Source attachment: 2018_5_11_MSBA_draft_BOD minutes.docx

DRAFT
Minutes of the Executive Board Meeting
May 11, 2018
USDA/ARS Beltsville Bee Lab, Building 306 BARC-EAST, Beltsville, MD

MSBA President, Jim Fraser called the meeting to order at 7:08 PM.

Attendees: In room: Jim Fraser, Kim Mehalick, Toni Burnham, Robert Crouse, Allen Hayes, David Clark, Carl Guerci (proxy for Deborah Hewitt), Marc Hoffman, Clyde Strang, Susan Warner, Marc Hoffman, Phil Frank (non-voting).
On phone: Brenda Klaunberg, Bill McGiffin, George Meyer, Cybil Preston (non-voting), Barry Thompson, Patti Wong, Jerry Worrell, Barry Thompson.

Review and Approval of the Minutes. Motion to approve David Clark, seconded by Susan Warner, the motion passed.

Reports by the Officers
President – A full agenda, let’s move on with the meeting
Treasurer - Financial statement sheet. Certificate of deposit coming due in July, will receive an additional $1000. All 3 CDs will then average about $10,000. George Imirie Fund has collected $64.90 to date with annual $100 payout. The fund will lose money when we renew.
License plates are also off. Sales of t-shirts and honey judging class will remain on statement, though class will next take place in 2019. See attached report.

Secretary & Editor – BeeLine hoped for third week May. Club input, including articles from club newsletters, always of interest. Seeks feedback concerning BeeLine content.

Vice-President – Kim Mehalick: Keynote speaker for June is Dr. Paul Kelly of University of Guelph, change from Bill Sprenkle due to family issues. Working on November, BOD members asked to publicize June meeting. Speakers include Zac Lamas of BIP and Dr. Miguel Corona of USDA/ARS. BIP presentation also. UMD room must be reserved 90 days in advance, not sooner. Susan Warner has agreed to handle meeting refreshments. Jim has done equipment inventory and will bring to meeting. Susan will procure food from list provided by Jim Fraser.

EAS Report – Patti Wong has been to three clubs, Montgomery County, Frederick and Howard, all receptive. Has PowerPoint presentation which covers EAS with room for MD input. Four more clubs are scheduled for visits, two this month and two in early June. One additional club has received flyers and others have not replied, will visit them next year.

Upcoming Programs

June 16 Meeting at UMD as discussed above. Honey Harvest Festival 2018 is still a maybe.

Marc Hoffman spoke with Dick Crane in January but no further contact, suggested club find another event within which to offer festival and explained previous offerings and resources. Previous location not interested. Perhaps event may be held Summer 2019 instead. Jim Fraser will contact clubs to gauge interest.

Old Business

• Membership report: New annual members, 265, still growing. 13 new members, signed up as Life Members right away, for a total of 278. Six existing members converted from annual to life members. We have 313 Life Members. We have 232 returning members. 257 total members enrolled this year plus 6 converted to life. We have 829 members as of now. Large churn in membership with limited renewals suggests exit survey to discover why. Izzy Hill and Toni Burnham will craft questions/language, Phil Frank will deploy on website and generate notices to participate to past members.
• Online Membership System: Advantage to dispensing with paper handling, but disadvantage in number of donations to Imirie, Apiary Inspectors, and MSBA General Fund donations, a total of $7,291 from last year. If monies collected since November are included, $3,791 short. Unexpected drop has created accounting snafus for Treasurer. Dues collected since November: $9,191.12. Campaign for participation in next BeeLine. Jim will write emails to members, Bob will bring paper donation forms to meetings. For donations, changes to website with suggested giving levels to be considered.
• Prince Georges restrictions update: No change/news. Unlikely that there will be new restrictions.
• ETO: No movement, next step is Toni Burnham filling out label form for use of ETO for beekeeping fumigation and other paperwork. Toni requests help, Izzy and Barry offer to confer. Jim asks: is there need? Viral sterilization appears to be increasingly valuable. Shout out in newsletter. Include need for storage location.
• NJ Restrictions on Beekeeping: Allen Hayes: no ongoing problem, closed issue.

New Business
• Directors’ Dues, all current.
• Club contacts on website, newsletter: Carroll and other counties out of date, Jim will forward list. Phil Frank requests BOD members send him local club webmaster names and contact info.
• New Meeting Location: Appears to have worked well. Room was not original choice, lines of site were source of some complaint. Vendor area tight. AV was great. We get space free of charge. We may look at other locations that require a fee in future. We should reschedule for this location, can cancel if other location becomes necessary.
• Liability Insurance: $475 last year. Now $525, but less than other offers. The Hartford (our insurer) may be most experienced. Automatic renewal
• Recruiting new Treasurer: A candidate with CPA has been identified, still somewhat tentative. Has been assured that most important meeting for attendance is November/Honey Show.
• Spending Limits Rules for Meetings: Bylaws do not include spending limits for officers. VP needs guidelines, as there has been historic variation and Treasurer has faced unexpected expenses at meeting time. Motion by David Clark: Yearly budget of $7500 for three General membership meeting expenses, with a budget of $2500 per meeting. If that amount is exceeded, approval from two officers (President, Vice President, Treasurer, or Secretary) is required with notification in advance of the meeting date. Clyde Strang seconded. Motion passes unanimously.
• MOM’s Organic Market Selling Nucs: Cybil Preston has been in touch, approximately 20 coming to Maryland: she will inspect. All have been inspected in VA. Website now includes education suggestion and links to clubs. Sales to all other states will pick up in VA. BOD members note difficulty for local clubs to mentor unprepared beekeepers with nucs that are unlikely to survive. Jim will get in touch to clubs with delivery locations in their area to suggest outreach to buyers.
• Support for Sale of Nucs by Members: While local clubs do offer varying levels of availability information, MSBA will expand “bees for sale” notification capability of website.
• Lantern Flies: An invasive pest in PA which will inevitably reach Maryland. Several PA counties have been quarantined, pest nests on everything, including woodenware, depends on Tree of Heaven/Ailanthus altissima for life cycle. May be issue for commercial pollinators due to consumption of fruit in orchards. Major eradication effort in progress. Include in BeeLine.
• Pygmy Shrews: smaller than shrews common to Maryland to date. An increasing winter threat to clustered bees: feeds by removing heads, sucking out thorax of bees, does not nest in hives. Moving down from Canada, now common in New England. Both Izzy Hill and Toni Burnham have observed this pest. Works through wintering colonies in a row, can get through #4 hardware cloth, guards must be #5. Good article on BeeInformed site, will be shared in BeeLine. Different diet from existing shrews. Rachel Fahey from BIP should be invited to November meeting to discuss.
• Bee Day in Annapolis 2019: Marc Hoffman will put on agenda for October BOD Meeting.

A motion to adjourn was made by Toni Burnham and seconded by Allen Hayes, the motion passed. The meeting adjourned at 8:52 PM.

Next Board Meeting: (Suggested) Friday, October 19, 2018.

Financial Statements and Treasurer’s Report, 2018