October 30, 2008
Attendance:
Keith Councell
Bert and
Bert Kelley
Beth Fox
Bill Kern
Bill Merritt
Bob Jackson
Bob Livingston
Bradley Stewart
Carl and Virginia Webb
Dave Hackenberg
David Barnes
David Lewis
David Mendes
David Webb
David Westervelt
Donald and Paula Smiley
Donald Harcus
Doug Corbin
Ed Bowman
Roger Twitchell
Gordon Claus
Elmore Herman
Call to Order: Laurence Cutts,
President, called the Annual business meeting to order at 7:35AM and gave the
Invocation.
Mr. Cutts
gave the Presidents report and stated he had no formal report but wanted all to
know it had been a busy year for the association and that additional research
funds had been obtained and the growth in the association’s numbers had been
significant over the past year and he had been advised to eliminate the term
“hobbyist” from his vocabulary to use “sideliner” in it’s place since
everyone has to make money to keep bees. He is seeing a new type of beekeepers
joining FSBA
President Cutts
talked of his visit to the first workshop conducted by the Apalachee
Beekeepers Association in
When he attended the American
Honey Producers Conference in
We have seen several new
associations formed and others have expressed interest in establishing new
associations in several counties.
President Cutts
also spoke about the issue of access to public lands and the fact that agencies
are contacting the FSBA expressing interest in having beekeepers establishing
their apiaries’ on public lands. President
Cutts spoke of the impact of CCD on the industry and
how, while causing great hardship, it has brought more attention to beekeeper
and the importance of honeybees. President
Cutts spoke of looking forward to a 2nd retirement as
he leaves the presidency of the FSBA. He
has been involved with the association since his first attendance with his
father in 1947 when he was 12 year old.
He stated that he has missed only one annual meeting since 1947. He said this not to brag of his attendance
but to show how important the association has been to him. He made comments on the change in the General
Meeting from Saturday to Thursday this year an how impressive the turn out had
been.
President Cutts
then asked for the
There were no Committees
formed during the General meeting as President Cutts
deferred all business related to future management of the Association to the
new President to be elected at this meeting.
President Cutts announced there would be no
Executive Secretary report due to the absence of Mr. Malcolm Sanford. Since there were delays in establishing dates
for the annual meeting Mr. Sanford had to honor existing commitments out of
state.
The only Standing Committee
was the Honey Standard Committee and when questioned Nancy Gentry said she was
not aware a committee had been established and President Cutts
advised her she was a committee of one. She said she would be speaking on the
Honey Standard the next day at the workshop and would save her comments until
that time.
While the Agenda did indicate
there would be a report by a committee formed at the mid-year meeting, related
to make recommendation related bottling regulations the committee report was not
addressed by the president.
President Cutts
again stated that there was no Board of managers meeting prior to the General
meeting because he wanted the newly elected offices to preside over the BOM
meeting which would be conducted immediately following the adjournment of the
general meeting. He had also realized he
had left the gavel at home so there would be no passing of the gavel at this
meeting
.
Election and installation of
officers:
The Nominating Committee
(Bill Merritt, Elmore Herman, Nancy Gentry) presented
the following candidates for office.
President:
A motion to close the
nominations for Treasure was made by Gordon Clause and 2nd by Ernest
Peaches. A motion to close the
nominations for Vice president was made by Bob Livingston 2nd by Gordon Claus. A motion to nominate Gary Ranker for
president was made by Roger Twitchell and seconded by
Bob Livingston.
Since there was a nomination
from the floor for a second presidential candidate a written ballot was cast
with
After the election President
spoke to clarify the issue of Life Membership.
After some discussion and review of the current by-laws it was
determined that Life Members did, just as the $15.00 Association membership,
include both husband and wife and both would have voting rights.
President Cuts moved on to
Miscellaneous business and ask that Roger Twitchell
present his motion that had previously provided to the Board of Managers
concerning recognition of state employees and associations members who had work
to coordinate communication related to mosquito spraying after Tropical Storm
Fay.
Motion Related to Aerial Spraying after Natural
Disasters
October 30, 2008- 88th Annual Meeting of
the
Roger Twitchell, Apalachee Beekeepers Association
In the President’s Remarks
section of the October 2008 newsletter President Cutts
extended his thanks to me for my efforts to notify beekeepers of pending aerial
spraying after Tropical Storm Fay. I
appreciate the recognition but I have a duty to make sure the Agencies and staff who made the calls and coordinated these efforts are
recognized as well.
