A Brief History of Scottish Beekeeping and Beekeepers, Hood
A Brief History of Scottish Beekeeping and Beekeepers
I have written this book on Beekeeping and expert beekeepers, to show how beekeeping has developed and progressed over time with the practice and thinking of some great beekeepers. I hope it makes the information about them more accessible and makes those beekeepers who read the book, challenge their current beekeeping practices and it makes them better beekeepers. I know it has for me.
VIEW Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Foreword
- The Origins of the Hive
- John Gedde
- James Bonner
- Robert Kerr and the Stewarton Hive
- The Walker Family
- John McPhedran
- William Thomson
- William Raitt
- Miss Clementina Stirling Graham
- Alexander Pettigrew
- William McNally
- George Avery and The Scottish Beekeepers’ Association
- Richard Whyte
- John Wilson Moir
- D. M. MacDonald
- Dr John Anderson
- Dr Edward Jeffree
- Alex S C Deans
- Dr Delia Allen
- Margaret (Peggy) Logan
- Alex R. Cumming
- Bernhard Möbus
- James Savage
- Captain L M Thake
- Mr & Mrs Shepherd
- Willie Smith
- William Hamilton
- Braithwaite Brothers – James and George
- Robert Couston
- The Glasgow Beekeepers – Ian Craig, Eric McArthur and Charles Irwin
- Andrew Abrahams
VIEW Book Review
Reviewed by Ann Chilcott (Scottish Expert Beemaster) and author of THE BEELISTENER
A Brief History of Scottish Beekeeping and Beekeepers by Taylor Hood is a collection of biographical accounts of over 30 people who have contributed to the country’s rich heritage over several hundred years of apiculture.
The author is an experienced beekeeper and enthusiastic historian with the research skills required to unearth and bring to light valuable information that might otherwise have been unavailable to the Scottish beekeeper searching for links to the past. This history book brings together many stories and presents them in one convenient place. It is full of fascinating facts and will be a useful tool for writers and students of beekeeping.
This work honours great beekeepers from the past, and the kenspeckle contemporary ones such as Andrew Abrahams and Charles Irwin. It is interesting to learn how many of Scotland’s beekeepers have been recognised for their dedication to beekeeping and honoured by the award of MBE (Member of the British Empire). At last, Delia M. Allen, one of our greatest scientists, will be better recognised in her homeland. Dr Allen is well known in the US and often quoted in scientific papers for her work on bee behaviour.
A contents page guides the reader to each of the 34 sections including acknowledgements and a foreword. It is a well-illustrated book with a few colour photographs and many old black and white pictures and drawings depicting scenes from the past, and explaining equipment.
The writing is styled in encyclopaedic form with factual statements and lists. This will appeal to the readers who wants facts and figures quickly without the flowing prose of an essay form. However, the book lacks analysis, and discussion and comparisons of the past with modern beekeeping would have clarified some aspects for inexperienced beekeepers. For example, from modern science, we know that the Isle of Wight Disease was most probably caused by chronic bee paralysis virus rather than tracheal mites or Vairimorpha spp. (formerly classified as Nosema spp.)
This book will benefit from a light copyedit and another proofreading pass to correct typographical errors before the first reprint.
The author has achieved the goal of producing a brief history of beekeeping and beekeepers in Scotland, and this useful compendium deserves a place in every Scottish Beekeeping Association library.
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