Life Membership of the National Beekeepers’ Association

Over its 100 years the National Beekeepers’ Association of New Zealand made seventy beekeepers into Life Members of the Association.

The first Life Membership was not given until 1922 when Isaac Hopkins (Auckland) received the acknowledgement from his peers.  

Mr. Hopkins has been actively engaged in beekeeping since 1880, and is widely known in connection with beekeeping, and it was evidently felt that his long connection with the industry, and his helpfulness, should be recognised.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18571, 3 June 1922, Page 7

The nomination was made from the floor of the Conference by John Rentoul (Cheviot), who would later become a life member himself, 22 years later in 1946.

Who Should be Selected for Life Membership?

The 1927 NBA rules made no provision for life membership.  Isaac Hopkins’ award appears to have come pretty much out of the blue.  In the years before about 1940 life memberships were always referred to as “honorary life membership”.  In later years, as the rules changed, the NBA provided for “life members”, “associate members” and “honorary members”.

Over the years, the NBA several times developed a more formal process for the consideration of life memberships.  A remit to the NBA conference in 1952 called for life membership to be restricted to “…only Beekeepers who have retired from commercial beekeeping”.  The remit failed.  The remit may have been motivated by the life membership of W.K Dallas (Wellington), retired Director of the Horticulture Division, a few years earlier.  Or it may have been addressing the issue of beekeepers who were still active in industry affairs, utilising the mana of life membership to support their points of view…

In 1955 the NBA Executive clarified the requirements for life membership.  The guidance specified that the service to the industry must be on a Dominion-wide basis, and not the result of service, however long or admirable, at a branch level.  The Executive minutes refer to recognition for service that was “…for those who had performed an outstanding service to the Industry, in a most conspicuous manner.”  That principle of national service was to remain a requirement, for the most part, through the years.

In 1974 the NBA Executive and President Ivan Dickinson (Milton) (life membership in 1989) developed guidelines for the NBA Executive’s use in selecting potential life members, along with a major rewrite of the NBA rules generally.  The guidelines said that life membership nominations must come from the branches, and be with the Executive several months before the conference.  The nomination must be for a member who has given outstanding service to the beekeeping industry, or be for a non-member who has given outstanding service, with examples given of administrative and research contributions to the industry generally.

In later years, the requirements for nomination were based on service to either the beekeeping industry or to the Association itself, in some form, and service at a national level remaining a requirement.  The expression of the non-formal policy was that outstanding service to a branch is more properly recognised with a branch life membership.  

In the 1990s there was one viewpoint that rejected life membership nominations, however well supported, for Ministry of Agriculture personnel.  The argument was that “it was just a job they were doing” so they should not be recognised for service to the industry.  That had not been the attitude in previous years, nor in subsequent times…

Historical Records

Several times through the years, the NBA Executive attempted to get a full listing of who had been awarded life membership in years past.  

In 1947 Garnie Fraser (Foxton), the General Secy, asked branch secretaries to go back through their minute books and inform him of life members from the “old” NBA.  Ironically, there were at that time only 3 life members: Isaac Hopkins (Auckland) (1922), Edgar Earp (Lower Hutt) (1939) and Leslie Irwin (Winton) (1940).  At the same time, the National Executive agreed to develop a standard certificate for new life members.

It has not been easy compiling this list of life members.  The few lists that were developed and published in years past were all quite error ridden.  There were instances when the Executive would discuss the nominations to go to the conference, but for whatever reason, the nomination did not eventuate.  There were also errors in the publicising of new life members at times.

In 1977 and again in 1993, the NZ Beekeeper magazine published lists of those who were believed to be life members, asking for all members to help to bring the list up to date.  Unfortunately, the list published in 1993 contained a number of various branch life memberships, and the interesting inclusion (in error) of Sir Edmund Hillary (Auckland) .  That created some confusion in later years…

Sir Ed HIllary, Beekeeper – But Not a Life Member

Yes, Edmund Hillary was a beekeeper, along with his mother, father and brother.  Though his father Percival Hillary was involved in beekeeping and the NBA for many years, there is no evidence that Edmund ever involved himself in industry affairs.  And yet, during the pre-conference Executive meeting in July 1953, the following motion was carried:

Resolved on the motion of Mr. Penrose, seconded by Mr. Williams – “that Sir Edmund Hillary be honoured by appointing him a Life Member of the National Beekeepers’ Association (Inc).”

