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CONSTITUTION

of the

INLAND EMPIRE BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION

Article I:  Name
Article II:  Purpose
Article III:  Membership
Article IV:  Officers
Article V:  Meetings
Article VI:  Finances
Article VII:  Committees
Article VIII:  Vacancies
Article IX:  Property
Article X:  Amendments
Article XI:  By-Laws

ARTICLE I

Name
    The name of this association shall be the Inland Empire Beekeepers Association (IEBA) herein the association. The association shall not be operated for the profit of any individual member and shall be incorporated in the state of Washington as a Non-Profit Corporation.

ARTICLE II

Purpose
    The Inland Empire Beekeepers Association is a Non-Profit Corporation that exists to promote beekeeping in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho through the education of future and current beekeepers in all aspects of beekeeping and to educate the general public on the benefits and necessity of Honey Bees and their products.

ARTICLE III

Membership
    Section 1  Membership:  Any beekeeper or any person interested in apiculture may become a member of this association on the payment to the treasurer of the yearly dues. The membership year shall be from 1 January to 31 December.

    Section 2  Dues:   Dues shall be payable yearly in advance in an amount determined by the membership at any annual meeting. One dollar of the dues shall be transmitted to the secretary-treasurer of the Washington State Beekeepers Association as individual associate membership dues in the State Association. First year dues shall be waived for new students enrolled in an IEBA Basic Beekeeping course.

    Section 3  Affiliations:   Any junior or 4-H beekeepers club may become a member of this association as a unit on approval of the executive board and upon the payment of the annual fees of ten cents per member to the secretary-treasurer of this association. The name and address of each of these junior members shall be filed with the secretary.

    Section 4  Life Membership:  Life membership in the association may be given to a member who has contributed in some outstanding way to the association’s aims and ideals and for meritorious service to the association upon recommendation of the executive committee and a majority vote of the members present at any regular meeting. Life members shall be excused from payment of local dues. No member shall be given life membership merely for continuous membership or for the purpose of not paying dues.

    Section 4 Termination:   Any membership may be terminated for inappropriate, immoral, or unethical behavior by a vote of two thirds of the association members present after open discussion.

ARTICLE IV

Officers
      Section 1  Officers: The officers of this association shall consist of a president, a vice-president, a secretary-treasurer, and a state association coordinator. These officers shall constitute the executive board.

      Section 2  Duties of Officers: The duties of the officers shall be those as assigned to them by “Roberts Rule of Order” and according to which rules the business of this association shall be conducted.

        A. President: The president shall preside over all association meetings; call special meetings as deemed necessary; perform all acts and duties of an executive and presiding officer including the appointment of any committee required for the proper function of the association.

        B. Vice President: The vice president shall assume the duties of the president in his/her absence and assist the president as necessary.

        C. Secretary: The secretary shall keep a permanent record of all official meetings of the association, report official association activities to the membership, and perform other duties as required by the association.

        D. Treasurer: The treasurer shall receive and disburse all funds and maintain accurate records of all association accounts. The treasurer shall deliver complete books documenting all financial transactions to his/her successor in office.

    Section 3  Between Meetings: The executive board shall function in behalf of the association between meetings in all matters that cannot be postponed until the following meeting which is not considered by the executive board to be of sufficient importance to warrant the calling of a special meeting.

    Section 4  Election of Officers: The officers of this association shall be elected by ballot at the annual meeting of the association (each December) and shall hold office for one year or until their successors shall have been elected.

ARTICLE V

Meetings
    Section 1  Meetings: The regular meetings of this association shall be held on the second Friday of each month. The annual meeting of this association shall be held at the December session. Ten percent of the members and at least two officers shall constitute a quorum to transact business. There shall be at least four meetings yearly.

    Section 2  Non-standard Meetings: The August meeting shall be the annual picnic. The date, time and location shall be determined by association vote during the June or July meeting. The September meeting shall be at the Spokane County Fair Grounds vicinity the IEBA exhibition booth if the association participates in the fair. Time shall be determined by the association at a meeting prior to the September meeting.

    Section 3  Special Meetings: An emergency or special meeting may be called by members of the executive board. An email shall be sent to those members who have signed up for email delivery stating the subject, date, time, and location of the meeting.

