News from the BBKA

After a very brief period in Wexham Park Hospital, near Slough, Dr Eva Crane passed away peacefully on the afternoon of Thursday 6 September 2007 aged 95 years. Founder, and for 35 years Director, of the International Bee Research Association she was, for half a century, a towering figure in the world of apiculture and the legacy of her written work has been, and will continue to be, a beacon to guide and inspire for many years to come.

Eva Widdowson was born on 12 June 1912 the younger daughter of Thomas Henry and Rose. There was one other child, an older sister Elsie May, who went on as Dr Widdowson to become world famous for her work on nutrition and diet.

Eva grew up grew up in Dulwich, South London and was educated at Sydenham School in Kent where she excelled in many subjects. She won a scholarship to read mathematics at King's College, London. A brilliant student, one of only two women then reading mathematics at the university, she completed her degree in two years. An MSc in quantum mechanics soon followed, and she received her PhD in 1938.

In 1941 she was appointed to a Lectureship in Physics at Sheffield University. To this post she brought her proven intellect, acute powers of observation, a wide ranging curiosity and an incisive and penetrating line in questioning, therefore, a burgeoning career in the rapidly developing world of nuclear physics seemed assured. However, in July 1942 she married James Alfred Crane, RNVR. One of the wedding presents was a hive of bees the purpose of which was to provide honey and so give sweetness at a time of sugar shortage.

Eva’s curiosity was well and truly whetted and she set about finding out all she could about these fascinating social insects starting by immediately subscribing to Bee World then becoming a member of the British Beekeepers Association and soon secretary of its Research Sub-Committee. On 24th January 1949 she founded the Bee Research Association (BRA) that she was to direct for the next 35 years. The organization was “international” in outlook and membership from the very beginning but did not add the word to its title until it was proposed at a meeting in France in 1976 from then on it became IBRA.

Also in 1949 she took over the editorship of Bee World a journal that she saw as the “international link between beekeeping science and practice”. She expanded its pages to include abstracts of all that was published worldwide on bees and bee science providing it was “accurate and worthy of inclusion” – her standards were very high. Soon the large number of abstracts needed its own publication Apicultural Abstracts that continued until 2005 and still forms the basis of one of the most comprehensive databases of bee related information in the world with over 60,000 entries.

By 1960 IBRA had a worldwide network of contacts and Eva felt that there was a wealth of new bee research that needed to be disseminated and published. In 1962 she founded The Journal of Apicultural Research that soon became, and remains to this day, the premier English language vehicle for the publication of cutting edge apicultural research. In this age of instant electronic access it is perhaps hard to imagine the importance of these publications in the mid decades of the 20th century. The information they provided undoubtedly made possible the careers of many bee scientists working in countries which were, at that time, cut off from access to mainstream publications.

Between 1950 and 1990 Eva’s pursuit of all things bee related took her to over 60 countries and her travels resulted in a number of beekeeping discoveries. These and her ability to put together clues and then lucidly report her findings have made her work, over 180 publications in all, inspirational to many. A Book of Honey (Heinemann, 1980) and The Archaeology of Beekeeping (Duckworth, 1983) reflected her strong interests in nutrition and the ancient past of beekeeping. She took late retirement from IBRA in 1984 to concentrate on the two seminal tomes that will forever be keystones in the study of beekeeping and the pursuit of bee science.

They are:

Bees and Beekeeping – science, practice and world resources (Heinemann 1991)

The world history of beekeeping and honey hunting (Duckworth 1999)

Everywhere she went she sampled the life of the local people, sometimes in the remotest rural areas of the world. She went ostensibly to share her beekeeping knowledge and to teach governments, NGO’s and farmers. She recorded these travels in Making a beeline (IBRA 2003). Typically, she always claimed to have learnt much more than she taught. From her travels she acquired a huge eclectic collection of beekeeping artifacts that, combined with other materials, constitute the IBRA Historical Collection containing some 2000 items which have now been digitally photographed and recorded while the actual items await being placed on show in an international Museum being established in Belgium.

Eva Crane received many honours for her work. In 1985 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Ohio State University in recognition of her contribution to the science of beekeeping: it was an honour of which she was particularly proud. She was made an officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1986; an award that many felt under-rated her achievement. Her life was devoted to building the IBRA into a world centre of expertise on beekeeping. Based in her private front room until 1966, the Association eventually found offices in Chalfont St Peters, Bucks, and since 1985 has been based in Cardiff. In support of the IBRA and its work she established the Eva Crane Trust that aims to advance the science of apiology - in particular the publication of books on the subject, and to promote apicultural libraries and museums of historical beekeeping artefacts.

A lasting and tangible memorial will be established to honour this unique and talented lady and her contribution to the world of apiculture. An Eva Crane Memorial Fund is to be established by the IBRA. Donations should be made payable to that fund and addressed “care of IBRA”.

It is hoped that a memorial service in celebration of her inspirational life will be appropriate in the not too distant future. Details when available will be on the IBRA web site www.ibra.org.uk and elsewhere.

Richard Jones
Director

International Bee Research Association
16 North Road
Cardiff
CF10 3DY