MINUTES FROM THE OHIO STATE BEEKEEPERS’ ASSOCIATION
Gahanna, Ohio • September 6, 2007

President Ron Hoopes called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m. Ron welcomed all in attendance.

Roll Call:

The board members attendance was as follows: Ron Hoopes, Dawn Feagan, Bob Hooker, Dana Stahlman, David Duncan, Dwight Wilson, Sonny Barker, Ron Willison, John Grafton, Dr. James Tew, Jim Higgins, George Brenneman, Joe Kovaleski and Sherry Ferrell. Also in attendance were a few guests: Paul Cline, Karen Wischner, Joe Latshaw, and Tony Remkus.

Secretary’s Report (Dawn Feagan):

Dawn passed out the minutes from the board meeting, which was held on April 26, 2007 in Mansfield, Ohio. Sonny Barker made a motion to accept the minutes without any changes. Joe Kovaleski seconded the motion. A vote was cast and the motion was passed.

There was only one piece of correspondence received since the last board meeting. A letter from the Committee for the Promotion of Honey and Health explaining and seeking charter members and they invited OSBA to become one of the charter member groups. Bob Hooker said he would like to study their literature. Therefore, no action was taken on the invitation and it was tabled until the fall meeting so that Bob can have an opportunity to review their material and organization. A complete copy of the correspondence is on file for further review. A copy will be given to Bob for his research.

Treasurer’s Report (Bob Hooker):

Bob reported the following:

Checking Account

Beginning Balance: $6,509.22

Income Y-T-D: $5,491.20

Expenses Y-T-D: $4,862.64

Balance as of 9-6-07: $7,137.78

**See attached for full breakdown of finances**

Savings Account:

No activity since last report of April 26, 2007. Current balance: $4,993.96

Bob also reported the queen rearing classes have generated at least 50 new members with and income from membership fees of approximately $1,000.00. George Brenneman made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s report without change. Dana Stahlman seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion carried.

Bob voiced a concern regarding the issue of attention to our Non-Profit status. He stated OSBA hasn’t renewed that status since 1999 and technically OSBA isn’t a ‘Corporation’.

Bob brought to the board’s attention of the $125.00 fee to get OSBA re-instated and that this task needs to be met in order for further pursuing of grant money. Therefore Dave Duncan made a motion that OSBA authorize Bob Hooker to pay the $125.00 fee and get OSBA up-to-date on the Non-Profit status. Dana Stahlman seconded that motion. A vote was cast and the motion passed unchallenged.

While on the subject, Bob Hooker made a motion to spend approximately $300.00 to re- instate OSBA’s status with the 501C3 also to aid in obtaining grant money. Dana Stahlman seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion passed.

Another issue Bob brought to the board’s attention was that OSBA doesn’t have any liability insurance. Bob will investigate the various options and will present these options at the fall meeting. A motion to have Bob investigate and research liability insurance opportunities was made by Dave Duncan. Ron Willison seconded the motion. A vote was cast and the motion passed.

Vice President’s Report (Dana Stahlman):

Dana opened his report with a review of the Queen Assembly Program. He also handed out a CD to those in attendance; which contains an overview of what happened during those classes. Dana reported about 120 people showed an interest and 89 people completed the classes. Dana has received a lot of very positive feed back from those who took the classes. Dana and OSBA recognized all of those who took part in coordinating these classes: Dr. Jim Tew, Joe Latshaw, and Larry Connor to name a few.

On October 13, 2007 in Troy, Ohio the Miami Valley Beekeepers Association, lead by Tony Remkus will host another queen rearing class. This location was selected because of its close proximity to Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois.

There was a bit of a discussion regarding funding for these classes. Therefore Dwight Wilson made a motion to allow a $1,000.00 budget to cover expenses for the Queen Assembly Program. Bob Hooker seconded the motion. A vote was cast and the motion passed.

It was at this time President Ron Hoopes publicly recognized Dana Stahlman for all of the hard work and long distances he drove to help with the success of the Queen Assembly Program.

Dana moved on to report the fall meeting plans were well underway. To review, the meeting will be held on November 10, 2007 at the Columbia Station High School in Columbia Station, Ohio hosted by the Lorain County Beekeepers Association. Registration will be from 8:00-9:30 with refreshments of coffee and doughnuts to be available during this period. The meeting itself will begin at 9:30. The keynote speaker is Ross Conrad who is a renowned author in the beekeeping field. Dana handed out an outline of the itinerary of the meeting; which includes three breakout sessions in the morning and afternoon. During the morning break OSBA will call for write-in candidates to be nominated. Right before breaking for lunch OSBA will have their annual election of officers and three directors. The results will be revealed at the annual business meeting scheduled to take place around 3:00. After the business meeting there will be the drawing of the Chinese Auction. Dawn Feagan will be soliciting items for this auction from the beekeeping corporate world. Also vendors will be invited at no cost to them to set-up their wares. The Lorain County Beekeepers’ Association will be conducting a 50/50 raffle during the course of the day. Registration fees will be $10.00 for an individual member, $15.00 for non-member and $15.00 for families. The cost of lunch will be $6.00 per person regardless of membership status. A budget of $1500.00 has been set aside to cover Ross Conrad’s fees and other meeting expenses. (A copy of the preliminary outline for the fall meeting is on file and also included.) New to OSBA’s fall meeting, a Honey Show will run concurrent with the meeting. This event will be supervised by John Grafton and Denzil St. Clair. Those who took the Honey Judging workshop earlier this spring will be on hand to practice their judging skills. (A copy of the OSBA Fall Honey Show Outline is on file and included.) A discussion regarding the winning premiums took place; which caused Bob Hooker to make a motion that OSBA provide $175.00 to cover the cost of the premium winnings. Dana Stahlman seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion passed.

