DATE: Thursday, September 17, 2013, 7:00 at Bass Pro Shop, Independence, Mo.
OPEN: President Cathy Misko, called the meeting to order and asked everyone to introduce themselves to their neighbor and let them know if you have checked for any bugs/pests including beetles, moths, mites or mice. Is there anyone here for the first time and/or any new members. Welcome. Cathy then proceeded to introduce club Officers.
ATTENDANCE: #91
INTRODUCTION OF OFFICERS AND REPORTS.
SECRETARY: Cindy Connell at the back table, passing out door prize tickets. Cathy asked if there were any corrections to the on-line July Minutes. With no corrections needed she asked for a motion to approve club Minutes as posted. Motion made and seconded. July Minutes approved as posted. Be sure and review the Club Minutes posted on our website @ midwesternbeekeepers.org.
TREASURER’S REPORT: Filed per Ron Vivian.
MEMBERSHIP REPORT: Tanya Fisher reported 2 new members , Anne Barnes from Blue Springs, Mo. and Brigitta Wade from Lenexa, Ks. Tom O’Neill reminded club members that if anyone was interested in volunteering for a position in one of the offices of our club, to please give your name to Tanya so she could forward it to the Nominating Committee for consideration.
EDITOR: Joli Winer (not present), Editor of our club newsletter , “The Bee Line”.
LIBRARY REPORT: Tom O’Neill reported no new additions to the clubs educational materials this month.
HONEY PLANTS: Tom Britz, Honey Plant Chair, reported weather was “hot and dry”. Please refer to his Honey Plant article in the “Bee Line”. It’s very informative and well worth reading. Tom states “Now is the perfect time to plan, prepare and proceed with your pollinator garden for next spring.
OTHER INTRODUCTIONS: Robert Burns (not present), Auditor; Phill Levi, Monthly Programs; Terry O’Bryan, 1st Board Member; Ed Fisher(not present), 2nd Board Member; Jim Fisher(not present) , 3rd Board Member; Dean Sanders, State Liaison Chair; and Andy Nowachek, Past President.
UNFINISHED/ONGOING BUSINESS: Cathy reported our annual picnic held August 4th at the Masonic Hall in Lee’s Summit was well attended with ~ 120 attendants. Ed Pursia tied for 1st place in the heaviest hive hefting contest.
NEW BUSINESS/ANNOUNCEMENTS: Cathy announced a ‘cut out’ was requested by an individual in Excelsior Springs. This was the second season of bees in the ceiling between the basement and upper floor. Talk to Cathy for further information.
A second announcement of a huge CA fundraiser at the Harrisonville Fairgrounds, this Saturday, September 21. The organizer, Kathy Williams, would love to have an Observation Hive and a Beekeeping Booth there. If any club member is interested, Cathy would loan them the use of her Observation Hive, bee stamps/ink, face paint and basket of educational materials.
Second year Youth Scholarship student, Lauren Collins (not present), was notified by the Mo State Beekeepers Association that she was selected to represent Missouri as the Mo State Honey Queen for 2014 . The Missouri State Beekeepers Association Conference will be held Oct 25 -26 at Lodge of Four Seasons at Lake of the Ozarks and Lauren will be crowned there.
Cathy asked for a show of hands all who worked the Mo State Fair Honey Booth. Dean Sanders gave thanks to all and Cathy hoped they enjoyed it as much as she did. Jim Fisher won State Grand Champion again. Congratulations to Jim.
Club Member, Alton Gilmore announced that he is assisting in bee equipment production. For more information call (816) 668-3131.
Cathy invited Scholarship Students and Youths at heart, to join her at her house on Sept. 22nd for a Scarecrow Building party. This is anticipating the Scarecrow competition at Powell Garden.
DATE AND LOCATION CHANGE: Attention was made that our next meeting would be held on Wed., Oct. 16th, at the Masonic Hall in Lee’s Summit, Mo. at 7:00 with guest speaker- Dr. Larry Connor. The Nominating Committee should have their recommendations ready at that time also.
Cathy asked Youth Scholarship Student, Grace Sanders to come forward and share her story from VA Family Appreciation Day. The activity was held outside and they had some wild bees wanting to rob our bee’s honey! Grace and her sister caught the wild bees, put them in a Bee Box and proceeded to show people how to mark Queens. Very educational for all.
PROGRAM: After sharing the enjoyment he had at working the Honey booth at the State Fair and with no further announcements from the floor, Phill Levi, introduced Laura Fish, a Master Gardener from Parkville, Mo, who presented a program on her Pollinator Garden. Her presentation included a PowerPoint with pictures of nectar producing plants in her Gardens and sharing ideas on choosing and planting the best plants. Following Laura’s program, Phill introduced Tom O’Neill, our club’s Librarian and very experienced Beekeeper, who presented a program on “Testing Your Bees to Control Mites”. Emphasis was made on the importance of making sure your bees are healthy going into winter. Checking mite loads with a powdered sugar roll can be fun and easy. Recommendation by the University of Minn. agreed doing a powdered sugar roll with 300 bees, 15 mites indicated the need to treat. Decreasing your mite load by 50% is good. Tom then had suggestions about how to go about decreasing your mite load. Question and answer session followed both programs. Thank you Laura, Tom and Phill.
Cathy then reminded everyone if they hadn’t signed the register and got a door prize ticket to do so and thanked the suppliers of the door prizes. She then asked Tom O’Neill and Bill George to come up front and answer member’s questions. While questions were being answered and door prizes were being drawn, Cathy had our youth pass out Mo State Membership forms. The Missouri State Beekeepers Association had donated free registration for the Oct. Conference to our scholarship students and one parent, as well as donated 2 Memberships for the door prizes tonight.
Meeting closed at 8:31pm.
Cathy ‘s question for Sept was: When does your successful beekeeping preparation begin? She also noted that for the sugar roll test for mites, use fresh fluffy not-caked powdered sugar for an even coating on the bees.
Secretary _____________________________________Date___________________
