Source attachment: 2018_10_19_MSBA_BOD minutes.docx
Minutes of the Executive Board Meeting
October 19, 2018
USDA/ARS Beltsville Bee Lab, Building 306 BARC-EAST, Beltsville, MD
MSBA President, Jim Fraser called the meeting to order at 7:16 PM.
Attendees: In room: Jim Fraser, Kim Mehalick, Toni Burnham, Robert Crouse, Allen Hayes (with proxy of Brenda Klaunberg), David Clark, Marc Hoffman, Clyde Strang, Susan Warner, Phil Frank (non-voting).
On phone: Deborah Hewitt, Martin Posse, Cybil Preston (non-voting), Patti Wong, Jerry Worrell, David Morris (non-voting).
Review and Approval of the Minutes. Motion to approve by Clyde Strang, seconded by Allen Hayes, the motion passed.
Reports by the Officers
President – A full agenda, let’s move on with the meeting
Treasurer – MSBA Membership is at a historic high of 940. 320 are life members, also a record. Of new life members, only 6 have converted from annual memberships: 20 are new to the organization.
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 November 17 meeting is Mel Disselkoen, additional speaker will be Doug Vincent from North Carolina. The meeting is at its required budget. February 2019 meeting will feature Dr. Samuel Ramsey as well as a full slate of local and regional speakers. June 2019 meeting at UMD/College Park will include topics such as gentle Africanized stock, honey tasting competitions, honey show preparations, and a prize for those who enter in the meeting honey tasting contest.
EAS Report – Patti Wong: EAS 2018 in Virginia had 706 attendees, a record 81 attended from Maryland. Maryland EAS Basket sold well. EAS 2019 is in Greenville, SC. EAS 2020 will be at the University of Maine/Orono.
Upcoming Programs
Fall/November 17 meeting at MDA in Annapolis will feature a major push for honey show participation, recruitment of volunteers for the honey show, and outside vendors. Participants in Honey Judging Class invited to volunteer.
Winter Meeting will take place February 2 at Harford Community College in originally promised room/not same setup as 2018.
Spring Meeting will take place June 15, 2019 at UMD/College Park, Plant Sciences Building.
Old Business
• MSBA Membership/dues Update:
• Rolling membership: President suggests, based on changes to website, accounting, and technology, that MSBA membership be changed from a calendar year to a rolling basis: members would be enrolled for a year from the date of payment. Management of rolling membership demands committing to nearly 100% online membership management with very few exceptions. Technology for automatically generating reminders, etc., and will allow for payment forward of dues as well. This change requires a change to the bylaws. The constitutional process in the bylaws requires a vote by the Board, a notice to members (BeeLine) and a two-thirds vote of approval of members at the Membership Meeting.
Toni proposes amendment to Article III, Section 1: “Membership shall be on a rolling one-year basis.” And Section 3: “A membership that has not been renewed by 365 days from the date of the existing membership, member shall be dropped from the rolls.” Debbie Hewitt seconds. Motion passes unanimously.
• Increase to dues: Meeting costs are rising and MSBA must keep them open to the public, and MSBA has often made up deficits via other means. No increase in decades. Bob Crouse moves that dues be raised to $20 per annual membership starting on October 19, 2018. Toni Burnham seconds. Motion passes unanimously. Phil Frank: existing members who renew at meeting will be renewing 2019 membership at $20. New members will be assessed $20 from that date for a rolling membership.
• Paying for membership beyond existing period: A previous BOD decision rejected paying in advance of one year for membership to simplify accounting and membership management. With new system, this is no longer a problem. Jim Fraser moved that “Members will be allowed to credit additional dues payments to extend their current membership period.” Debbie Hewitt seconds, passes unanimously.
• Membership data policy: Board must consider policy for handling the member data that will be acquired at a future board meeting. We may be able to offer additional communications, for example, on an opt-in basis.
• Changes to Honey Show Judging criteria: Photography Category judging criteria to be propagated by Apiary Inspector to all judges. These proposed changes are appended to these minutes. Kim Mehalick moves to accept these new criteria, Allen Hayes seconds, motion passes, Jerry Worrell abstains. Also, David Morris mentions chunk honey contest currently allows queenline jars, should require wide mouth jars. To be corrected in published rules.
• Status of replacement treasurer: Stefanie Ottenstein agrees to run.
• Club liability insurance status: Current premiums $500, up from $425. Lowest price after shopping.
• Current list of clubs, officers, contact information correct on website and newsletter: Jim has requested updates, Toni will request again before newsletter.
New Business
• Imirie and Free State Beekeeper Awards: Dr. Samuel Ramsey nominated for Imirie Award by Toni Burnham, all in favor. Free State Beekeeper Award: Toni Burnham nominates both Marc Hoffman (Honey Harvest Festival work) and Bob Crouse (retirement from many years as treasurer). Marc declines. All vote in favor of Bob Crouse with one abstention, Bob himself).
• Nominations Committee for MSBA Elections: Positions to be elected include all Second VPs, Treasurer, and two directors, Bill McGiffin and Barry Thompson. Toni will lead 2018 Nominations Committee, which will also begin querying less active 2nd VPs re level of interest and help with increased MSBA member activities. Jim, Allen, agree to serve.
• Encouraging education for buyers of nucs in MD: Clubs dealing with new beekeepers without a class. State association can only advise to join a local club. Sympathy for mentoring issue. Frederick Club now charging people for this service. Encourage establishment of concierge beekeeping services.
• Vendors at upcoming meetings? Dadant, Mann Lake, Betterbee have been contacted.