    Section 4 Quorum: A voting quorum at a membership meeting shall be no less than ten percent (10%) of the paid membership as reported by the treasurer at the last Board of Directors meeting previous to the membership meeting where a vote(s) is (are) to be taken. A quorum at a Board of Directors meeting shall consist of one half of the Board of Directors plus one.

ARTICLE VI

Finances
    Section 1  Management of finances: No indebtedness shall be incurred by any officer, committee member, or other member of this association on behalf of the association except as authorized by the association. Authorization of the association is evidenced by discussion and by an affirmative vote by a simple majority of the membership present at the meeting. The association monies shall be placed into a checking account with joint signature of the president and the treasurer. Monies in excess of month to month needs as determined by the treasurer shall be placed in a savings account to draw interest. If the association ceases to exist in some future time, the funds and assets of record shall be disbursed to the Washington State Beekeepers Association.

    Section 2  Annual Budget: The president and treasurer may produce an association budget to be presented to the association at the beginning of each calendar year. A simple majority vote of the membership at the meeting shall constitute approval of the budget. The budget shall authorize the executive board to disburse funds up to but not more than those approved by the budget. If additional funds are needed the officers must present the request to the membership and receive their approval. If a budget is not used, the association officers must present each disbursement to the membership for approval at any scheduled meeting. The intent of the budget process is to minimize time needed for ‘business’ and maximize time for ‘education’.

    Section 3  Audit: An Audit Committee shall be selected by the president or the association membership and shall perform an audit on an annual basis. Additional audits may be conducted as necessary. A report from the Audit Committee shall be made to the membership at large during the annual meeting.

ARTICLE VII

Committees
    Section 1  Appointment:   The president shall appoint at the first session of the annual meeting (or at other meetings as needed), the following committees to serve for that year. The first named to be chairman of that committee.

    Section 2   Membership Committee: The membership committee shall promote, solicit, and secure membership to this association.

    Section 3   Program Committee: The executive board shall constitute the program committee. Additional members may be added to the committee by the president. The Program Director shall be appointed by the president. The Program Director shall produce a yearly program based on input from the membership. The program is the most important part of any association meeting.

    Section 4 Education Committee: The purpose of the committee is to promote beekeeping in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho through the education of future and current beekeepers in all aspects of beekeeping and to educate the general public on the benefits and necessity of Honey Bees and their products. The Committee Chairman shall be appointed by the president. The committee shall meet when and where the chairman decides to discuss education related subjects. The committee shall provide the president with recommendations to be presented to the association membership for discussion and approval.

   Section 5  Ad Hoc Committee:  The president may create special purpose or ‘ad hoc’ committees as needed to meet the needs of the association.   The Committee Chairman shall be appointed by the president.  The committee shall meet when and where the chairman decides.

ARTICLE VIII

Vacancies
    Section 1 Vacancies:  All vacancies occurring in committees between meetings shall be filled by appointment by the president. A vacancy in the executive board shall be filled by the remaining members of the board, provided that such appointee shall in no way act as president. Upon resignation of the President, the association Vice President shall assume the duties of the President as Acting President. At the next association meeting the Acting President shall call for a vote by association members to confirm him/her as the association President to serve until the next annual meeting. If the Vice/Acting President is unwilling or unable to serve as President he/she shall call for candidates from the association members and conduct an election to fill the vacancy. The minutes of the meeting and a change to the association registration with Washington State Department of Licensing shall be submitted within two weeks of the election.

ARTICLE IX

Property
    Section 1 Association Property: The association may purchase durable property with approval of the membership. Durable property includes but is not limited to bee hives, fair equipment, audio visual, and storage equipment. Office supplies, expendable items, and honey bees are not real property. The president is responsible to know the location of association property. At the annual meeting the president will inform the association that the durab le property has been accounted for. Items may be removed from the property list (see section 2) by majority vote of the executive board. The treasurer is not responsible for association property.

    Section 2 Property List: The treasurer shall maintain a record of property items. The list shall include the item nomenclature, date purchased, last known location, and date sold, destroyed or transferred. The president in conjunction with the treasurer will determine what items are on the list.

    Section 3 Return of Property: All elected officers and any members, upon completion of their term in office or assignment, shall return to the association any and all papers, documents (digital or otherwise), and property deemed to be important to the operation and history of, and belonging to, said Association. Failure to comply may result in expulsion from the association and civil action if deemed necessary.

