In the late 1970s, only a few years or so after I came to NZ to work as a beekeeper, I had the chance to meet Allan Bates.
At the time, Allan was in his late 80s. He had started beekeeping in Taranaki before the first war, and he even attended the first NBA Conference ever, in 1912. He served on the NBA Executive on numerous occasions over the years, and as president for two years in the early 1920s. He was made a Life Member by the NZ in 1960. At some point, he moved to Matamata and...