Leading up to each month's club meeting, the Wannabees write meeting agendas and minutes and distribute them via an email list to our membership and anyone who requests them. This provides useful information about the procedures and topics we discuss, schedules demonstrations, and conforms to our club guidelines for formally archiving our activities. Each monthly agenda listed below follows a descending order identified by date, the most recent meeting agenda at the top. April, 2026 Welcome and thanks for coming. Introductions. Announced the passing of Liese Bauer and her remembrance. Club Mission Statement. Announcing the arrival dates of the bees and order deadlines. Demonstrate installation of bee packages and nucs. Brief explanation of mite treatment types and applications. Query member's hive/bee status going into Spring. General questions and answers Treasurer's report: $1917.46 in club's checking account. Dues received last month $45.00. Old business review. Meeting adjourned. Next meeting May 13, 2026. Minutes: Bill Clements, President, opened the meeting at 7 PM with introductions: Joan Clements, Vice President Dan Mulally, Secretary Doris Robinson, Treasurer (absent) 13 members including officers were present. Bill announced the passing of Lise Bauer & Remembrance. She was an active member and former Secretary and Vice President. Dan gave summary of presentation he and Jeffy Owens gave to the state 4H convention sponsored by Lincoln County 4H at the Pennington County 4H at the county fairgrounds. It was well received. Bill and Joan said nuc pickups will be May 9-10north on Elk Vale Rd. which is the same location as last year. Packages will arrive April 18 at T&M Ag. Recipients will be notified. Bill described with actual equipment how to install: Nucs: Move frames from nuc box to center of final hive box keeping frames in same order taking care to not hurt the queen. Fill in the remaining slots with frames with drawn out comb if available, otherwise with frames with blank foundation. Packages: Dump bees in new box, drawn out comb is preferred and a couple of honey frames if available at either end. Queen will be in cage which is hung on center frame with sugar plug exit facing down. If honey frames are available, install them on either end of box. Don’t put in too much honey to avoid honey bound brood boxes. Let bees settle in for a week before checking. Bill showed how an insect fogger can be used to administer Oxalic acid for treatment of Varroa mites Treasurer's report: $ 1917.46 in Checking. Dues received last month $ 45.00. March, 2026 Agenda: Approve agenda (Bill) Review and approve minutes of last meeting (Dan) Review and approve treasurers report (Doris) Presentation by scholarship recipient Bryan Woodring (Joan) Guest Speaker Bob Reiner, SD State apiarist (Bill) Comments from officers Public comments Adjourn meeting Minutes: Bill called meeting to order, 30 in attendance including officers. Introduced officers: President: Bill Clemens Vice President: Joan Clemens Secretary: Dan Mulally Treasurer: Doris Robinson Dan made motion to approve agenda. Joan seconded. Motion carried. * Dan deferred the reading of the minutes to save time but provided copies. Motion by Dan seconded by Joan to approve minutes. Motion carries. * Treasurers report (Doris). Balance of $1873.46. Motion by Dan seconded by Joan to accept treasurers report. Motion carried. * Tyler, one of the new owners of T&M Ag (formally D&M ag) operated by Tyler and Mackenzie Meyers, was introduced. A new link to their web site is on our web site's Gear and Suppliers page. *Bob Reiner, South Dakota State Apiarist spoke on several aspects of beekeeping and took questions: His department is under SD DANR. Their budget is mainly funded by fees such as registration fees for our hives. He discussed how some commercial beekeepers were wintering indoors (such as in potato barns); however there were special considerations: heat and CO2 build up required ventilation. Also, it had to be completely dark. He is available to conduct hive inspections even for hobbyists. He discussed American and European foulbrood. Best to burn infected frames. He discussed the varroa mite and several treatments: formic acid, oxalic acid. Good habitats for birds and butterflies coincide with good bee habitats. Bee losses haven’t been as bad as previous years. * Brian gave update on new web site (www.wannabees.net). It is working well. Several views from other countries. Thanks to Brian for his great work * Next meeting: Apr 8, 2026. * Meeting adjourned by Bill. February, 2026 Agenda * Approve agenda (Bill) * Review and approve minutes of last meeting (Dan) * Review and approve treasurer's report (Doris) * (added) Form a committee to update our bylaws (Dan) * Presentation: why honey doesn’t go bad (Bill) * Website update (Brian) * Public comments * Adjourn meeting Minutes: * Bill called