ARTICLE X

Amendments
    This constitution may be amended by a two-thirds majority vote (see quorum) during the annual meeting. Proposed amendments shall be in writing and presented to the membership at any annual or regular meeting. The amendment(s) shall not be voted on until the next annual meeting.

ARTICLE XI

Bylaws
    This constitution may contain By-Laws. By-Laws to this constitution may be adopted or updated upon a majority vote after notice, verbally issued at a monthly meeting at least one month prior to the vote, and the amended text shall be published in the monthly newsletter (if available) at least one month prior to the vote, with notice of the time and place when the vote will be held.

Adopted December 31, 1945
Amended March 17, 1965
Revised February 11, 1977
Corrected December 6, 1977
Revised January, 1987
Revised January, 2010

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Bylaws

of the

INLAND EMPIRE BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION

Article I:  Adoption & Update Procedures
Article II:  Walt Peterson Joy in Beekeeping Trust Fund
Article III:  Website
Article IV:  Newsletter
Article V:  Fairs - Purchase/Sale of Honey
Article VI:  IEBA Bee Yard

     Upon reading of these Bylaws of the Inland Empire Beekeeping Association, the members present vote to hereby accept these bylaws:

ARTICLE I

Adoption and/or Updating

     By-laws to the IEBA Constitution may be adopted or updated upon a majority vote after notice, verbally issued at a monthly meeting at least one month prior to the vote, and the amended text shall be published in the monthly newsletter (if available) at least one month prior to the vote, with notice of the time and place when the vote will be held.

ARTICLE II

The Walt Peterson Joy In Beekeeping Trust Fund

     Section 1  Joy In Beekeeping(JIB): The association will manage the Walt Peterson Joy In Beekeeping Trust Fund. The intent of the trust fund is to award scholarship grants and awards to help new beekeepers or to assist established beekeepers to start or maintain colonies of honey bees. The JIB is not a beekeeper of the year award.

      Section 2  Board of Trustees: The president shall nominate and the membership shall approve each trustee by a simple majority vote at the annual meeting (see quorum). There shall be three members on the board of trustees, each serving for a three year term. One new member will be nominated and approved each year. The senior member of the board shall act as the board president. The board of trustees shall manage and disburse all monies in the trust fund. The trust fund shall remain a separate account from the association accounts. Rules for the trustees are:

A. To avoid the perception or possibility of a conflict of interest, members of the board may not enter a nomination for another member while serving on the board.
B.To avoid the perception or possibility of a conflict of interest, members of the board shall be ineligible to take part in the decision making process or voting involving a member of that board member’s family. A family member in this case shall consist of: father, mother, son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter, nephew, niece, aunt, uncle, or married partner (in-law) of family relative.
C.Selection of the JIB winner shall be limited to a single individual. Grants will not be split between candidates.
D.Nominations for the JIB grant and awards must be put forth by another member of the association. Trustees may not nominate themselves for the award.
E.There is no requirement for the grant to be awarded each year.

      Section 3  Yearly Grant: A yearly grant of up to $250.00 will be awarded by the fund in each calendar year for the purpose of perpetuating a continuing interest in beekeeping. To allow as many as possible to benefit from the fund, a person winning a grant may only receive the grant once. The criteria for grant qualification are:

A. Applicant must be an active IEBA member. Applicant must have attended at least four IEBA meetings in the last twelve months.
B.Applicant has provided bees for apitherapy to one person for a period of twelve months, if requested, OR
C.Applicant has provided ten hours of service at the IEBA booth at the Spokane Interstate Fair, North Idaho State Fair, or other approved public educational demonstration or promotion, OR
D.Applicant has provided ten hours promoting beekeeping at schools in the area, OR
E.Applicant has provided ten hours of beekeeping related service that has prior approval of the trustees.

     All nominations for the grant must be in written form and presented to the trustees by the end of the monthly IEBA meeting in January. Nominator will state his or her name on the nomination. Award of the grant will take place at the regularly scheduled February meeting.

