“Pagden, Heddon, Snelgrove … and now swarm control. Richard Ball expertly, and succinctly details his experience in managing the honey bee’s natural swarm impulse. Required reading, and a required skill for beekeepers everywhere.” Kim Flottum, Growing Planet Media.
Richard (former National Bee Inspector for England & Wales) started beekeeping in 1983 helping a small bee farmer and then with his own bees in 1984. After retirement from a previous career in 1996 he was appointed as a Seasonal Bee Inspector for the National Bee Unit with responsibility for Surrey and Sussex. Then in 1999 as Regional Bee Inspector for the South West of England, moving to Colaton_Raleigh in Devon and in April 2006 to National Bee Inspector having responsibility for the Bee Inspection Service for England and Wales. He retired from this post in 2009 continuing within the Bee Unit as an Extension Officer until finally retiring at the end of 2011.
Following the discovery of pyrethroid resistant varroa mites in Devon during 2001 he has tried to raise awareness of the importance of Integrated Pest Management for mite control along with other bee disease issues.
Richard still keeps bees and is Chairman of the Devon Apicultural Research Group. His current bee interests include identifying pollen collected by bees and the effects of climate change on the cycle of honeybees in SW England. He has lectured throughout the United Kingdom and also in the Republic of Ireland, Malta and Romania.