Karl Kehrle
Karl Kehrle OSB | |
---|---|
Born | Mittelbiberach, Germany | 28 August 1898
Died | 1 September 1996 Buckfast, Devon, England, UK | (aged 98)
Other names | Brother Adam |
Known for | Developer of the Buckfast bee |
Awards | Order of the British Empire, German Bundesverdienstkreuz |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Apiculture |
Karl Kehrle
."He was unsurpassed as a breeder of bees. He talked to them, he stroked them. He brought to the hives a calmness that, according to those who saw him at work, the sensitive bees responded to." – The Economist, 14 September 1996[1]
Biography
Due to health problems Kehrle was sent by his mother at the age of 11 from Germany to Buckfast Abbey, where he joined the order (becoming Brother Adam) and in 1915 started his beekeeping activity. Two years before, a parasite, Acarapis woodi that originated on the Isle of Wight had started to extend over the country, devastating all the native bees, and in 1916 it reached the abbey, killing 30 of the 46 bee colonies.[2]
He travelled to
In 1964 he was elected member of the Board of the Bee Research Association, which later became the
On 2 October 1987 he was appointed
On 2 February 1992, aged 93, he resigned his post as beekeeper at the Abbey and was permitted to spend some months in his home town Mittelbiberach with his niece, Maria Kehrle. From 1993 onwards, he lived a retired life back at Buckfast Abbey, and became the oldest monk of the English Benedictine Congregation. In 1995, at age 97, he moved to a nearby nursing home where he died on 1 September 1996.[6]
Awards
Honorary Doctorates
- 1987 Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- 1989 Exeter University in England.
Other
- 1973 Order of the British Empire
- 1974 Bundesverdienstkreuz, Germany
Further reading
- Brother Adam (1969). Meine Betriebsweise. Franz Ehrenwirt Verlag, München.
- Lesley E. Bill (1989). For the Love of Bees, the story of Brother Adam of Buckfast Abbey. David and Charles Publishers, PLC; ISBN 0-7153-9261-1
- Brother Adam (1987). Breeding the Honeybee. Northern Bee Books, ISBN 0-907908-32-2; "The translation of this volume was personally supervised by Brother Adam, from the original German, originally published as Zuchtung der Honigbiene (1982).
- Brother Adam (1983). In Search of the Best Strains of Bees, and the results of the evaluations of the crosses and races. UK: Northern Bee Books; USA: Dadant & Sons; ISBN 0-907908-06-3.
References
- ^ The Karl Kehrle Foundation
- ^ "Origin of the Buckfast Strain, described by Brother Adam". Karl Kehrle Fondation. Jean-Marie Van Dyck. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
- ^ Lesley Bill (3 Sep 1996). "Dom Adam Kehrle: obituary". The Independent.
- ^ "For services to bee-keeping" - "No. 45984". The London Gazette (Supplement). 22 May 1973. p. 6483.
- ^ "Hedersdoktorer vid SLU (Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet)" Archived 2007-08-01 at the Wayback Machine (List of honorary doctors at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences).
- ^ "Obituaries - Benedictine monk was an authority on bee breeding". No. 330. Sarasota Herald Tribune. 1996. Retrieved 3 January 2023.