Member Comments
One of our founding members was asked "Would you be willing to give me a few sentences about being a member of the IBA since the beginning":
"I am proud to be a member of IBA. At the outset, it was my hope that the organization would offer meetings and programs with beekeeping oriented content presented by nationally known speakers and that it would foster the growth of local associations around the state. With the Bee School, the Fall Conference and the continued reporting in the newsletter from local groups, my hopes have certainly been realized, and more. .....Looking back, I am grateful for the support of fellow founders Ben Blake (deceased, missing you ever), Dave Laney and Ken Theis. And, in the years since the founding, we have been blessed by energetic leaders including David Barrickman, Steve Doty, Kenny Schneider, Flo Schneider, Jerry Brelage, Devon and Cindy Howald, Bob and Darlene Kress, Ron Myers, and many others. Thank you all for your service."
Jim Curlee
Our newest member to the IBA was asked "Why you signed up to be a member":
I have always been interested in bee keeping. This summer I was doing a lot of reading about it and was talking to my son-in-law. He had gotten interested while looking at your state fair booth. So together we decided to give bee keeping a try. Someone on a forum said I should take the bee school offered. That is why I signed up.
Greg Languyt
An elder member was asked, "We missed you at the Fall Conference, will you be at the Bee School next year?"
At my age, what I'm involved in the most is helping out new beekeepers and those with little experience. On July 4th, someone shot 10 hives with a shotgun. It tore up the frames, the comb and brood inside. The hives belonged to Charlie Burley. I helped with going through each hive and putting them back together. New frames and boxes had to be built and painted, but we were able to save 6 of the hives. The other four had dead queens. It was the saddest thing I've ever seen.
Vic Cihonski