NBA Executive minutes, July 1953.

It would appear that the decision was not acted upon.  No award was made at the conference several days later, and no further mention was made of it in the NBA Executive minutes.  Forty years later, Sir Ed spoke to an NBA conference in Tauranga in 1994.  He off-handedly mentioned that over the years, he had often wanted to attend a conference of beekeepers, but had never been asked!  

Errors in Awards

The announcement of new life memberships in the NZ Beekeeper has not been without controversy.  In 1980, the Editor of the NZ Beekeeper stated that Percy Berry (Havelock North)  and Graham Beard (Wellington) were new life members.  Three months later, the matter was corrected.  Percy Berry and Don Barrow (Tauranga) were the life members; Graham Beard (retiring General Secretary of the NBA) was honoured – but not with life membership.

And then, 40 years later, Don Barrow was left off a listing of the NBA life members, with a photo of the life members present for a 2013 NBA Conference photo.

Problematical Data…

A few aspects that I thought might be worth looking into posed issues.  

I wondered, for instance, if there was an equivalence between North Island and South Island beekeepers in life membership awards.  The problem came from assigning “North” or “South” for those people who really contributed primarily on a national basis.  Someone like Kevin Ecroyd (life member in 1987) lived and worked in Christchurch – but his contribution to the industry had little to do with geography.  The same can be said for most of the other life members through the years.  It was expected that the contribution really be of a “national” nature, regardless of where someone lived.

Demographics

The first life membership, Isaac Hopkins, has already been mentioned.  It was to be another 17 years before the practice continued, with an award in 1939 to Edgar Earp, the retiring Senior Apiary Instructor for the Department of Agriculture.

Over the 103 year history, there were 57 years when no one was made a life member and 28 conferences adding only a single new life member, and another 14 conferences that resulted in 2 new life members.  During 3 years, there were 3 new life members – with 2 of these sets of awards occurring in the last decade of the organisation’s existence.  The 1976 year awarded 5 new life memberships, a number never equalled in later years – George Gordon (Oamaru), Norman Glass (Gore), Harry Cloake (Timaru), Bill Haynes (Kaitai) and Jack Glynn (Balfour)!

Of the 70 life memberships, about two-thirds had served at least some time on the NBA Executive.  Over the years, there have been other bodies that were recognised as equally significant for the industry’s development, including the NZ Honey Packers Assn., NZ Honey Ltd., the Honey Control Committee, the Honey Export Advisory Committee and the Honey Marketing Authority.  In many cases, life members had served on more than one of these organisations, and such activity was highlighted when the life membership was given. 

Of the 41 presidents of the NBA, 19 were acknowledged with life membership, either before or after their time as president…

Three of the life members could be characterised as “beekeeping scientists”: Trevor Palmer-Jones (Upper Hutt) (1974), Pat Clinch (Upper Hutt) (1986) and Mark Goodwin (Hamilton) (2009).  Including those three, thirteen recipients (about 20% of the total) could be described as public servants, scientists and apicultural instructors and advisors.  Another 5 are best described as being involved in an “associated” aspect of beekeeping, such as equipment design or provision.

Though many/most/all of these advisory and associated life members may have had a hive or often more, there were 52 life members who were honoured for contributions to the association or the industry generally, and could readily be identified as simply “beekeepers”, with all but a few having been commercial beekeepers rather than hobbyists…

Life membership nominations were exclusively for male beekeepers until Jane Lorimer (Hamilton) was made a life member in 2007, and was followed several years later by Pauline Bassett (Te Kuiti) in 2009.  Mary-Ann Lindsay (Johnsonville) received the last life membership that the NBA awarded in 2014.