meeting to order, 20 in attendance including officers. Introduced officers: * President: Bill Clemens * Vice President: Joan Clemens * Secretary: Dan Mulally * Treasurer: Doris Robinson * Dan requested we add an agenda item after the treasures report — form a committee to clean up our bylaws. Need to define quorum and roles such as webmaster. * Bill made motion to approve agenda with Dans amendment. Brian seconded. Motion carried. * Dan read minutes of Jan meeting. Motion by Brian seconded by Joan to approve minutes. Motion carries. * Treasurers report (Doris). Balance of $1790.46. Expense of 253.94 to reimburse Dan for Godaddy web site hosting and SSL for 3 years expense. * Motion by Dan seconded by Brian to accept treasurers report. Motion carried. * Dan made motion to form a committee of 3 to modify the bylaws (aka guidelines) and propose the amended version to the club. Seconded by Brian. Motion carries. * Dan volunteered to head the committee. Troy and Joan volunteered to be on the committee. Dan said that he would work with other members to create the draft bylaws. * Bill gave presentation on “why honey doesn’t go bad.” Low water content and High acidity are the main reasons. * Honey water content if normally 18-20%, Honey if properly stored lasts thousands of years. * Joan said that D&M Ag is now T&M ag operated by Tyler and Mackenzie Meyers. When their web site is ready we will put a link to that on our web site. * Dan read text from Lise Baur, former secretary, on the status of her cancer treatment. She is in Texas. * Someone mentioned “Buzz in the Black Hills” conference event at West Dakota Tech. Feb 21-22 for $54. * Brian gave update on new web site (www.wannabees.net). It is working well. Several views from Europe. Thanks to Brian for his great work * General discussion ensued with introductions and comments on status of members hives. * Next meeting: Mar 11, 2026. * Motion to adjourn by Joan seconded by Brian * Meeting adjourned. January, 2026 Minutes: * Bill called meeting to order, approximately 15 in attendance. Introduced officers: * President: Bill Clemens * Vice President: Joan Clemens * Secretary: Dan Mulally * Treasurer: Doris Robinson * Bill made motion to approve agenda. Brian seconded. Motion carried. * Dan read minutes of Dec meeting. Motion by Brian seconded by Joan to approve minutes. Motion carries. * Treasurers Report (Doris). Balance of $2051.40. Motion by Brian seconded by Chase to accept treasurers report. Motion carried. * Motion by Joan seconded by Doris to reimburse Dan for $253.94 for 3 years web site hosting and SSL certificate. Motion carried. * Bill presented Off Season Bee Hive Care: Clean equipment, boxes and frames, etc. Feed bees Leave some propolis intact as it promotes healthy bees * Bob Reiner, SD State Apiarist will speak at February meeting * Scholarship update: newsletter info sent to Pennington, Meade/Lawrence, Butte and Custer counties 4H for placement in their newsletters * Dan read text from Lise Baur, former secretary, on the status of her cancer treatment. * Bill announced Buzz in the Black Hills conference event at West Dakota Tech. Feb 21-22 for $49. * Brian gave update on new web site (www.wannabees.net) with statistics (64 unique visitors as of 1 Jan). Several views from Europe. Email is contact@wannabees.net. We received at least one email asking about the meeting. Thanks to Brian for his great work * Dan mentioned he now had Facebook admin privileges * Scholarship discussion. Pennco 4H publisher our scholarship information in their newsletter. * Next meeting: Feb. 11, 2026. * Motion to adjourn by Dan seconded by Joan * Adjourn meeting December, 2025 * Call the meeting to order (Dan) * Approval of agenda (Dan) * Minutes of last meeting (Dan) * Approval of minutes * Treasurers report (Doris) * Approval of Treasurers report * Officer elections 2026 (Dan) * Nominations closed * President - Bill Clements * Vice president - Joan Clements * Secretary - Dan Mulally * Treasurer - Doris Robinson * Scholarship update, newsletter to PennCo, Meade and Butte County 4H * Discussion on web site hosting service (Brian) * Discussion on social media * Newsletters (e.g. PennCo 4H, libraries, etc.) * General Public Comment/New business * Next Meeting: Jan 14, 2025 6 p.m. * Adjourn November, 2025 * Call the meeting to order (Dan) * Approval of agenda (Dan) * Minutes of last meeting (Dan) * Approval of minutes * Treasure’s report (Doris) * Approval of Treasurer’s report * Upcoming officer elections 2026: * Nominations * President * Vice president * Secretary * Treasurer * Elections in December * Scholarship update, newsletter to PennCo, Meade and Butte County 4H * Discussion on increasing our attendance * Web site * Community announcements * Things to do to help bees make it through winter (Bill) * Epoch Times article * General Public Comment/New business * Next Meeting: Dec 10, 2025 6 