WILTSHIRE BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION
Minutes of the Council Meeting held at the Crown Centre, Devizes
On Friday, 19th February, 2010
1. The meeting began at 7.28pm. 22 members were present. As this was a large meeting the chairman suggested that members should introduce themselves to each other.
1.(a) Apologies were received from: D. Goldstone, T. Cooke, C .Wilks, Rev .R .Eardley,
.
1.(b) Items to be raised under AOB: None.
2. Minutes of the last meeting held on 20th November 2009 were read discussed and signed.
3. Matters arising: Graham Rendall wished to clarify that all members are to pay capitation fees. After discussion, the minutes were amended to read that all members would pay capitation fees IF they wished to take part in county activities.
Ross Gregory pointed out that the post of membership secretary should be listed with the other positions which are eligible for election. The minutes were amended and his name inserted at the appropriate place.
4. Nominations for secretary were sought. This nomination was postponed from the last meeting as the current secretary had been absent from that meeting.
The current secretary was re-elected unanimously. There were no other nominations.
5. Correspondence: 11 items of correspondence were presented Most of these letters were from other bee branches announcing interesting activities or training days. The entry forms for the Royal Bath and West of England Show would shortly be sent to the various branch secretaries. Information about the National Honey Show was presented
6. Reports from officers.
Chairman:
The date for the Field Day in 2010, clashes with the week of the Royal Bath and West of England Show. Therefore the Field Day has been postponed to 2011.
The decision to install Enthuse IT: Melksham branch has shown interest in this system, but wishes to further explore the possibilities before making a commitment. All other branches have decided against the system.
Secretary:
Ruth thanked Sally for taking, typing and distributing the minutes of the last meeting.
Treasurer:
Graham reported that income had increased a little, and the Education fund had been used by most of the branches.
£569 had been spent on the AGM and Honey Show at Wootten Bassett, which was well within the budget of £1000.
£192 had been realized from advertisements in the Honey Bee Times
Graham was asked to do further research to find the best interest rates for our bank accounts. It was suggested that Barclays have a current scheme for 22% when monies are left for 5 years.
Details of the accounts can be seen on file, but the current balance is £11,494.
Education:
Alan reported that Tony Herbert had gained his microscopy certificate.
Six candidates were to sit modules on 20.03.10. at Bishops Cannings,
Anyone attempting the Basic module should notify Alan, as this can be taken at any time, as long as a working hive is available.
Honey Bee Times:
Sally reported that 305 HBT’s and 305 Year Books are available. Six advertisers have produced £192 for the funds. Thanks were expressed to Sally for this revenue.
7. Reports from delegates:
ROYAL BATH AND WEST OF ENGLAND SHOW: Chris reported that:
The organizers are trying to make cut backs, and do entries on line.
The show dates for this year are 2nd_5th June.
Chris needs volunteers to be stewards. The time slots are 9 to 1.30pm and 1pm to 5 30pm. Please contact Chris if you can do a session. Entries close on 23rd March.
West Wilts.must try hard to win the cup-----we need lots of entries, even if they don’t all win!
IBRA: Nothing to report. Sally is now the delegate not Graham.
SWJCC: This group has met twice since our last meeting.
Four new applications for membership have been made to the BBKA.
The financial state is good, the Healthy Bee Plan is continuing, and the Salisbury branch want to run a bee disease day. More information will be available at a later date.
8. ADM 2010: Graham reported that the BBKA will continue to endorse pesticides and engage in research as previously. This matter was discussed at length.
Various nominations were made for the executive board but our own Robert Carpenter Turner was not elected.
Thanks were expressed to Graham for attending this forum.
9. Honey Bee Times. The number of issues per year was reviewed. Some members wanted 4 issues, and others only 3 issues. After discussion it was decided unanimously that 4 issues was preferable. One abstention was registered namely David Newell. The question of who was to pay for the postage of HBT and the Year Book, was discussed. Should the branch or the county provide the postage? A proposal made by Pete Coleman and seconded by Roger Tilley, that the county should pay, was lost 7:9. The actual size of the HBT may have to be increased if more members contribute to each issue, so the postage would go up!
10. WBKA web site: Bob Berry maintains the web site, and suggests that it contain a calendar of events. The meeting agreed.
Sometimes people wish to advertise on the web site, and Bob would like guidance about the appropriateness of the advertisements. He is asking for guidelines. The chairman is to produce draft guidelines and circulate/bring to the next meeting for discussion.
11. The Harold Teal cup. Originally this cup was awarded to individuals, but recently it has been presented to a branch. Research is required to define the original parameters for awarding the cup. The secretary clarified that the cup is named after Harold NOT Howard, Teal.
12. The chairman of the AGM. The present chairman of WBKA clarified that after the 2010 AGM, the chairman would serve for two years only, and a new chairman would have to be found after this period.
13. .County Honey Show. This year the honey show is to be held in Melksham, on Saturday 16th October 2010. The venue will be in Bowerhill. The show will take a similar format to the 2009 show at Wootten Bassett. The chairman proposed that a similar amount of money be available for this show as had been available for the 2009 show namely £1,000. This proposition was seconded by Alan Ridout and carried unanimously.
14. Bee Craft: Nothing to report.
15. Any other business: None.
16. Dates of the next meetings: 21st May, 10th September, 26th. November
The meeting closed at 9.27pm