Quite a few life members have lived into their 90s – Tom Pearson (Darfield (90), Henry Penny (Hawera) (91), Allan Bates (Taranaki, then Matamata) (91), Ernie Sage (Ohaupo) (90), Bob Walsh (Auckland) (96), Dudley Lorimer (Hamilton) (the oldest at 99 when he died), Chris Dawson (Timaru) (92), Don Barrow (Tauranga) (97) and the most recently deceased, Ian Berry (Havelock North) (90).   (I must qualify that by acknowledging I have not been able to locate details for Doug Briscoe (Tauranga).  I would like to.)

Only one NBA life member is now past the 90 year mark.  David Penrose (Christchurch), life member in 1993 turned 90 early in 2022.

Pauline Bassett was honoured in 2009 as the only person recognised for her services as an Executive/General Secretary to the NBA.  John McFadzien (Otago, later Havelock North) was the only editor of the NZ Beekeeper to ever become a life member, and probably is the youngest life member ever honoured, in 1964 at the age of 49.

Isaac Hopkins at 84 when made a life member in 1922 was the oldest beekeeper receiving a life membership.  He had the dual distinction of being the first, and the oldest, life member…  

And a mention of one of the things that made compiling the list difficult?  Two beekeepers with the name “Tom Pearson” have been made life members of the NBA.  Thomas Henry Pearson (honoured in 1947) was from Hamilton, part of Pearson and Davies, a large Waikato honey producing business.  Thomas Edward Pearson was somewhat younger, and kept bees in Darfield, serving for many years as the NBA’s representative on the Pesticides Board.  He became a life member in 1969.  At the 1954 conference, there was this banter:

Mr. T.H. Pearson (having a friendly argument with the Chairman): You said “Mr. Pearson” and I got up. I thought the chap from Darfield was Tom Pearson!

NZ Beekeeper, August 1954

Beekeeping Families

It is not surprising that there are a number of family associations among the life members.  After all, there are a number of “beekeeping families”, some of which have family involvement for 4 and 5 generations.  There have been a number of “father, son”, or “father, son-in-law” groupings within the 69 life members.  The years following the names indicate the year of award:

W.B. Billy Bray (1955) and his son, Jasper Bray (1987),  Leeston

Bill Herron (1965) and his son, Keith Herron (1994), Gore

Arthur Ecroyd (1967) and his son, Kevin Ecroyd (1987), Christhchurch

Dudley Lorimer (1978) and his son, Tony Lorimer (1999), and his daughter-in-law Jane Lorimer (2007), Hamilton

Percy Berry (1980) and two of his sons, Ian Berry (1989) and Russell Berry (2006), Havelock North and Waiotapu

Tom Penrose (1968)  and his son, David Penrose (1993), Southbridge, Christchurch

John Heineman (1984) and his son-in-law Allen McCaw (2007), Milton

Husband and wife Frank and Mary-Ann Lindsay (Frank in 2004, Mary-Ann in 2014), Johnsonville

Who Was Not Honoured with Life Membership?

But this part of the article is more challenging.  Who over the years was inadvertently overlooked for life membership, or maybe even had enough opposition that they were never nominated?

One that might fit that second category could be Percival Hillary, Sir Ed’s father.  Percy served the national industry and association in many forms over many years.  He even, on his own, produced a magazine to try to fill the gaps in communication in the 1930s.  He was the NBA president for 2 years, vice president for 5 years, and was a member of the Executive for another 3 years.  And through that same period, he spent nearly 5 years on the Honey Control Board, and was one of the directors of NZ Honey Ltd, handling the bulk of NZ’s honey through the 1930s.  

But on the other hand, his single-minded focus, sharp intellect and debating style at conference may have turned beekeepers against him.  After the failure of NZ Honey Ltd, a company Hillary had championed,  he seemed to recede somewhat in industry involvement, though he was still active for another 25 years.  Comparing his contributions to the NBA and the honey industry over that time, he appears to have contributed as much as most other life members of that time!  He was never nominated, or even considered, from what I have been able to find.