      Section 4  Awards:  Up to six yearly awards, each consisting of up to $100.00 value of beekeeping supplies, equipment, honey bees, clothing, or other implement or component of the endeavor of starting and/or keeping colonies of honey bees shall be made to qualified graduates of the association authorized beginning beekeeping class, based upon the following criteria:

A. Application, in writing, must be made for the award. The application must include a brief statement of the applicant’s interest, plans for future beekeeping and any other information pertaining to the applicant’s continuation of the craft.
B.Applicant must have successfully completed the class material and graduated from an IEBA beginning beekeeping class.
C.Graduate must have attended at least 75% of the scheduled classes, plus all outside lab offerings.
D.Applications must be in the hands of the trustees with two weeks of the final class of each session.
E.Winners will be chosen based upon the merit of the application and the work done in class by a secret majority vote of the trustees and the course instructor(s). In the event of a tie vote, the current president of the association or designated representative, will be called upon to cast the deciding vote.
F.The award may not be given twice to the same person.

ARTICLE III

IEBA Website

     Section 1  The Inland Beemail.com: The association will maintain a web site called the ‘inlandbeemail.com’ hereafter called the website, if association membership support is available for production, edit, and upkeep.

      Section 2  Editor: The website editor will be appointed by the president at the annual meeting. The editor shall be responsible for producing and updating the website.

      Section 3 Contents: The website shall include, but not be limited to the following:

A. The Inland Beemail (news letter)

B. Beekeeping Articles

C. A calendar of upcoming events

D. Any other Beekeeping related information as deemed appropriate by the website editor (or Board)

Section 4 Editing: The website editor determines what is on the website. Any article, advertisement, or other entry that the editor deems inappropriate shall not be on the website. Such article, advertisement, or other entry will be passed to the executive board for their consideration.

Section 6 Classified Ads: The website may contain classified ads submitted by association members only. The ads will remain on the website until the member asks for their removal or the member leaves the association or fails to pay yearly dues. The member submitting the ad is solely responsible for the content of the advertisement.

ARTICLE IV

Newsletter

Section 1  Inland Beemail: The association will publish a news letter called the ‘The Inland Beemail’ hereafter called the Beemail, if association membership support is available for production, edit, and distribution.

Section 2  Editor: The Beemail editor will be appointed by the president at the annual meeting. The editor shall be responsible for producing and distributing the Beemail.

Section 3  Contents: The Beemail shall include, but not be limited to the following:

A. Minutes of Meetings: The association secretary in concert with the editor may use the Beemail as the official means of recording the minutes of each meeting. Copies of the Beemail will be maintained by the secretary and the editor for two years.

B. Articles submitted by members of appropriate length and subject matter, as determined by the Newsletter Editor.

C. A calendar of upcoming events.

D. Any other Beekeeping related information as deemed appropriate by the newsletter editor (or Board)

     Cut-off date for submissions to the newsletter shall be determined by the Newsletter Editor.

     Section 4  Frequency of Publication: Barring unpredictable circumstances, the Editor will make every effort to publish the newsletter no later than five (5) days before the monthly membership meeting.

      Section 5  Editing: The Editor determines what is in the Beemail. Any article, advertisement, or other entry that the editor deems inappropriate shall not be included in the Beemail. Such article, advertisement, or other entry will be passed to the executive board for their consideration.

     Section 6  Classified Ads: The Beemail may contain classified ads submitted by association members only. The ads will remain in the Beemail until the member asks for their removal or the member leaves the association or fails to pay yearly dues. The member submitting the ad is solely responsible for the content of the advertisement.

Article V.

Fair - Purchase/Sale of honey products

     Section 1 Fairs: The association may participate in local state or county fairs as authorized by the membership and if association membership support is available for operating the booth(s). The primary purpose of the fair booth is education.

     Section 2 Sale of Honey: The association may sell honey at the fairs. The honey will be from the association bee hives or from the purchase of local bulk honey. The income from the sale of honey will be used to defer the costs of the fair operations. Excess funds will be used for education purposes and association operations as approved by the membership. The president will determine the source, the price, and the quantity of honey to purchase. Every effort will be made to limit the amount of honey not sold at the fairs. Excess honey not needed for association operations (such as yard rent) will be disposed of through discounted sales arranged by the president. Excess honey straws will be retained for use by association members teaching bee classes. 

 

Article VI.

IEBA Bee Yard

     The association may operate one or more bee yards with bee hives for the purpose of education.  The bee hives will be maintained by association volunteers.  Funds used for the operation of the bee yard will be approved by the membership.  Honey produced by the bees excess to the needs of the bees shall be used by the association as deemed appropriate by the executive board.  The honey may be used for bee yard rent payments, honey sales at the association fair booth(s), or any other use deemed appropriate by the executive board.

Adopted January 2010 

 

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