6:30 President, Doug Galloway, gave the invocation and started the meeting. New members and visitors introduced themselves briefly and were welcomed.
Officer’s Reports
Secretary, Sara Kennedy:
Minutes for January meeting were emailed earlier in the week, with a few paper copies passed around. A motion was made and approved to pass the minutes. A roster was passed around for people to verify their information. If you were not present and wish to check your roster information, contact Sara.
Treasurer, Julia Brown:
Treasurer’s Report for January was read out. At Doug’s request, Julia will work with Sara to distribute the Treasurer’s report via email, and the report will be voted on for approval next month.
Program Chair, Mickey Hollar, was away.
Doug reminded those present that Mickey is always looking for volunteers to contribute snacks for meetings. At the March 2019 meeting our speaker will be George McAllister, Master Beekeeper, speaking on “Using Queen Castles to increase honey production”.
Vice President, Tracey Carriker:
Tracey announced that we will not be entering into the GAP competition for 2018. The feedback we received for 2017 was that we needed to have more members participating, and we had fewer participating in 2018 than we did in 2017. We do intend to compete in 2019; please submit GAP forms to Tracey.
Tracey and Doug gave a brief overview of the GAP – Golden Achievement Program – a program of the North Carolina State Beekeepers Association that recognizes the efforts of a chapter and its members to advancing the practice, science and community of beekeeping through the year. Many of our normal activities can help contribute to our application, if they are documented.
A suggestion was made that the GAP form be made available on our website; Sara agreed to take this on.
Tracey reminded us that the approach of spring means that schools will be contacting us to present programs about bees. We are able to provide equipment and an outline to anyone who is interested in giving a program. (And this counts towards GAP!) Please contact Tracey or Sara if you are interested in participating.
President, Doug Galloway:
Doug announced that this is the last year he is able to serve as President. Doug would like to have a candidate for next year’s presidency shadow him throughout the year to ensure a smooth transition. If you are interested in being President starting in 2020, please speak with Doug or Tracey.
Old Business:
Our 2019 Beginning Beekeeper Workshop will continue this Saturday at 9:00 am in Room #6 at the Library. We have 14 new students this year. Volunteers are again needed to support our new beekeepers this coming Saturday; thank you for all those who came and supported our new beekeepers and club this past Saturday.
New Business:
Meeting location next month will be Room #6 in the Library. Our speaker will be George McAllister, Master Beekeeper, speaking on “Using Queen Castles to increase honey production”.
Testing for the Certified Level of the Master Beekeeper Program will be help prior to the next meeting on March 21, 2019 at 5:00 PM in Room #2 in the Library. You must be an NCSBA member to take the test. All members enrolled in the CCNCBA Beginning Beekeeping Class are NCSBA member now and Julia Brown will be submitting your membership applications. If you plan to test, please bring your active NCSBA member number.
We continue to have some difficulty securing a room for our meetings, so if anyone has a venue that will accommodate 70 people please talk to Doug. As a club we are not opposed to paying a moderate fee to support the use of anyone’s facility.
For those members intending to buy bees for this spring, H.S. Greene (336-957-0275 or [email protected]) is selling 3-lb packages for $130 and Eddie Hicks (828-896-7764 or [email protected]) is selling 5-frame nucs for $155. Contact H.S. or Eddie for more information.
A suggestion was made that we hold a black-jar honey tasting of honey produced by club members at our August picnic. Travis and Amy Sholar volunteered to coordinate this.
7:00 — Guest Speaker: Danny Jaynes
Doug Galloway introduced our guest speaker, Danny Jaynes, Master Craftsman Beekeeper and Caldwell County Beekeepers member, who spoke about working with wax and pollinator gardens.
Danny demonstrated the process of preparing candle molds, melting wax, and pouring candles. Key points include the use of cappings for the nicest, cleanest wax; safety and cleanliness aspects such as avoiding open flames and using a double boiler to melt wax, covering all surfaces, and using dedicated pots and pans; and the importance of straining melted wax through a nylon curtain or similar, but not cotton as it will leave cotton fibers in the wax.
Danny then switched topics and spoke about pollinator gardens, with an emphasis on the large pollinator garden he and others have installed near his bee yard. A full list of recommended plants will be available at Saturday’s beginners’ class. He also recommends the book Garden Plants for Honey Bees by Peter Lindtner.
Door Prizes
Many door prizes were given out, including beeswax candles and figurines created by Danny during the meeting. Congratulations to all winners.
Ongoing:
GAP – please submit your forms.
VOLUNTEERS EDUCATION: Tracey Carriker, Linda Moretz (when available), Doug Galloway, Mack Whiteside, Amy Burchette, Aziz Bootwala, Edwin Miller, Scott Barlow, Patrick Muldoon, Bud Faw, Danny & Mary Jaynes, Sara Kennedy, Jeffrey Smith wants to accompany someone first time. ANYONE THAT WOULD LIKE TO BE ADDED PLEASE LET SARA KENNEDY KNOW.
Mickey Hollar is in charge of refreshments and needs folks to volunteer during the year to pick a month to bring some goodies for our meetings.
8:30 pm — Meeting adjourned
Attendance for February: 43
Minutes by Sara Kennedy, Secretary
Upcoming Events:
Future Chapter Meetings at 6:30 pm:
2019 Chapter Meetings/Tentative Schedule of Speakers
Mar 21: George McAllister (Lenoir Library, room #6)
Apr 18: Dr. James Nieland / Chiropractor Beekeeper Back Health (Blue Ridge Electric Community Room)
May 16: Bryan Fisher / Splits
June 20: Dr. Bill Herring / Anaphylactic Shock
July 25: TBD (Note date change because of EAS)
Aug 15: Annual Picnic
Sept 19: Emily Trescot / Wax Comb and Candles
Oct 17: Robert Smith / How to Build Affordable Woodenware/Sizes
Nov 21: Debbie Mitchell
Dec 19: Annual Christmas Dinner
Caldwell County Beekeepers Class 2019
Feb 23, 9:30 – 3:30 (Lenoir Library, room #6)
Written Test March 21, 5 pm (Lenoir Library, room #2)
Practical Test April 13
Future Conference Meeting
Spring 2019 Joint NCSBA and SCBA Meeting, March 1 & 2 in Monroe NC.
Eastern Apiculture Society Meeting from July 15 -19, in Greenville SC
Summer 2019 NCSBA Meeting, August 8-10 in Hickory NC.