Another individual from that same era that did not get nominated was Edward “Ted” Field (Foxton).  Field was on the Executive for one year (elected at the age of 24), then vice president of the NBA for 2 years, then president for another 11 years (longest service ever!), then stepped down to vice president for another 4 years.  Eighteen years of serving on the NBA Executive – and then he became chair of the newly formed Honey Marketing Authority for another 4 years!  In referring to his failure to return to the HMA in 1958, the magazine said:

A noteworthy feature of his work is that it has been done during the difficult years of the war and post-war periods and the first few years of the Honey Marketing Authority’s operations when, as a leader of the industry, he bore the brunt of the troubles and criticisms which were inevitable at those times.

NZ Beekeeper, November 1958

Those 18 years on the NBA Executive and then 4 years on the HMA were all before he was 46 years old!  He served as Mayor of Foxton for two years before his death in 1962.  It may be that the industry expected him to be around for many more years, and could anticipate awarding him life membership at some point when his age was considered more “appropriate”…

Another former NBA president who was never properly acknowledged (in my opinion!) was Paul Marshall (Havelock North, then Balclutha).  Though he was only NBA president for two years, and on the Executive for only 4 years in total, Paul served the NBA and the NZ beekeeping industry with integrity and huge energy through a difficult time.  He was elected president at the 1979 Christchurch conference, at a time when the HMA was facing clear industry opposition (specifically, for the failure to allow private exports of honey).  The next several years involved a lot of time and energy for Paul as NBA president: arbitration relating to the HMA’s assets, court injunctions, the Kay Report that settled things, the creation of a trust (two in fact) to hold the assets of the HMA, and the process of providing those funds to a newly formed honey marketing co-operative.

At the time of his election as president, Paul Marshall was seen to be somewhat independent of the entrenched viewpoints relating to the HMA and its assets.  He called two meetings, December 1979 and March 1980, to bring all the parties together – and managed to emerge with acceptable and accepted decisions, and the respect of all those involved.

Paul’s work for the NBA was ultimately paid for by, it would seem, the loss of his own beekeeping business.   Some who contributed time to the NBA could be “covered” by others in their bee businesses.  Paul’s business suffered from the amount of time he spent on NBA matters and away from home, beekeeping as a single operator.  But in spite of his contributions, his capabilities and his commitment to the beekeeping industry, Paul was never made a life member.

I could continue to second-guess the NBA in awarding life memberships.  Others that come to mind as “real beekeepers” who were, in my opinion, deserving include Mike Stuckey (Auckland), Dudley Ward (Dannevirke), Frances Trewby (Gore) – the list could go on.  And from the advisory category, too.  First into my mind would be Andrew Matheson (Nelson, Tauranga) and Cliff Van Eaton (Gore, Tauranga), and Ted Roberts (Palmerston North).

But all this is simply personal, probably opinionated and second-guessing the NBA in selecting its life members…

Ongoing Recognition

Murray Reid (Hamilton) (life member in 2001) described an ApiNZ conference when “all past presidents and life members” of the NBA were asked to stand.  Murray said that there were many beekeepers at the conference he did not know, but when that group was asked to stand, he remembered every one of them, and thought of the NBA of years gone by.

As I wrote this article, I spoke with David Penrose (life member in 1993, and now 90 years old).  He said how much he still enjoyed getting the NZ Beekeeper magazine each month, in recognition of his life membership.  It is a small thing, but I certainly hope it continues.

The NBA as an association is now gone.  ApiNZ has taken its place, and there will be no more new life members of the NBA.  I am sort of sad to say, I have now compiled something of a definitive list of the NBA life members, something the Executive asked for a number of times through the years.  I guess I can strike through one more job on my “to do” list.

I hope the beekeeping industry will remember and continue to respect the efforts of these 70 beekeepers who worked for the good of the wider beekeeping industry.