top of page

Pierce County Beekeeping Association Board Meeting Minutes

​

Wednesday 4/17/2024

Meeting Time: 6:40 pm to 8:00 pm

 

Those in attendance included: Mary Dempsey, Katie Marler, Jillian Selcer, Nathan Chambers, Kathleen Clerc

 

~ Meeting opened at 6:40 pm by Kathleen Clerc, seconded by Nathan Chambers

 

Presidential Term Limit:

  • Kathleen Clerc is excitedly pregnant with twins due in August. The board had earmarked Kathleen to nominate for the next President in line, to be voted and approved on by the club body at large, after Mary Dempsey’s term expires this year. After surveying other potential candidates the board is finding no other candidate(s) ready or willing to run for the post. Currently the president's role has a term limit of 2 years, the board is going to bring to a vote with the club an initiative to increase the term limit to 4 years. This would allow Mary to continue her good work and seems like a more appropriate term limit. 

 

Club Apiary:

  • Starting in June, Kathleen and Katie Marler will start co-managing the club Apiary.

  • Oxalic Acid treatments will need to be handled by a club volunteer. There are a couple members who are trained and willing to help. 

  • 4/19/24 will be the next hive inspection. 

  • Currently 3 hives are in good order with one needing to be split. There have been many swarms caught recently and Chris (club member) will be dropping off one captured swarm to set up a new colony. Mary is planning on moving 2 existing hives to the Apiary. By May the Club Apiary will have 7 functioning hives with 1 vacancy. 

  • Need to purchase and install landscaping pins to finish the ground cloth installation. Perimeter is completely secured but extra will need to be added to the walkways. 

  • Apiary Days will start Friday May 17th and will be scheduled 2 times per month for the season. The monthly schedule is the 1st Saturday and 3rd Friday. 

 

Event Management Coordinator:

  • Jillian Selcer is taking over the PCBA Public Event Coordinator role matching club volunteer speaker/presenters with public institutions who request Bee Presentations. These groups include schools, retirement facilities, service clubs, etc. 

  • Board discussed creating presentation kits including demonstration materials, Power Point outlines, poster boards and handouts packaged in travel totes for our club presenter’s use. Former board member Natasha is building a prototype travel kit we can replicate. Goal is to have (3) kits ready for presenter’s use. 

 

Silent Auction May 1st:

  • Silent Auction will be postponed to the June 3rd meeting

  • Mary has been collecting donations and will need them transported to the club meeting as she will be out of town on June 3rd. Each donation will be staged with a bid sheet, this year will be a highest bid silent auction. Members can write in their bid amount on the bid sheet during the first hour of the meeting with payment due upon award. Set up will start at 4pm and at the April meeting we will ask for any volunteers who would like to participate. Tables need to be moved to the perimeter of the meeting hall and potentially in the adjacent hallways for the auction items. The auction will start at 6pm, open viewing/bidding for one hour, bid awards starting at 7. There will be a few high interest items that will be offered for a traditional auction at the end. 

  • Schedule and itinerary needs to be added to the Facebook page and Club website. 

  • A board member or trusted club volunteer needs to be identified to handle the cashier role, money will be collected via the Square scanner and cash will also be accepted. 

  • Auctioneer needs to be confirmed. 

 

Honey House Cleaning:

  • Saturday May 20th work party at the Honey House. Cleaning the interior and pressure washing the exterior is scheduled. Follow up work party to paint the exterior needs to be scheduled

  • Mary motioned for a “no swearing zone” seconded by Katie. 

 

Treasury Update:

  • Fawn Casey (club treasurer, not in attendance) is working on recategorizing the Club’s Quickbooks accounting for better organization. 

  • 503c paperwork has been filed with the State and IRS for the year. 

 

Education:

  • Curriculum for the beginner and Beekeeper in a Day classes is completed. Teacher’s will have a full Powerpoint slide deck to use for each teaching module. Katie Marler is currently finishing the curriculum for the apprentice class. Intermediate curriculum will be the next for development. Katie requires access to the website to update class information for the club. 

  • Next Beekeeper in a Day class needs to be added for Saturday May 4th. For this class attendees will be able to tour a hive in the Apiary but bee suite is required and safety waivers need to be signed. 

 

Website:

  • The class enrollment option is currently charging for shipping, this needs to get fixed. 

  • New membership option to pay with cash or check needs to get added. 

 

 

May Meeting:

  • Mary will be out of town but will leave club computer’s for use. Chris will be teaching the beginner class, Katie will teach the apprentice class and Greg Willging will lead Sustainability. Kathleen will lead the club meeting at 7pm. Meeting will include a breakout for Community Clusters. 

  • Review Master Gardner sales results.

  • Review Spring Fair honey sales results.

  • No new update from WSU regarding lease but relationship is strong. 

 

New Initiatives:

  • Club needs a new battery powered O.A. wand, cost is approximately $400.

  • Richards Packaging has extended pricing on honey jars for .56/per jar with lid. 

  • Need to research plastic jars for honey packaging. This would allow us to ship honey without fear of breaking the glass jars. 

  • Start selling club honey online for fundraising. 

  • Create badges for members in good standing to wear at meetings. Color code them via the queen marking guidelines to easily identify the last year dues were paid. Jason (club member) will be handing off the label printer owned by the club to Nathan Chambers at the next meeting to see if it can be used for creating badges

  • Club directory for members. Create an optional registry with name and city of residence, phone and email as an additional listing option. Add an “opt in” check box to the website at the Membership Registration page. 

  • Club Merchandise. Research pricing for T Shirts and Sweatshirts with club logos to offer for sale on website, events, club meetings. 

  • Research pricing for bee vacuum to have at Honey House

 

~ Meeting adjourned at 8 pm by Katie Marler, seconded by Mary Dempsey

.  

bottom of page