As a result of the
coordination between the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer
Services, Division of Plant industry, Bureau of Plant and Apiary Inspection,
the Division of Agricultural Environmental Services, Bureau of Entomology and
Pest Control, the Florida Department of Health, Division of Environmental
Health, local county mosquito control programs and the Florida Division of
Emergency Management, Emergency Support Function 17 – Animal Protection, many
beekeepers received timely notice of the pending spraying and were able to take appropriate
measures to protect their honeybees.
There is not doubt that some bees were protected due to these efforts.
I have work either in
Operations or Logistics for the Florida Department of Health during and after
every major natural disaster since Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and to my knowledge
this is the first time all of these groups have worked together to protect the
Florida’s honeybees.
I wish to request that
specific names be entered into the record of this meeting in recognition of
their efforts:
Bureau of Entomology and
We are fortunate that these
caring people were in the right place at the right time. They will not always be on duty and as people
change, processes and protocols often change as well unless they made official
policy. To that end I offer this motion:
The President of the FSBA
compose a letter of thanks to Governor Christ and copy said letter to
Commissioner Brunson, Florida Department of Agriculture, Surgeon General Ana Viamonte Ross, Florida Department of Health and Director
Craig Fugate, Division of Emergency Management, expressing our thanks for the
effort put forward by these employees in the protection of Florida’s honeybees. In the same letter the FSBA request these
efforts be expanded to reach all registered beekeepers prior to all future
spraying events and request the Governor direct
that make advance notification become standard protocol for Emergency
Support Function 17- Animal Protection, its supporting agencies and volunteer
resources and all county mosquito control programs. The FSBA should offer to be listed in the State of
Roger Twitchell
moved that the motion be accepted. David Webb seconded the Motion. Passed
President Cutts
stated that while Roger Twitchell’s motion was made
to give credit to others it was Roger Twitchell who
initiated the effort and should be recognized.
Vice President Gary Ranker
asked each Apiary manger to provide their reports:
Elmore Herman is managing 16
hives and they were on
Lee Del Signore is managing
48 hives in the
$1,920 to Bert Kelly
Bill Merritt is managing 60
hives. He has lost a total of 7 to
AFB. He has added over 100 queens,
screened bottom board pallets, 250 new frames and foundation, replaced all the
excluders due to damage and replaced all the lids. Bill stated that the 7 5/8 supers are
unusable. He still have
60 hives and produced $6,980 in net income with $3,840 going to Bert Kelly for
the association share.
Vice President Gary Ranker
said he had intended to start another apiary in the association in the Orange
Belt district.
President Cutts
spoke briefly on the Extra Miles Club where members donate over and above the
requirements for the Life membership. The Extra Miles members do not have to
pay fees for the rest of their tenure in the association. Elmore stated he was willing to take on five
more hives and President Cutts donated 5 more hived
in the names of his children and grand children.
President Cutts
told the membership that Nancy Gentry was appointed as the Associations
Publicity Coordinator last year. This
was not a permanent position but up to the new Board of Managers to decide
whether or not to continue this position.
President Cutts also stated he believe that
each local association should publish their new officers in the local press and
FSBA should be announced as well.
There was also a brief
discussion on possible changes to move the association from management by a
Board of Managers to an Executive Committee structure as recommended by Malcolm
Sanford. This would require a change in the By-Laws and possibly the
Constitution. Presidents Cutts said, that in his opinion,
the current structure had served the association well, but he would leave those
decisions to the new officers.
Treasurer’s Report: Bert Kelley reported highlights of a
treasurer’s report
Beginning Balance as of November 1, 2007 $16,915.36
Total income from all sources $44,163.31
Total expenditures $41,252.14
Current balance $19,826.53
Motion by Ernest Peaches to
accept Treasurer’s report subject to audit by the Audit Committee to he
appointed by the BOM. Seconded
by Bill Merritt. Passed.
The appointment of the
Executive Secretary is a hired position to be handled by the BOM.
Ernest Peaches moved
adjournment and Elmore Herman seconded; the meeting adjourned at 9: 15 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Roger B. Twitchell on Behalf of Malcolm T. Sanford
Executive Secretary.