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Margaret Thomas – “Why Bees Behave the Way They Do”
15th February 2017 @ 19:00 - 21:00
Refreshments as usual from 7.00pm.
Margaret Thomas CSP NDB our Speaker on 15th February 2017
Margaret Thomas lived in Essex where she and her husband Dick learnt their beekeeping in the 1970s under the tutelage of Ted Hooper. While in Essex she passed her BBKA examinations to become a Master Beekeeper and then went on to get her NDB in 1982. At about this time she became acquainted with York through her involvement with the weeks’ residential courses held here for the NDB tutor team.
At Ted Hooper’s retirement she joined the group of some 12 beekeepers led by Clive deBruyn (the newly appointed CBI) discussing varying topics and culminating in a two week stay with queen rearer John Keefus in Toulouse, France. The group spent the time grafting (with adapted matchsticks), making fondant, filling mini nucs, putting them out for mating and placing mated queens in travel cages ready for the post.
Margaret was an active member of the Essex Beekeepers for 39 years and was awarded their Life Membership in 2010.
During her time as a Bee Farmer she was running between 40 and 60 colonies and was much involved with the Bee Farmers Association, as Magazine, Pesticides, Minutes and Pollination Secretary – the last of these roles required her to allocate around 1000 hives in Kent, on top fruit, borage and OSR.
Margaret retired to Scotland in 2009 and is rising to the challenge of keeping a small number of colonies in a fickle climate. She lectures widely, and in addition to publishing her own articles has updated Ted Hooper’s Guide to Bees and Honey and the Beginners Bee Book
She is now a committee member of the Scottish Beekeepers Association, where her brief is all subjects related to hive products.
Margaret Thomas CSP NDB our Speaker on 15th February 2017
Margaret Thomas lived in Essex where she and her husband Dick learnt their beekeeping in the 1970s under the tutelage of Ted Hooper. While in Essex she passed her BBKA examinations to become a Master Beekeeper and then went on to get her NDB in 1982. At about this time she became acquainted with York through her involvement with the weeks’ residential courses held here for the NDB tutor team.
At Ted Hooper’s retirement she joined the group of some 12 beekeepers led by Clive deBruyn (the newly appointed CBI) discussing varying topics and culminating in a two week stay with queen rearer John Keefus in Toulouse, France. The group spent the time grafting (with adapted matchsticks), making fondant, filling mini nucs, putting them out for mating and placing mated queens in travel cages ready for the post.
Margaret was an active member of the Essex Beekeepers for 39 years and was awarded their Life Membership in 2010.
During her time as a Bee Farmer she was running between 40 and 60 colonies and was much involved with the Bee Farmers Association, as Magazine, Pesticides, Minutes and Pollination Secretary – the last of these roles required her to allocate around 1000 hives in Kent, on top fruit, borage and OSR.
Margaret retired to Scotland in 2009 and is rising to the challenge of keeping a small number of colonies in a fickle climate. She lectures widely, and in addition to publishing her own articles has updated Ted Hooper’s Guide to Bees and Honey and the Beginners Bee Book
She is now a committee member of the Scottish Beekeepers Association, where her brief is all subjects related to hive products.