Ted Roberts: Some Lesser Known Stories…

I’ve digitised a lot of N.Z. beekeeping materials, as well as visited the National Library/Turnbull Library in Wellington.  Here are three short articles involving Ted Roberts who some may remember as an Apicultural Advisory Officer based in Palmerston North.

Edward “Ted” Roberts came to New Zealand toward the end of 1970 (he gave a talk to the Hawkes Bay NBA branch in September 1970).  Only a few months later he was one of the foundation members of the South Western Districts branch of the NBA.  But this first story comes from before even then…

Born and raised in North Wales, Ted had taken a post, involving research and teaching, at Makerere University College in Uganda, after getting his degree in 1964.  He did some research (including a survey of beekeeping in Uganda) and some teaching in the five years he was there.

And that’s where this story starts, in late January 1970, when Ted was 27 years old…  Before coming to New Zealand, Ted had tried to get some of his beekeeping equipment approved to import, while seeming to know that it was an uphill battle to be allowed to do so..

His first aerogramme was to the Superintendent of Beekeeping, Eric Smaellie.  Ted detailed that he wanted to bring in his honey extractor, honey tanks, a wax mill for making foundation and several uncapping knives.  He said that it was all made of metal, apart from the odd wooden handle, it should be able to be sterilised.

Smaellie wrote back to Ted almost immediately, letting him know that the importation of used beekeeping equipment is prohibited.  Smaellie said that due to the nature of the risk of accidental disease import, that the Dept of Agriculture was not willing to accept any degree of risk whatsoever.  Smaellie also referred the news to the Palmerston North Apiary Officers, letting them know that Ted would be moving there to teach agronomy at Massey.  Bill Rodie and Grahame Walton were both stationed there at the time.

Ted’s aerogramme and Smaellie’s response occurred some months before Ted was to leave for NZ.  For that interim period he returned to the UK to sort out their things to ship to New Zealand.  And it was at that time that he sat for and received the British National Diploma in Beekeeping.

But he seems to have wanted to have one more try at getting his wax mill approved to take with him.  He got assistance from the office of the Agricultural Advisor at the New Zealand High Commission in London, GJ Batten.  In researching for this article I found that Garrick Batten is still alive, still writing extensively, but doesn’t remember either Ted nor his wax mill!

That letter in April 1970  was addressed to the Director‐General of Agriculture, but appears to have been directed to Eric Smaellie to deal with.

Ted (who may have either written or co-authored the appeal) agreed that extractors and tanks might be prohibited as “beekeeping appliances”, but asserted that his wax mill was, instead, a “manufacturing appliance”.  Ted appears to have checked with the U.K.’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, who said that the “manufacturing appliance” should be able to be sterilised by autoclave or similar means.

Smaellie’s response was not in this file, but I think it would be correct to assume that Ted was not allowed to bring his wax mill.  I wonder what happened to it?

Now the timeline moves a few years forward to late 1973, and Ted is now 31 years old.  Ted decided to run for a position on the NZ Honey Marketing Authority. He was the youngest candidate, and probably the least well known among beekeepers.  

It seems possible that this decision to stand in the election may have been encouraged by Percy Berry (Havelock North), who Ted knew well by this time.  On the other hand, Percy Berry was also standing in this election, so it would not have been wise to split the votes, really.  

In March 1972 there had been a significant government caucus committee report into the beekeeping industry which most certainly caused a lot of thinking about the industry and marketing. Or it may have been Ted’s response to the July 1973 NBA Annual Conference.  Ted attended this conference in Nelson, and even asked a question of the HMA Chairman Russell Poole (Kyeburn).  

In his own election notes Ted referred to the President’s Address delivered by Ivan Dickinson (Milton) to that conference.  He said he felt it outlined what he would consider a “sure basis for the development of a united industry”.  Ted said that if elected to the HMA, he would be supporting those directions within the activities of the HMA that were articulated by NBA President Ivan Dickinson.

Ted acknowledged that he was relatively young and unknown to many, but said:

It may be thought that I am too young for this position.  However I have found training in the industry and experience on three continents.  If it is necessary to serve a long apprenticeship in New Zealand and to cultivate votes in order to be elected to the authority, then this may well explain many of the problems that have plagued the industry.  Perhaps being young, and a newcomer with no axe to grind, would be an advantage in an authority member.

The HMA voters didn’t seem to share his belief in his potential.  

Sitting authority member Kevin Ecroyd (Christchurch) was re-elected, but Jack Fraser (Ryal Bush) was not.  In his place Fred Bartrum (Pleasant Point) was elected.  The final results were:

AK (Kevin) Ecroyd 1,666 elected
FA (Fred) Bartrum 1,146 elected
P (Percy) Berry 982
JW (Jack) Fraser 826
D (Daryl) Carey 614
E (Ted) Roberts 478

The last story comes from a few years later, starting in late 1980.  Ted would have been a lecturer in agronomy at Massey University for about ten years at this time, and he would have been 38 years old.

The NBA Executive received a request to help in funding some research into a specific nectar source, Phacelia tenacetafolia, requested by Dr CM Williams and E Roberts, both from Massey University.  The work was to carry on from other student research in the previous season relating to growing phacelia for seed.

Williams and Roberts asked for the sum of $420 for the research. The NBA Executive was only willing to fund the work to the amount of $200.  I have not found any report that might have been provided to the NBA after the work was done.   

References

Ted’s obituary in May 1998:
https://archive.org/details/1998_05_nzbkpr/page/8/mode/1up?view=theater

Ted addresses Hawkes Bay branch in Sep 1970:
https://archive.org/details/1970_11_nzbkpr/page/41/mode/1up?view=theater

Ted’s attempt to import his wax mill:
https://www.beekeeping.nz/NZBDA/timeline/1970_04_Ted_Roberts_wax_mill.pdf

Ted stands for the HMA:
https://www.beekeeping.nz/NZBDA/timeline/1973_09_Ted_Roberts_stands_for_HMA.pdf

Caucus inquiry into beekeeping:
https://www.beekeeping.nz/NZBDA/timeline/1972_03_Caucus_Inquiry_Report.pdf

Ted questions Poole at conference:
https://archive.org/details/1973_08_nzbkpr/page/46/mode/1up?view=theater

President’s Address to 1973 conference:
https://archive.org/details/1973_08_nzbkpr/page/10/mode/1up?view=theater

Request for research funding:
https://archive.org/details/1980_nba_exec_minutes/page/26/mode/1up?view=theater

NBA Executive waiting for Massey to uplift the money:
https://archive.org/details/1980_nba_exec_minutes/page/36/mode/1up?view=theater

NBA Annual Report refers to the research:
https://archive.org/details/1980_nba_annual_report/page/n6/mode/1up?view=theater

NZ Beekeeper magazine describes the project:
https://archive.org/details/1980_12_nzbkpr/page/8/mode/1up?view=theater