Source attachment: 2016_10_07_MSBA board minutes.doc

Source note: The file name says October 7, 2016, but the document heading says May 18, 2016. The document heading is used for the page month and the discrepancy is preserved below.

DRAFT
Executive Board Meeting Minutes
May 18, 2016 7:00pm
Brookside Nature Center
1400 Glenallan Avenue, Wheaton, Maryland 20902

Call to Order – 7:05 PM by MSBA President, Allen Hayes

In attendance:
Phone: Ben Cooper, Carl Guerci (HHF), Elizabeth Hill, Marc Hoffman, Crystal Lehmanking, Maggie Mills, Linda Thompson, Jerry Worrell
In Person: Toni Burnham, Robert Crouse, Wayne Esaias, Jim Fraser, Allen Hayes, Deborah Hewitt, Brenda Klaunberg, Bill McGiffin, Tim McMahon
Review and Approval of the Minutes: Friday, January 15, 2016 BOD Meeting
Minutes were presented. Typo (“not” to “now”) corrected, Deborah Hewitt participated by phone. Motion to accept by Tim McMahon, seconded by Wayne Esaias, motion passed unanimously.
Reports by the Officers
President – Allen Hayes
June Keynote Speaker Phil Craft travel arrangements difficult to make via web and MSBA debit card. Still needs hotel.
Treasurer - Robert Crouse (report attached): Financial statement distributed at meeting is dated 6/1, has voided checks from November honey show that have not been cashed. Club liability insurance has already been paid with automatic withdrawal. MSBA has 797 members, 16 of them complimentary. 285 are Life Members. There were 174 non-renewals, 196 new members, 4 completely new to MSBA. 37 had previously missed a renewal, 267 regular renewals. 4 regular members converted to life members, 4 completely new members initiate as life members!
This is the highest ever number of members for MSBA. License plate renewals are a source of many memberships, accounting for $314 per year on average. We have a Certificate of Deposit that has paid off, not completely due to $100 annual Imirie Award
Secretary/BeeLine Editor – Toni Burnham
Breaking news to include Dr. Delaney not getting tenure at UDel, Maryann Frazier update on application project supported by MSBA and member clubs, early results of BeeInformed Loss Survey, additional survey data from USDA, usual agenda, speaker, EAS Info. Plan to complete and mail newsletter in 10 days, only 130 hard copy mailings at this time. Earliest possible release date/post to website is around May 27th. Goal for each edition is to release the BeeLine three weeks before each general membership meeting.
Vice-President – Jim Fraser
Spring 2016 Meeting agenda will take place June 18 at the University of Maryland/College Park, Plant Sciences Building auditorium. Phil Craft is keynote, program includes Ashley Jones of the Maryland Department of Agriculture discussing the ongoing Managed Pollinator Protection Program process, BeeInformed Project reps sharing Maryland results of the 2015-2016 Colony Loss Survey, and Dr. Robert Broadrup of Haverford College (seeking local involvement in hive monitoring project). James Naurot is stepping down as provider of refreshments at meetings: has served several years and storage/transport of all associated equipment and foods has become burdensome. Jim's son will handle for now, can there be a "shout out" to the membership for a new volunteer? James should receive a reward for his service, perhaps life membership. No vendors will be at June meeting due to space considerations.

EAS Director – Tim McMahon
Has visited all but 2 clubs: Susquehanna and Garrett County. Master Beekeeper Exams becoming crowded, and future limits are possible. 25 has proved to be too many, especially in terms of the oral portion. Housing sign ups for EAS 2016 are ready. The dorms are new, and campus accommodation includes breakfast. Allen Hayes will speak about EAS at June meeting. EAS 2016 will take place at Richard Stockton University in Galloway, NJ, Short Course July 25-27, Conference July 27-29.

Old Business
MSBA Membership update – Bob Crouse on renewals: 192 new members, 4 who joined as Life Members. Total new members therefore 196. Skipped year renewals: 37. Renewals from last year: 267. 496 active members. 4 converted from standard to Life members.
2016 Honey Harvest Festival report (postponed from last meeting): Both Brookside Gardens and Nature Center will be locations. Lindsay Barranco organizing the festival with cooperation from several clubs, including Montgomery County, and beekeeping related organizations. Carl Guerci (on phone) is assisting. Seeks volunteer form to be included with next BeeLine newsletter, perhaps on MSBA web site. Tim McMahon adds that it is an overall pollinator day. Date conflicts with Association of Southern Maryland Beekeepers activities. Allen has the banners, Deb Hewitt willing to deliver them.
EAS Report – Tim McMahon: See Officer's Report above.
ETO Chamber – Bob Crouse, Toni Burnham: ETO work divided into two categories: physical repair/restoration of the gear (managed by Bob Crouse), and regulatory work to return it to service (Toni Burnham). Bob believes tank ready for pressure testing. Toni has attempted to re-connect with Mr. Davison of MDA/pesticide regulation re: process for getting label for ETO use without success, trying other routes. Next steps include finding ETO source. Dr. Delaney of UDel from North Carolina where ETO tank is operating, may be able to help make useful contacts. Toni will call before next board meeting.
WellBeeing App: Have contacted with no reply, Maryann Frazier is retiring. Allen suggests contact with Dr. Delaney, who may have taken over. (Later info WeelBeeing completed and Maryann Frazier gave public thanks to Maryland Beekeepers). Dr. Delaney denied tenure at UDel. Recommends board members put in a good word for her at UDel if possible.