Old Business:

Lithopolis Honey Festival – Ron Hoopes reported that OSBA would have an exhibitor’s booth along with a few of the local beekeepers’ clubs. There will be honey tasting and antique beekeeping equipment on hand for the attendees to enjoy. Ron tried to arrange a Honey Show, but there wasn’t enough time to plan one. Also included at the OSBA table will be offerings for beginning beekeeping classes.

Committee Reports:

See attached.

Heartland Apicultural Society (H.A.S.) Meeting Report:

Bob Hooker ran the OSBA table in the vendor area for the 2007 conference. There were approximately 350 people in attendance. The meeting in 2008 will be held in Huntington WV and Gabe Blatt is the President for this conference. Further details regarding the 2008 meeting will appear in the various beekeeping journals and magazines in the not too distant future. Bob reported that H.A.S. has accepted the invitation to hold their 2009 conference in Ohio. However no venue has been decided on at this time.

Field Days – Dr. Jim Tew:

Dr. Tew reported there were well over 120 people in attendance for the first OSBA sponsored field day which took place on June 16, 2007 at Fisher Auditorium at OARDC in Wooster, Ohio. This event was planned for only about 30-40 people. So, the final attendance would definitely state this was a very successful field day. Everyone who attended had a wonderful learning experience. Dr. Tew thanked all of those involved with the planning and executing of this event. The field day that was planned for Piketon, Ohio was canceled due to little exposure and a lack of interest. There are very few beekeepers in this area of Ohio; which would account for the low interest. However, OSBA sees this as a challenge to generate an interest in this area of Ohio and will try to hold a field day next summer.

New Business:

New Web Master (Bob Hooker reporting):

Our current Webmaster, Jamie Morehead has resigned. Bob presented a proposal by Doug Pfeifer (see attached) in which OSBA would have to pay a one-time fee for the initial design and set-up. Regular maintenance up to 10 pages would be free of charge. After some investigation and research into the field of web design costs, Bob concluded that what Mr. Pfeifer was proposing was completely within industry standards. Therefore, Bob made a motion to accept the proposal by Doug Pfeifer to design and maintain OSBA’s website and serve as Web Master for the costs stated in his proposal. Joe Kovaleski seconded the motion. A vote was cast and the motion passed unanimously.

2008 Summer Meeting:

President Ron Hoopes stated he was approached by the Athens County Area Beekeepers Association to host the 2008 Summer Meeting. The President of this association, Paul Cline presented a proposal/invitation to hold OSBA’s summer meeting at the Athens High School in The Plains, Ohio. This facility holds 800 students. The main auditorium seats 400 people and so does the cafeteria. There is an atrium area large enough to house vendors. The building is all on one floor. There is an ecology area behind the school, which would be suitable for a bee yard. The school building, cafeteria and ecology area would be at no cost to OSBA. The entire event with the exception of speaker fees and miscellaneous fees would be at no expense to OSBA. Dana Stahlman made a motion to accept the Athens County Area Beekeepers’ Association’s proposal/invitation to hold the OSBA 2008 summer meeting on June 21, 2008 at the Athens High School in The Plains, Ohio. Dwight Wilson seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously.

Open Floor:

Dr. Jim Tew reported the Bee Barn might be going away due to the need for space at OSU. However, he is in negotiations with OSU to work out this issue. He will keep OSBA informed of the progress.

Bob Hooker informed the board on the progress concerning the updating of the constitution and by-laws. There were two suggestions that should be included in the revised constitution.

1. Change the terms of service for the executive committee from one year to two years. Thus allowing more continuity within the executive board. However, there should be a provision to limit the President and Vice- President to serve only two consecutive terms.
2. Currently the Treasurer, Secretary, and Newsletter Editor receive free membership during their tenure. The revision to the constitution would include the President and Vice President.

The board took the advisement of Bob and asked that he include that in the final draft of the revised constitution and by-laws; which will be presented and voted on at the fall meeting in November.

Adjournment:

Since there was no further business to be discussed, Sonny Barker moved that the meeting be adjourned with the next Board of Directors meeting to be announced at a later time. Ron Willison seconded the motion. A vote was cast and the motion passed. The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.

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