Some beekeepers who have contributed to beekeeping in a variety of ways
A great deal of information exists about beekeeping in a number of places, including thousands of pages and documents on this website alone. There are websites, books, magazines, lectures, leaflets, manuals, advertising material, newsletters and training aids. Further to these there is information that can be gleaned from meetings and discussions - some of which unfortunately never gets written down.
The sources of beekeeping information are endless. There is some good sound information that has been gathered by experience and observation, but sadly there is an awful lot of poor information. This is the "standard information" that has largely been recycled from elsewhere, often dogmatically and forcefully given by quite inexperienced "beekeepers" who have gained undeserved reputations by getting their names displayed in as many places as possible, or have gained a few "qualifications" (usually in a short time) and think they know more than others.
The index at left includes a small sample of good experienced beekeepers who are respected writers and lecturers. Their knowledge has been largely gained by experience and observation, not by knowing what other people know. Most of them have an index of documents that is an example of what they have written. The pages containing the document indices may also contain a little information about the person concerned. The list is by no means complete or exhaustive and from time to time more worthy names will appear.
These people have been included because of their contributions to beekeeping in a variety of ways, some for a very long time.
Dave Cushman.
Dave originally called this page "Writings of Other Beekeepers", but he subsequently included some who had made significant contributions to beekeeping worldwide. Some hadn't done much writing at all. Since Dave introduced the page, the internet has become a major way of distributing information, that in some respects is far more powerful than a book or booklet. I have thought long and hard about the content and title of this page, because it is obvious that Dave Cushman expanded it from what he originally intended. For a time, I changed the title to "Writings of Experienced Beekeepers", but that still didn't describe the content accurately. After considerable thought, I have decided on "Beekeepers Past and Present". This is a sort of "catch all" that allows me to include beekeepers who have made significant contributions to the craft, but may be less well known. Some may have only been known for locally or for one thing, such as an article, booklet or invention. Dave included those who he felt were worthy of inclusion (it was him who included me!). I will continue to do the same, but only because there are many good beekeepers who haven't had the recognition I believe they deserve.
Roger Patterson.
Page created by D.A.C. pre-2011
Page updated 17/11/2020