SCBA Executive Committee Meeting

February 7, 2020 Minutes

SCBA Executive Committee Meeting Minutes – Feb 7, 2020

Attendees

• Kerry Owen
• Danny Cannon
• Bill Butts
• Wendy Gray
• Byan Owens
• Susan Jones
• Bennie Copeland
• Henry Lowrimore
• Rosalind Severt
• Nancy Simpson
• Chuck Marion
• Thomas Dailey
• Walter Qualls
• Steve Seigler
• Victoria Hill
• Candi Roberts
• John Williams
• Hank Smalling
• John Coons
• Tom Cooke
• David Yannello
• Brad Cavin
• Vickie Manning
• John Gardner
• David Miller
• Mark Foster

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Kerry Owen – Called Meeting to Order – 10:00 am

John Gardner – Opening Prayer

• Spring Meeting, Speakers, Food, Hotels, Costs, Vendors, Sponsors – Danny Cannon, President-Elect
  • Programs being printed. Bags are being printed. Clean up after 4:00 pm on Saturday.
  • Lunch is setup through their in-house chef
  • Vendors can begin checking in at 5:00 pm on Friday. Bryan O. will send this info out to the registered vendors.
  • Table with SCBA swag. Danny’s working on a design for a new shirt.
  • Kerry O. asked: Registration bags, are we putting pens and note pads? Danny said he would find the pens and note pads.
  • Finger foods for vendors at hotel for vendors and volunteers.
  • Michael Bush needs a table to sell his books.
  • Master Beekeeper program will have a table.
  • 15 vendors have signed up.
  • Need to decide on a venue for Spring 2021
  • Discussion about whether we move the Spring and Summer meetings around to different regions in the state.
  • Bill Butts – someone suggested we update bylaws to not be specific about where the meetings are to be held. The group agreed they liked this suggested change.
  • Discussion about Bylaws. Nancy Simpson suggested we form a subcommittee to review proposed changes to Bylaws. Kerry will coordinate this subcommittee.

• Summer Meeting 2020 Update – Danny Cannon, President-Elect
  • Will be at Anderson Civic Center
  • David Macfawn working on this.
  • Research Grants – Have received education only purposes for the grant. Do we want to change away from only Research? He has 1 for research and 1 for education. Wendy suggests that we keep this for Research only.

• Vice President’s Report – Bill Butts
  • Need nominations for officers.
    • President Elect
    • Vice President

• Treasurer Report – Wendy Gray
  • As of Jan 31, 2020
    • Master BeeKeeper  $7212.46
    • Steve Tabor Fund  $8041.93
    • Research Fund     $7020.47
    • PayPal            $6059.27
    • Operating Acct.   $52,520.42
    • 2019 End Of Year Financial Report
  • Secretary Report – Bryan Owens
    • We had 11 clubs respond to the for 2020 Club Certification – the total number in club and of those how many are SCBA Members.
• Master Beekeeper Program Update – Susan Jones

SCBA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT – FEBRUARY 7, 2020

CERTIFIED Classes are now underway throughout the state.

• We have 12 clubs running Certified Level Classes this Spring, using our Certified Level Materials and offering testing.
• If your club is offering a class and would like to offer MBP Certified testing, PLEASE contact me ASAP for the updated 2020 test, which includes new administrative record keeping procedures. We also have some digital teaching files we can share with you if needed.  All clubs must use the current test to be valid for the SCBA MBP.
• Last Fall, we completed minor revisions on the new Certified Level program as a result of your valuable feedback. Thank you for partnering with us to improve our program.

JOURNEYMAN Course Registration has begun!  We have 12 members signed up already.  We will continue to advertise the course over the next 2 months.  Details and Registration are available on the SCBA website.      Dates:  Friday/Saturday, April 24-25 with testing Saturday, May 2^nd.

Location: Horry County Extension Office, Conway, SC

Hosted: Blackwater & PeeDee Beekeepers Associations

For those who register & purchase the text PRIOR to the Spring Conference, the text will be available for pickup at the conference – otherwise, you will pick it up the first day of the course.

We have had a number of MASTER Level candidates contact us over the last several months looking to test this coming summer.  Larry Coble, new member of the MBP Committee is coordinating the activities for these candidates.  If you have members interested in taking this step, please contact us.

We have been actively updating RECORDS  as they are submitted.  As we have mentioned before, our single largest obstacle keeping us from entering records is a lapse in SCBA membership.  Membership must be current in order to have the MBP records entered in the database.  Please encourage your club leadership to be timely in entering your members into the database and then sending your testing results to us.

Our committee is actively working to PROMOTE & BUILD the Master Beekeeping Program.  I will be travelling to speak to the Blackwater club this month and the Piedmont Youth 4-H Club later this Spring.  Thank you for your encouragement and continued support of the Master Beekeeping Program.

REMINDER:  ALL questions/concerns/correspondence need to be sent to scmasterbeekeeper@gmail.com.

