Panel Members for the 2023 NSBK Brains Trust
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Bridget Knutson
Bridget walked into the Bees and Honey tent at the Bath and West Show 19 years ago to ask about bumblebees. She got the answer she was looking for and took them up on their suggestion that she did the beginners course during the following winter. She became fully hooked! Bridget got her first colony the following year, took her Basic in 2008 and became a Master Beekeeper in 2018. She has helped on beginners courses, zoom module groups, microscopy courses and over the years held every position within the Wedmore and Cheddar division. She also examines beekeepers for their Basic Assessment in Somerset and North Somerset. Bridget currently has 8 colonies in a mixture of WBC and National hives. |
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Ivor Davis
Ivor is not a bee scientist or a biologist but has always been interested in insects and their role in the environment. He is a scientist by background but came to bees and beekeeping late in life (40ish). Since then he has served on our association and ABKA, BBKA, NDB, IBRA and Bees for Development. Fortunately Ivor’s wife, Jan, is also very interested in insects and bees and they have been able to share this interest all their married life. Ivor and Jan have been to many National and international bee conferences and had the privilege of meeting many international bee scientist, bee farmers, leaders in beekeeping and government officials and MPs in pursuit of a better environment for bees and beekeeping. Ivor has always been keen to understand how bees and colonies operate and carry out the fascinating and important role from which we all benefit. |
Ivor studied for all the BBKA and NDB examinations and then with a few others recognised the lack of a formal fact based training programme to teach beekeeping. They created teaching material and made it widely available to establish a curriculum framework which has been very successful. Ivor then wrote a highly successful book on bees and beekeeping.
Jan and Ivor used to keep about 30 colonies that allowed them to experiment in breeding and selection. They now have about 5 colonies and will reduce to 2 as time goes on. Ivor is interested in how we might encourage our bees to thrive without intervention so that wild colonies can become common again. He is still interested in how we can encourage young beekeepers to lean about the bee and how we can pass on practical methods of caring for our colonies.
Jan and Ivor used to keep about 30 colonies that allowed them to experiment in breeding and selection. They now have about 5 colonies and will reduce to 2 as time goes on. Ivor is interested in how we might encourage our bees to thrive without intervention so that wild colonies can become common again. He is still interested in how we can encourage young beekeepers to lean about the bee and how we can pass on practical methods of caring for our colonies.
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Lynne Ingram
Lynne Ingram is a Master Beekeeper, producing quality honey and related products from various hives dotted around Somerset. She has been keeping bees at Wesley Cottage for 40 years. Over this time Lynne has improved her bee knowledge generally and has learnt much more about insects other than honey bees and their role in pollination. She has also studied botany in greater depth and immersed herself in the latest apicultural research. |
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Eleanor Burgess
Eleanor has been a keen beekeeper for over 20 years, working up to 30 hives and several apiaries. From 2013 till 2022 she was employed by the National Bee Unit as a Seasonal Bee Inspector in West Somerset. She gives regular talks to her local Beekeeping Associations and to the non Beekeeping public.
Eleanor has been a keen beekeeper for over 20 years, working up to 30 hives and several apiaries. From 2013 till 2022 she was employed by the National Bee Unit as a Seasonal Bee Inspector in West Somerset. She gives regular talks to her local Beekeeping Associations and to the non Beekeeping public.