New Business
Place meeting notices in ABJ and BeeCulture. Secretary should provide date/location at minimum. We are set for MDA in November, and Howard County in February.
MSBA has outgrown Howard County Fairgrounds for February meeting due to increase membership and vendor interest. Looking at places like UMBC for capacity/central location. There is money in the treasury to consider more expensive sites.
Honey Judging Class: Jim Fraser and Bill McGiffin. No administrative meeting yet, but October 29-30 at Great Frederick Fair is penciled in. Possible JHU Applied Physics Lab. Ongoing need for judges and curiosity about how judges are developed. Currently 14 judges that are certified, and two are in training. 3-5 need to be replaced in the next several years. Have material/support from expert Jim Thompson and we will use his text, Cybil still certifies. MSBA has agreed to sponsor, refractometer to be lent as demo ($1400 value), Bill offering a polariscope for auction that he built himself. Lots of excitement. However, there will need to be a cut off (40? 50?) to be determined. Appropriate for folks who also want to be better at showing, or show superintendents. Toni to help get class registration and payment on web site. MSBA providing class as a service, not as a certification, but will receive certificate of completion. MSBA will foot up front costs. Inviting county superintendents strong idea.
MDA Livestock Rules: Bear problems in Western Maryland/cannot shoot: Farmers allowed to shoot bears that destroy crops, beekeepers not allowed to shoot bears that destroy hives. Beekeepers had previously been given incorrect info. Maryland DNR issues 400 bear permits, estimates 400 can be culled each year without damage to population, closed the season after only 97 taken. Garrett/Allegany have fastest growing population, many beekeepers experiencing losses. DNR will not consider bees livestock with those protections, though the Maryland code clearly calls bees livestock. DNR will help a beekeeper after being affected by a bear, but not will permit them to shoot the bear. Crouse: Maryland Farm Bureau help? Hayes: bear stamp program? Cooper: this involves a change to COMAR legislation, an involved process. Writing letters to state reps, asking for them to inquire into contradiction. Ben should ask Allegany Farm Bureau as well. Request local bee clubs to write letters to their Farm Bureaus asking them to look into this. Bears are heading east!
BeeInformed and National Agricultural Statistical Service (NASS) Surveys (Izzy Hill): Two honeybee loss surveys came out in early May. Both are showing surprisingly large summer losses, rivaling winter numbers. NASS is a gold standard for survey data. Annual NASS survey includes those with fewer than 5 colonies. Early 2015 Maryland hit much harder than the national average. Results are available online. Wayne: “Did we ever get Hood College results?”
Beltsville Club Officers Open House: June 29, 2016. Initiated by Crystal Lehmanking. Limited space. Jay Evans opened it up to club officers statewide. Try to advise lab to make sure that the invitations went out to every known club to ensure geographic coverage. Carl Guerci volunteered.
MP3 Summit Final Report (Deb Hewitt): January 20, 2016 at UMD. Stakeholders include state officials, beekeepers, growers, pesticide applicators, land managers. Focus on pollinators for food production. Draft plan was supposed to be out by April for comments. Topics: agricultural and non-agricultural pest control, forage and nutrition, pollinator health and genetics. On pesticides, concerns included fungicides and synergistic effects, getting public to comply with label, potentially smaller containers for sale. Concern for science-based approaches, mosquito spraying, better consumer education, more forage and forage education/decreasing mowing. Also increasing beekeeper education around mite testing/treating, possible support for varroa management and improved genetics. Increasing beekeeper communication when pesticides will be applied. No funding – MDA says perhaps get creative via volunteers, crowd funding. Ashley Jones sent executive summary.
World Bee Day at the Slovenian Embassy, May 20: Deb Hewitt will go. Mostly American researchers listed, 2 hours long.
MSBA Web Site: update to swarm list, additional feedback sought. Reserved for MSBA members. There is room for things like forage info, other projects (like class registration). We can also set up online registration and payments for member clubs. Do all clubs have web sites? No.

Meeting Adjourned: Wayne Esaias made a motion to adjourn, Bob Crouse seconded. The meeting adjourned at 9:12 PM,

Next Board Meeting: (Suggested) Friday, October 7, 2016

Maryland State Beekeepers Assoc, Inc.
Dedicated to beekeeping in Maryland since 1908

EMBED Microsoft Word Picture