Attendees 37 in person, 3 online
President
- Apiary update
- Got two new hive stands for the apiary – two different kinds, considering keeping both for educational purposes
- WWOOFA – helped to clear out all blackberries
- Got a small storage shed, we now have vehicle access
- Measured out the space to build a geodesic dome, if get the grant money – working with Trillium Domes
- Spending grant money really frugally
- Ellen from WASBA (Education Chair) – reached out to ask if we have any journeyman who want to volunteer to teach the inmates at Cedar Creek (Maytown/Littlerock area)
- Gale has certificates still from 2 classes ago (Spring 2024), the ones from the most recent class (Fall 2024) are on the way
- We got a 2nd brand new electric extractor donated to us!
- Website demo – when you log in there is now a members only dashboard, which is like a cheat sheet for all things being an OBA member
- Check out the member directory, you can opt out if you don’t want to share your info – good for finding people close by
Treasurer
- Anyone interested in being the new Treasurer, talk to David!
- Secretary will get the numbers from David to share
- We rolled over the CD through our bank
Membership Coordinator
- Don’t forget to renew your membership for 2025!
- 60 members for 2025 so far (about 100-110 once all renewed for the year)
Vice President
- Lewis County Beekeepers invited us to their February meeting – Wednesday at 6pm
Education
- Apprenticeship class starts March 8th
Librarian
- Picked some books to share from the library
- Building beehives for dummies
- Honey
- The song of increase
- Skeps
Outreach
- Looking for opportunities to partner with schools and show some observation hives
A couple members are working on a list of plants to grow more flowers for our bees
- Passing around a survey sheet to get advice from everyone on plants they have that bees like and when bees are on it
- Also an upcoming plant sale -they can pick up for others if you want to pre-order (Friends of Trees Botanicals)