Changing faces at Dromore Beekeepers
Liam Murtagh, the new Chairman of Dromore Beekeepers' Association wearing his chain of office for the first time; also in the picture; Lorraine McBride, the guest speaker and Sam Baird the outgoing Chairman.
LORRAINE McBride conducted a novel event for Dromore Beekeepers' Association at its AGM last week.
Her title was 'To re-queen with which queen'. This was not a lecture, it was a most participative event which brought out all the qualities, good and bad of a queen.
She took three volunteers, Vanessa Drew, Joy Toland and Lorna Cassidy and placed them at the front of the audience. She then gave each a card describing a trait of a queen and the audience commented on the relative merits of the three "queens."
This was followed by a second card each, then a third and continued till each queen had eight cards. The audience kept evaluating the queens and argued with each other on the relative importance of say docility as opposed to good comb building.
The three ladies (queens) entered into the spirit of the game with Lorraine and, with difficulty, held up the cards; after five cards they required both hands! All agreed it had been good fun and quite thought provoking.
This event followed the election of office bearers which Lorraine conducted, the results of which were as follows: Chairperson: Liam Murtagh, Vice-Chairperson: Jim Fullerton, Secretary; Patrick Lundy, Assistant Secretary; Tony Damaglou, Treasurer; Gail Orr, Honey Show Manager; Cecil McMullan, Webmaster; Sean Stephen, Apiary manager; William Blakely, Press Officer; Norman Walsh, Librarian; Anne Wilson, Assistant Librarian; Valerie Davison.
Committee: Immediate past chairman: Sam Baird, Alan Porter, Jams Crawford, David Dumican, David McFarland, Vanessa Drew, Valerie Davison, Tom Hawthorne. Lorna Cassidy. Auditor: Nigel Erskine, Dollingstown.
Sam Baird, performing one of his last duties as chairman of Dromore Beekeepers' Association in presenting the "Senior Biology Cup" from Dromore Beekeepers' Association to Hazel Uprichard, the head of Science at Dromore High School. This is to recognize that Dromore High School has now a sixth form department and is preparing 26 students for A level Biology.
Delegates to Ulster Beekeepers' Association Executive committee: Mervyn Eddie, Patrick Lundy and Gail Orr.
Sam Baird proposed that Norman Walsh be elected honorary President to recognise his work for Dromore Beekeepers over many years, especially in his efforts as Press officer and in procuring high caliber speakers for the monthly meetings; this met with general approval but, since there is no provision in the Constitution for President, the committee will examine the possibility of bringing forward changes to the Constitution.
A few minor changes had earlier been made to the Constitution; the one which stimulated a lively debate was the change of name from "Dromore & District Beekeepers' Association" to "Dromore Beekeepers' Association."
It was pointed out that the new name could indicate a more inward looking Association but, when the reason for the proposed change was explained by the Chairman, it was approved. The reason for the change is that the old name is too long to fit the new logo!
The reports from the Principal officers all described a very successful year; the highlights being the new website www.dromorebeekeepers.org, the development and stocking of the Tullyhenan Fort Apiary, the Beginners' class, the examination successes at Preliminary, Intermediate and Senior level, the Queen rearing and grafting workshop and, highlighted on all reports, the trip to Dublin where a bus load of beekeepers visited the Botanic Gardens and Keith Pierce's Apiary.
The financial report described a very successful year and, despite significant expenditure on the Tullyhenan Fort Apiary, there was still a surplus. It was agreed to increase membership subscriptions from £17 to £20 for the ensuing year.
Ulster Star
3/09/2011