• MSBA class/training offerings for 2019: Honey Judging in May/June (last course 2015), Kim will ask about use of NASA/Goddard. Making Splits/Nucs in March? Potentially Montgomery College, Universities of Shady Grove: Mike Mehalick and Patti Wong will begin inquiries.
• Honey Harvest Festival 2019? Needs organizer, use newsletter, nomination process.
• Possible 2019 “Bee Day” in Annapolis: Marc Hoffmann shares that beekeepers should have an “ask” when meeting with Annapolis leaders. Planned event should be low key, perhaps with a pollinator talk or two. We need to develop a goal and then an event. Agenda item for General Meeting in Annapolis. Marc will attend Maryland Farm Bureau Meeting on behalf of MSBA in December.
• What are the rules for labeling beekeeper-sold honey: apparent conflict between legal labeling requirements and “Cottage Food Laws” from UMD Extension. Marc Hoffmann will take a look at National Honey Board and other government sources and report.
A motion to adjourn was made by Allen Hayes and seconded by Susan Warner, the motion passed. The meeting adjourned at 9:23 PM.
Next Board Meeting: (Suggested) Friday, January 4, 2019.
Suggested Revisions to Criteria for Judging Bee Photography
The current Maryland photography judging form is limited to three criteria.
Composition 35
Treatment of subject matter 35
Quality and presentation 30
The current criteria are generic and vague. At the recent MSBA Honey Judging Class there was general agreement among the honey judges present that the criteria could, and should, be improved.
Steve McDaniel, as a honey judge and professional photographer, generously took the time to develop a new criteria. David Morris provided modified forms for four judges in 2016, and four different judges in 2017, at the MSBA Honey Show. Using the new criteria, alongside the current criteria (above) to judge a total of 11 photographs entered in the two shows, all agreed the new criteria were more clear and assisted in judging by providing more discrete criteria. In 2017, the new criteria easily resolved a tie that occurred using the current criteria.
At the recommendations of the judges during the 2017 Honey Show, the wording was slightly modified to make what was being judged more clear. If you have any comments, please send them to David Morris at beefriend@verizon.net.
Proposed New Bee Photography Judging criteria
Subject 25
• Relationship to beekeeping (no points for non-Apis) 5
• Interesting choice of subject 15
• Story-telling quality 5
{Reduced Story-telling to 5 points. Difficult to judge a “bee portrait” for story-telling quality. }
Composition 25
• Placement of subject to draw the eye to the most important point 25
Technique 30
• Exposure & Contrast: full tonal range, light to dark 10
• Sharpness: focus, and graininess or pixilation 10
• Color & Tones: Attractiveness of colors or B&W tones 10
Presentation 20
• Matting: Quality and appropriateness 10
• Framing: Quality and appropriateness 10
Judging Notes:
Subject: must relate to beekeeping
For full points, Subject may include bees of the species Apis (Apis mellifera preferred, no non-Apis species), equipment, activities or scenes relating to beekeeping, hive products, and/or people/beekeepers engaged in beekeeping related activities and/or commerce.
The image should evoke an emotional response from the viewer.
Story-telling quality conveys a sense that an event has, or will, occurred outside the frame of the photo (in time or space) which is expressed in the photo.
Composition: means how well the subject is portrayed by the photographer.
The subject should be placed so as to draw the eye of the viewer into the picture and toward the most important point, often the eye of the subject.
Converging lines, an S-curve, or “Rule of Thirds” layout may be used, but there are no hard-and-fast rules. A centered subject is considered dull, but it may be effective for some images.
The subject should be large enough to be seen clearly.
Technique: the nuts-and-bolts of photography.
Exposure and contrast: An effective image is neither too light nor too dark with detail in both shadows and highlights. The subject should neither be washed out or so dark that detail is lost.
Sharpness: The image should be sharp and clear with effective use of depth-of-focus to isolate distracting foreground or background. If a bee or person is the subject, the eye should be in focus. An image may be dreamy or soft for artistic effect. Overly enlarged photos will show unattractive graininess or pixilation.
Attractiveness of colors and tones: the colors (or tones in black-and-white) enhance the subject without being dull.
Presentation: should follow the rules of the show: print only, matted, or framed.
If framing is allowed, the print should be framed for full points. The mat and frame should set off and enhance the image, not distract from it. Very fancy or inappropriately colored mats or frames should be discouraged, as should cheap document frames or mats that do not fit the image. Glass should be spotlessly clean.
If framing and matting is not required, unframed/unmatted photos get half points; framed/matted photos may receive full points.
If framing and matting is not permitted, framed and matted photos get no points and unframed photos get full points.
** Apiary **
Judge's Scoring Sheet – MSBA HONEY SHOW
Class ______ Photography
MAX POINTS Year: ______
EXHIBITOR NUMBER >
Subject:
Relationship to beekeeping (no points for non-Apis)
5
Interesting choice of subject
15
Story-telling quality
5
Composition
Placement of subject to draw the eye to most important point
25
Technique
Exposure & Contrast: full tonal range, light to dark
10
Sharpness: focus, and graininess or pixilation
10
Color & Tones: Attractiveness of colors or B&W tones
10
Presentation
Matting: Quality and appropriateness
10
Framing: Quality and appropriateness
10
TOTAL POINTS >
100
AWARD >
11/16
Judge's COMMENT Sheet
Class ______ Photography
EXHIBITOR
SUBJECT
COMPOSITION
TECHNIQUE
PRESENTATION
11/16