For want of a better word
Queen Bee
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2010
- Messages
- 12,502
- Reaction score
- 38
- Location
- South West
- Hive Type
- National
- Number of Hives
- Miriads
It is with great sadness that I have to tell you all that Louis Riley, past President and President Emeritus of CBKA, passed away at about 10 o'clock last night (Thursday) whilst still in hospital. There had been plans for him to go home and everything was ready for his return, but he was never quite strong enough to make it.
Louis was 91, coming up 92, and had not been very well for the past 12 months or so, becoming increasingly frail as time went on - so much so that he was unable to attend our last few Council meetings, a fact that indicated to Council members that things were not too good. He was mentally alert right up until the end, but his body had started to wear out and he went into hospital about a month ago, where it was found his legs were swelling, his heart was very weak and his kidneys were failing. He was put on a new drug which, sadly, did not achieve what was hoped for, possibly because his heart was not up to the strain of what was required of it.
Louis had been involved with CBKA since the early 1980s, when he became Secretary of the CBKA at a time when Henry Kendall was Chairman and Harrison Ashforth (of rapid feeder fame, amongst other things) was the County Bee Disease Officer. He was renowned at the time for being the first person to write to the Government of the day (on behalf of CBKA) in protest at the GM crop trials taking place at Tintagel. He became President in 1994 and remained in post for a further 18 years until 2012, when he asked to stand down. Being in such demanding posts for 30-odd years shows Louis' degree of commitment to the CBKA and to beekeeping, a commitment which didn't falter throughout his beekeeping life.
Louis' bees were his “angels”, as he called them, and he treated them as such. He had about 20 colonies across 3 apiaries, including those at home, as a result of which he became very knowledgeable on the subject. He was always very approachable and willing to share this knowledge, witness his coaching of the Basic Assessment candidates in Bodmin Group, and his Monthly Notes in Gwenyn Kernow (which he took over writing from Stuart Trelease in May 2000). Louis continued with both activities until quite recently. His knowledge of beekeeping was verified by his passing several Modules of the BBKA syllabus, gaining him Intermediate Beekeeper qualification. He was the Association Microscopist for many years from the 1990s (only being allowed to stand down from the post when he learned to pronounce the job title correctly!), accrued annual statistics on colony survival and honey production in Cornwall and was the Swarm Coordinator for CBKA up until 2013.
Louis was also involved with the Royal Cornwall Show Bees and Honey Section, having been a member of the Committee since September 1983 right up until the end. He not only served on the Committee but also got his hands dirty by painting and helping to prepare the Show on the Tuesdays and Wednesdays beforehand, before attending the Show Days themselves each year, finally presenting the Trophies at the end of the final day. Similarly, he was part of Bodmin Group's team attendance at Bodmin Heritage Days and the Lanhydrock Church Fetes, where he would invite children to “count the bees” in the observation hive there. He was also very involved in putting Gwenyn Kernow together from early on, taking responsibility, amongst other things, for the printing of the address labels in the days before our electronic version was introduced.
Louis was always known as Squadron Leader Riley, even after leaving the RAF, and on his retirement taught physics at Penrice school in St Austell, later on installing a hive there to teach beekeeping to the children. He was fulsome in his wish to secure the future of beekeeping, something to which we all should aspire if our attitude is right.
I know there are many, many other activities in which Louis was involved but which were un-trumpeted, like most of his work within CBKA. His knowledge extended way beyond what we know of his beekeeping, encroaching upon areas such as astrophysics, geography, foreign languages and a myriad of other subjects. He will be greatly missed - as a gentleman of the old school, as a friend, as an ever available support to those who needed to draw on his expertise, as a provider of sound, measured advice where necessary, and as a person who, if the world were filled with his like, would make it a far more amenable place to live than it currently is.
For the CBKA to lose its Chairman and then its President Emeritus in the space of a couple of months is a tragic loss and one from which it will take some time to recover. However, recover we will, for both their sakes.
Colin Rees, President CBKA
RIP Louis
icanhopit
Louis was 91, coming up 92, and had not been very well for the past 12 months or so, becoming increasingly frail as time went on - so much so that he was unable to attend our last few Council meetings, a fact that indicated to Council members that things were not too good. He was mentally alert right up until the end, but his body had started to wear out and he went into hospital about a month ago, where it was found his legs were swelling, his heart was very weak and his kidneys were failing. He was put on a new drug which, sadly, did not achieve what was hoped for, possibly because his heart was not up to the strain of what was required of it.
Louis had been involved with CBKA since the early 1980s, when he became Secretary of the CBKA at a time when Henry Kendall was Chairman and Harrison Ashforth (of rapid feeder fame, amongst other things) was the County Bee Disease Officer. He was renowned at the time for being the first person to write to the Government of the day (on behalf of CBKA) in protest at the GM crop trials taking place at Tintagel. He became President in 1994 and remained in post for a further 18 years until 2012, when he asked to stand down. Being in such demanding posts for 30-odd years shows Louis' degree of commitment to the CBKA and to beekeeping, a commitment which didn't falter throughout his beekeeping life.
Louis' bees were his “angels”, as he called them, and he treated them as such. He had about 20 colonies across 3 apiaries, including those at home, as a result of which he became very knowledgeable on the subject. He was always very approachable and willing to share this knowledge, witness his coaching of the Basic Assessment candidates in Bodmin Group, and his Monthly Notes in Gwenyn Kernow (which he took over writing from Stuart Trelease in May 2000). Louis continued with both activities until quite recently. His knowledge of beekeeping was verified by his passing several Modules of the BBKA syllabus, gaining him Intermediate Beekeeper qualification. He was the Association Microscopist for many years from the 1990s (only being allowed to stand down from the post when he learned to pronounce the job title correctly!), accrued annual statistics on colony survival and honey production in Cornwall and was the Swarm Coordinator for CBKA up until 2013.
Louis was also involved with the Royal Cornwall Show Bees and Honey Section, having been a member of the Committee since September 1983 right up until the end. He not only served on the Committee but also got his hands dirty by painting and helping to prepare the Show on the Tuesdays and Wednesdays beforehand, before attending the Show Days themselves each year, finally presenting the Trophies at the end of the final day. Similarly, he was part of Bodmin Group's team attendance at Bodmin Heritage Days and the Lanhydrock Church Fetes, where he would invite children to “count the bees” in the observation hive there. He was also very involved in putting Gwenyn Kernow together from early on, taking responsibility, amongst other things, for the printing of the address labels in the days before our electronic version was introduced.
Louis was always known as Squadron Leader Riley, even after leaving the RAF, and on his retirement taught physics at Penrice school in St Austell, later on installing a hive there to teach beekeeping to the children. He was fulsome in his wish to secure the future of beekeeping, something to which we all should aspire if our attitude is right.
I know there are many, many other activities in which Louis was involved but which were un-trumpeted, like most of his work within CBKA. His knowledge extended way beyond what we know of his beekeeping, encroaching upon areas such as astrophysics, geography, foreign languages and a myriad of other subjects. He will be greatly missed - as a gentleman of the old school, as a friend, as an ever available support to those who needed to draw on his expertise, as a provider of sound, measured advice where necessary, and as a person who, if the world were filled with his like, would make it a far more amenable place to live than it currently is.
For the CBKA to lose its Chairman and then its President Emeritus in the space of a couple of months is a tragic loss and one from which it will take some time to recover. However, recover we will, for both their sakes.
Colin Rees, President CBKA
RIP Louis
icanhopit
