Ormond Aebi

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Ormond Aebi (1916 - July 2004) was a beekeeper who was reported to have set the world's record for honey obtained from a single hive in one year, 1974, when 404 pounds of honey were harvested, breaking an unofficial 80 year-old record of 303 pounds held by A. I. Root. Together with his father Harry, the Aebi's wrote two books on beekeeping: The Art and Adventure of Beekeeping (1975) and Mastering the Art of Beekeeping (1979) (both currently out-of-print).^[1][2]

[edit] World record in honey production

Aebi held a Guiness World Record in quantity of honey produced from a hive of bees, but many others have surpassed that record. Single colonies of bees occasionally produce some spectacular crops. This is sometimes a combination a multiple queens in a hive (see two-queen beekeeping management), excellent weather conditions, or extraordinary good luck.

In 1979, Earl Emde of Big River, Saskatchewan, had several colonies produce over six hundred pounds each,^[3] though Guinness was never employed to substantiate the production. Many other beekeepers in Canada, Australia, North Dakota, Florida, and the mid-west have seen similar results on rare occasions. However, a Mr. Rob Smith of Australia surely holds the world’s most astounding result for an apiary. According to Bill Winner, Beekeeper Services Manager, Capilano Honey Company, “We can confirm the average production of 346 kilograms (762 lbs) per hive from 460 hives. (This is almost twice the Aebi claim to fame, and it is an average from hundreds of colonies, not just one hive's unique production.) The beekeeper’s name was Bob Smith from Manjimup, Western Australia. The honey was Karri. The year was 1954.” Mr. Winner adds: “This figure is confirmed by R. Manning with a reference to a journal highlighting a box titled World Record in Honey in 1954."^[4]

In comb honey production, during 1959, Karl Killion was reported to have produced 344 sections, an equivalent of approximately 600 pounds of extracted honey production.^[5]

[edit] Personal life

Ormond wrote a book on his own That Sheep Big Minnie (2003) reminiscing about his time watching his family flock in the '60s. Ormond Aebi, whose last name meant 'bee' in some language, was a third generation beekeeper. An Oregon native, Ormond was a devout Christian and served in the U.S. Army during World War II. In 1950 the Aebi's moved to Santa Cruz, California and lived in the Live Oak neighborhood, where they raised bees, sold honey from their front yard and built wooden beehives from the local redwood.

He was know to have enjoyed beekeeping all his life. In 1981, Mr. Aebi told the Santa Cruz Sentinel^[6] he knew his bees so well that, when out driving, his father would say, " "Ormond, isn’t that one of our bees?," and I’ll say, "No, I don’t think so," or "Yep, sure is."

In his later years he was diagnosed with Diabetes, which did not seem to affect his health, but did contribute to his decision not to continue beekeeping when his swarms were destroyed by varroa mites. He worked as a part-time handyman at a daycare next door to his home for the last several years of his life, and continued to write to friends he made worldwide due to his books.

[edit] References

Persondata
NAME	Aebi, Ormond
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Author and beekeeper
DATE OF BIRTH	1916
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH	2004
PLACE OF DEATH