• Past President – Steve McNeely
  • No Update

• Clemson Update – Ben Powell

Here is a brief update from the Clemson Apiculture and Pollinator Protection Program`

• Digital Resources – I am hot and heavy in building the new apiculture website.  I have had several calls with our communications team, and we have a game plan.  I am shooting for the first phase of the website to go live by the spring meeting.  We will continue to add to the site over the year.  There is a lot to do, especially reviewing and updating the old fact sheets, so this will be an ongoing process for many months. I also have a meeting next Thursday with our media director to design the email newsletter.  I already have started writing content, but there is a lot of accessibility and branding standards that we have to address.  I also launched the Clemson Apiculture Facebook page.  Please visit it  and “like” it.  I will provide updates through the facebook page as I move forward.
• I am well along on the needs assessment survey. I have met with 11 local associations and have the Ridge, Pickens, Chester, and Oconee associations scheduled in the coming month.  I have not heard from Beaufort, Cherokee, Dacusville, Fort Mill, Lancaster, Lowcountry, Spartanburg, or Union yet.  I need to schedule visits as soon as possible, so please have them contact me if anyone has contact with any of these groups.  I will be distributing the survey via email to the entire membership of the state and all local associations immediately after the Spring meeting.  This will be a web based version of the survey that will be accessible through the new website.
• We have formed the Extension Pollinator Focus Group and had our first meeting,  We have representation from across all extension program areas as well as regulatory services, and the group is enthusiastic.  I would like to run them through the Beginner training in May, so I need a few instructors from SCBA to teach the course.  This will be an abbreviated course that covers the entire program in two days.  It will be held in the Columbia area, and I also need a bee yard for the field component.Any volunteers?  I have plenty of smokers, tools and protective gear for the program.  The Pollinator Focus Group also will start the process of writing a Managed Pollinator Protection Plan (MP3) this summer.
• I have had the opportunity to speak in a wide range of venues (SC Green Industry Conference, Charleston Growers Meeting, Pee Dee Blueberry School, SC Conservation Districts Conference, ABF MP3 workgroup, Charleston Natural Beekeeping Symposium, the Master Gardeners Annual meeting, the SC Garden Club annual meeting and a variety of local clubs and civic groups).
• The Solar Habitat Project is well underway.  We are finalizing the technical guide now and developing the criteria for the certification program.  The extension team and I will offer trainings for inspectors and landowners/contractors later this summer and fall.
• The 4H Honey Bee project is underway.  Registration closes today (Friday, Feb 7).  We held an informational webinar on Jan. 30^th.  We will hold a Kick-off field day on March 28^th at the Charleston Area Community Bee Yard.  Thanks Jim Strohm and company!
• The journeyman course is scheduled for the end of April in Conway.  Glen Tyler has had some health challenges and asked me to take point as the host coordinator.  Susan and I will meet next Monday to iron out the details for the course.  We will be seeking instructors in the very near future.
• Brad Cavin – Need to get import permits for bee packages.

• Congaree Report – David McFawn
  • No Update.
• Welsh Honey Judge Program and Honey Show Update – Nancy Simpson
  • The Honey Show Committee consists of:
    • Steve Genta – Senior Welsh Honey Judge
    • Sheryl Brousseau – Welsh Honey Judge
    • Nancy Simpson – Welsh Honey Judge
  • We are excited to report on the first spring honey show and Welsh Honey Show training program. Everything is looking good so far. Though small, we see it as a gateway to a much larger summer show. Participants will be exposed to new classes and Welsh Honey Judging rules. The new rules and consistency in judging brings South Carolina on par with other states such as Georgia, Florida, and Alabama. For more information on the new Welsh Honey Judging Academy go to: https://scstatebeekeepers.com/sc-welsh-honey-judging-academy/

• Regional Directors
  • Rosalind Severt – Midstate Director
    • Thanked Wendy for going over the books.
    • Wes Bommer – Made a motion to have Wes Bommer, representative for Prisons. Second was given. All approved.
  • Henry Lowrimore – Coastal Director
    • Provided an update on the situation in Dorchester county where they are not notifying beekeepers when mosquito spraying is scheduled. Waiting on county council to respond to his letter that he sent in November 2019.Asked members to contact the Dorchester County Administrator, Jason Ward, to voice concern.
  • Bennie Copeland – Upper State Director
    • Upstate is going good.
    • Several classes coming up.
    • Looking forward to Spring meeting.
• EAS Report – Nancy Simpson
  • • Attended board meeting November 19
      • Will be driving up to Maine, besides usual academic seminar, new this year is Story Telling.
    • EAS 2020 – Orno, Maine, Aug 3-7
    • EAS 2021 – Amhearst, Mass.
    • EAS 2022 – Finger Lakes, NY
• Association Updates
  • • Charleston Area Beekeepers Association – Presented by Nancy Simpson
      • Tom Sealy and Leo Sharskin were speakers at their conference in December at Trident Tech.
      • Made $2500
      • April – Honey Bee Expo
    • Wataree Beekeepers – Candy Roberts
      • Can we review what we will be voting on in the July meeting? Kerry said we would be sending this out prior to the meeting.

• Meeting adjourned at 12:00 pm