Trustees
Nick has been a beekeeper since 1977 and became a BIBBA member in 1979 before being appointed webmaster and membership secretary in 2015, and Chair in 2024.
He has managed a queen rearing group in Leek, Staffordshire, for 40 years and was previously Chairman of North Staffs Beekeepers Association.
In his spare time, Nick likes to take to the road in his campervan.
Roger is a practical beekeeper who has been working with bees since 1963.
A chance meeting with Beowulf Cooper (find out more about him here [link to history page]) inspired Roger to join BIBBA in 1965 after recognising that imported bees were poorly suited to the UK climate.
At one point managing 130 colonies, Roger now oversees around 25, in addition to managing between 30–50 colonies at his local Beekeepers Association apiary, which he uses for teaching purposes.
A passionate educator and prolific lecturer, Roger focuses on the practical aspects of beekeeping, including queen rearing and bee improvement. He is also the author of Beekeeping: A Practical Guide, as well as numerous booklets and articles regularly featured in the bee press.
Roger is widely respected as the custodian of Dave Cushman’s website, which is recognised globally as one of the most comprehensive beekeeping resources available. Beyond this, he is a past BBKA Trustee, Vice President of Bee Diseases Insurance (BDI) and plays a key role in arranging lecture programmes for the Central Association of Bee-Keepers and the National Honey Show.
Whether teaching, writing or speaking, Roger’s dedication to sharing knowledge has cemented his reputation as a leading figure in the beekeeping community.
He is rarely seen without the company of his border collies, Nell and Rosie, who are as much a part of his beekeeping journey as he is.
Karl has been keeping bees since 2003, combining his passion for beekeeping with his knack for hands-on craftsmanship, building his own hives from recycled wood. As a practical and skilled bee breeder, Karl draws on his background in engineering, quality, and production to approach beekeeping with precision and care.
In his spare time, Karl set up a not-for-profit social enterprise, Bees in our Community, providing businesses and individuals with a gentle introduction to beekeeping. This initiative not only helps grow the number of colonies but also encourages more people to become beekeepers.
Karl has a growing number of hives and offers his support to new beekeepers via a mentoring scheme.
Having kept bees since the 1980s, Lynn currently manages around 15 colonies on her 900 feet above sea level hillside apiary in the Staffordshire Moorlands.
Having tried many different hives over the years, Lynn now mostly has conventional nationals to raise her own queens and dark mongrels who are well adapted to the local climate.
With a professional background in careers and education business link activities, as well as STEM initiatives, Lynn brings a wealth of experience to her role as BIBBA secretary. She is also currently the Programme Secretary for the North Staffordshire Beekeepers Association.
Martina’s beekeeping journey began in the Czech Republic, where she grew up surrounded by her grandpa’s bees. While her initial fascination was all about eating honey, her passion has since evolved into managing 30 colonies as a weekend hobby alongside her full-time job.
Martina is passionate about rearing and working with locally adapted bees, striving for traits as close to the dark Apis mellifera mellifera (AMM) as possible.
Martina is our camera wiz, having previously worked in photography, so she gets involved in filming Live@theHive where chasing Roger Patterson around the apiary with a camera is a welcome challenge. She is also the secretary of the Wisborough Green Beekeeping Association where she also gets involved in teaching.
Emma’s passion for beekeeping sparked at an early age, stemming from her father David – a lifelong BIBBA member and student of Beowulf Cooper.
As a child, Emma earned numerous ‘Best in Show’ prizes for her hive products, a sign of the promising beekeeper she would later become.
Emma soon took the reins of the family business, Buckley’s Bees, and has since developed a network of integrated local environmental projects and established apiaries throughout the UK, whether on an organic farm or housing development. Emma’s holistic approach to establishing these apiaries has not only seen a steady growth in near-native bee colonies but has also helped to realise an overall biodiversity net gain.
Emma is particularly passionate about breeding dark European AMM bees and is dedicated to raising awareness about native bees through educational initiatives.
A relative newbie to the beekeeping scene, Gareth has only kept bees for around five years however that doesn’t mean he lacks experience or enthusiasm.
Gareth manages around 100 hives around the Manchester area and is passionate about rearing locally adapted bees having gathered his stock from local swarms and splits.
An experienced journalist, Steve began beekeeping as a teenager in Yorkshire, helping to move hives to the North York Moors for the heather season. He returned to beekeeping in 2021 with a passion for varroa resistant bees and raising dark AMM bees to support UK sustainability.
Now managing 40 colonies on the Kent, Sussex and Surrey borders, Steve runs a semi-commercial operation focused on breeding locally adapted bees. He also leads the Westerham Beekeepers’ bee breeding apiary, working to develop varroa resistant, near-native stocks to benefit the wider community.
Mike was born and raised in Sheffield before moving to London for university. After studying, he slowly made his way back north, with work taking him across Europe, Southern Africa and Australia along the way.
A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, Mike has had a varied and successful career spanning specialist engineering, superalloy steel distribution, EDI, management consulting and commercial property management, before retiring in late 2024.
In 2019, he discovered a new passion: beekeeping. He now looks after several hives near his home in South Yorkshire and is an active member of the Barnsley Beekeeping Association.
Fascinated by the science behind bees, Mike has been a supporter of BIBBA’s work since 2021.
