The Montgomery County Beekeepers Association is entirely run by volunteers. Over the years, we have had many so people who have been instrumental in creating and growing MCBA, and furthering our mission.
When you talk to the older members of our club, George Imrie’s name always comes up. George was, along with a few others, our founding father. If you Google “George Imrie Pink Pages,” you will find a wealth of information. You will notice very quickly that George did not mince words and was very proud of his knowledge as a beekeeper.
When I took our short course in the spring of 2012, we had another George in the role of president. That president was George Myers (AKA Bee George). I quickly learned that Bee George had quite a number of hives and had been a beekeeper for a number of years. You likely have heard the name Bee George and, if you look at the ListServ, you will see his comments. Bee George now lives on the Eastern Shore and, only occasionally, ventures over the bridge and into Montgomery County. I’ll share a little of Bee George’s story. George was a member of MCBA when George Imrie and Ann Harmon formed the club. According to George, he started keeping bees when Mosses Quinby invented the smoker in about 1876. He spent one year at Ohio State University, studying under Dr. Jim Tew. George also spent a couple of years as a bee inspector for the state of Maryland. He worked under Bart Smith, who had the original dog Max for detecting AFB. We heard about the current Max at our last meeting. George says driving around the countryside of Maryland, he met many wonderful people, heard too many stories and had many experiences.
Beekeeping was not the only thing George did. He trained in aikido for 25 years, something few of us probably realize. George studied under Shihan Saotome Sensei, who George says was a truly amazing man and teacher. With this martial arts teaching and training, George became an instructor in martial arts at the U.S. Naval Academy for 17 years. He says teaching the midshipman in martial arts was the experience that made him proudest, and he learned much more from them than they did from him. For the last few years, George has also been the ListServ moderator for our club. He has recently stepped down and I want to say “Thank You” many times over. You have been an inspiration to our club.
Not all of our great resources are named “George.” There are others to mention. The first is Jim Fraser. Jim became vice president of this club about 4 years back. He was actually president prior to George Myer and he launched our unofficial club into an official organization. Jim has spearheaded the Montgomery County Fair Program from its beginning, our biggest community educational outreach and an opportunity to sell our excess honey at a good price. Jim also is a master beekeeper and a source for bees, supplies and knowledge in beekeeping. Would we be the same without his wisdom and quick-wit, not to mention the support of a local bee and beekeeping supplier?
Tim McMahon. I took over the presidency from Tim. What can I say about a person that will go all over the country and out of the country to chase and study bees, and not just honey bees. Tim is also a master beekeeper, and along with Jim Fraser and a boy scout troop, built our club apiary at Brookside Nature Center. Tim is the person that is mentoring our beekeepers at this apiary. He is also working with the Sentinel Hive Project, whereby the University of Maryland is able to disseminate information to beekeepers across the nation. This is an important effort to fuel our individual and collective understanding of what is going on with beekeepers across the country.
One last person, though there are many more, but I cannot forget Mark Hoffman. When I first became a member, Montgomery County was reviewing their agriculture laws. Bees are considered agriculture. Mark attended every session and worked within the system to be sure of a positive outcome for the beekeepers in Montgomery County. Because of Mark, as well as Bee George and a couple of others, we now have one of the best policies in Maryland, allowing us to keep bees anywhere, unless prohibited by specific home owners associations. Without him working with our county representatives, this would not have happened.
We all need to say a word of thanks to our fellow members for making our association what it is. There are so many others that use their time to better the MCBA. It is time to think and thank those that have done so many things to make this a very viable organization. Our educational outreach is way beyond anything I have ever seen in any other organization to which I have belonged. We truly are a blessing to the community of Montgomery County.
-Leon Vandenberg