geodesic dome at the apiary to function as an education and community space.
    • If anyone wants to join Nathan at a council meeting, you are welcome – let him know.
  • Apiary update
    • Over-wintered hives are at the apiary – we have about a dozen total
    • Bryan is the Apiary Manager and welcomes volunteer support
    • A small journeyman class is using the apiary right now to graft queens – we have potentially 13 new hives as of this past Saturday
    • We have two hives from Evergreen temporarily at the apiary right now. There is plenty of room to hold hives temporarily there if you need the space
    • Anyone working at the apiary will need to sign a liability form
  • Reminder that we now have club access to the Swarmed app – you can sign up for free as an OBA member to catch swarms reported within your location/parameters. Trying to promote to the public to reach out to OBA when see a swarm.
    • Idea: Create a bumper sticker with “Swarm Team” for people who sign up to catch swarms
  • Upcoming meetings
    • Q3 Board meeting needs to be rescheduled so Nathan can attend
    • Potluck Picnic is next month at the club apiary, please try not to park on the grass
    • No meeting in August

Treasurer:

  • In good financial shape, reserves to carry us three years with normal expenses
  • Account balances:
    • Business – $6,290
    • Grant – $3,450

Education:

  • Graduation! Gail handed out certificates from the most recent (and all previous that she still had) apprentice class.
  • Suggests we discuss how we want the format of our education courses to proceed
    • Continue with 1x a week for 6 weeks on Saturdays? Limit to 20 total people?
    • Switch to WASBA? (Requires a full-on beginners class before the apprentice class)
    • Also interested in feedback about the apprentice class so we can improve
    • Next steps: Start a discussion on the OBA Discussions Board or email Nathan or Gail to gather opinions, maybe a survey, and take that info to a meeting with the Education Chair to make some decisions for the club

Membership:

  • We have 130 members
  • Special thanks for Bryan for giving us the observation hive to use today at the elementary school and lots of other events we’ve been doing

Outreach:

  • Today spent career day at Ft Stevens Elementary school
  • Made a connection with Yelm Community Schools for next academic year
  • Thurston County Fair coming up at end of July and we need volunteers!
  • Exploring making connection with Latino and Spanish-speaking beekeepers in Thurston County area but need connections – if anyone knows anyone, please reach out to Mohan
  • OBA Discussions Board – encourage you to read that and join the discussions

Librarian:

  • If you have books that you have checked out, please remember to bring them back.
  • Promoting a few books this week

Speaker tonight is Alex from Garden Raised Bounty (GRuB) – “Healing through Hives”