p.m. * Adjourn October, 2025 * Call the meeting to order (Dan) * Approval of agenda (Dan) * Minutes of last meeting (Dan) * Approval of minutes * Treasure’s report (Dan) * Approval of Treasurer’s report * Upcoming officer elections: * Nominations in November * Elections in December * Scholarship update, newsletter to PennCo, Meade and Butte County 4H * Winterizing hives: (Jerry, Dan, Resa) * Selling honey (regulations, labels) * Officer comments (Dan) * General Public Comment/New business * Next Meeting: Nov 12, 2025 6 p.m. * Adjourn September, 2025 * Call the meeting to order (Dan) * Approval of agenda (Dan) * Minutes of last meeting (Dan) * Approval of minutes * Treasure’s report (Dan) * Approval of Treasurer’s report * Upcoming officer elections: * Nominations in November * Elections in December * Solar wax melter (Resa) * Hive Butler (Resa) * Combining weak hives (Dan) * Honey extraction methods and tools (Dan) * Officer comments (Dan, Doris) * General Public Comment/New business * Next Meeting: Oct 8, 2025 6 p.m. * Adjourn August, 2025 * Call the meeting to order (Dan) * Approval of agenda (Dan) * Minutes of last meeting (Lise) * Approval of minutes * Treasure’s report (Dan) * Approval of Treasurer’s report * Youth and Family Services booth 6 Sep (Dan) * How to fix a honey bound hive (Bill) * Refractometer for honey water content (Dan) * General Public Comment/New business * Next Meeting: Sep 10, 2025 6 p.m. * Adjourn July, 2025 * Call the meeting to order (Dan) * Approval of agenda (Dan) * Minutes of last meeting (Lise) * Approval of minutes * Treasure’s report (Doris) * Approval of Treasurer’s report * Booth at Central States Fair, Aug 15-23. Sign-up sheet. (Lise) * General Public Comment * Next Meeting: July 9, 2025 6 p.m. * Adjourn * Let’s eat! June, 2025 * Call the meeting to order (Dan) * Approval of agenda (Dan) * Minutes of last meeting (Lise) * Approval of minutes * Treasure’s report (Doris) * Approval of Treasurer’s report * Booth at Central States Fair, Aug 15-23. Sign-up sheet. (Lise) * Annual pot luck for July. Sign-up sheet. (Lise) * Topic: the importance of watering your bees. (Lise/Bill) * General Public Comment * Next Meeting: July 9, 2025 6 p.m. * Adjourn May, 2025 * Call the meeting to order (Dan) * Approval of agenda * Minutes of last meeting (Lise) * Approval of minutes * Treasure’s report (Doris) * Approval of Treasurer’s report * Post nuc discussion. (Bill/Joan) * Potential booth at Central States Fair, Aug 15-23. (Lise) * Flow hive (Bruce Enger) * General Public Comment * Next Meeting: June 11, 2025 6 p.m. * Adjourn April, 2025 * Call the meeting to order (Dan) * Approval of agenda * Minutes of last meeting (Lise) * Approval of minutes * Treasure’s report (Doris) * Approval of Treasurer’s report * Suggestion box. (Lise) * Scholarship update. (Dan) * Status of nucs and packages. (Bill/Joan) * How to install a package. (Bill) * Horizontal hive. (Bill) * Seasonal tasks * Feed, feed and feed * Varroa mite treatment * General Public Comment * Next Meeting: May 14, 2025 6 p.m. * Adjourn March, 2025 * Call the meeting to order (Dan) * Approval of agenda * Minutes of last meeting (Lise) * Approval of minutes * Treasure’s report (Doris) * Approval of Treasurer’s report * Nomination/Volunteer for Vice President * Scholarship update * Order nucs and packages. (Bill/Joan) * Seasonal tasks * Feed, feed and feed * Varroa mite treatment * Prepare for spring (Bill) * Clean up supers, boxes, queen excluders * Be ready for honey flow * General Public Comment * Next Meeting: April 12, 2025 6 p.m. * Adjourn February, 2025 * Call the meeting to order (Dan) * Approval of agenda * Minutes of last meeting (Lise) * Approval of minutes * Treasure’s report (Doris) * Approval of Treasurer’s report * Nomination/Volunteer for Secretary * Scholarship update * Order nucs and packages. (Bill/Joan) * Bees wax * Another solar wax melter (Lise Baur) * Candle making * Lip Balm * Recommendations for winter * General Public Comment * Next Meeting: March 12, 2025 6 p.m. * Adjourn January, 2025 * Call the meeting to order * Approval of agenda * Minutes of last meeting * Approval of minutes * Treasure’s report * Approval of Treasurer’s report * Announcements (Brian Maschino): * Bee Registration 1 February, SD Dept. of Ag and Natural Resources (SD DANR) * Buzz in the Black Hills, 21-22 February @ Western Dakota Tech. "Beekeeper Vs Bee Buyer". * Officer elections (president, vice president, secretary, treasurer): * Officer nominations * Vote on officers * Update on Scholarship committee * Scholarship committee nominations for scholarship committee (4 club members; at least one officer) * Vote on nominations * Processing honey. (Bill and Joan Clements) * Another solar wax melter (Lise Baur) * More on varroa mites * Recommendations for winter * 2024 in review * How are your bees doing roundtable * Next Meeting: February 12, 2025 6 p.m. * Adjourn |