- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
A resident of Medina, Ohio, Kim died Sunday, Dec. 10 at his home of lung cancer at age 76. He served as editor of Bee Culture for 33 years, retiring in 2019. He authored numerous books and podcasts, including "5000 Years of Beekeeping in 24 Minutes (100)" with Jim Tew on Honey Bee Obscura.
We remember his talk at the 2021 California Honey Festival.
"If you want to be a beekeeper, you must think like a bee, not like a beekeeper," he related.
As a descendant of generations of beekeepers, I asked Kim why folks should keep bees. They "provide essential pollination, improve the genetics of the wild bee population in the area, ensure native plant populations," he said, "and because there is absolutely nothing more calming, soothing, enjoyable than being a part of that civilization, right in your backyard."
We remember when Kim addressed the 2017 Western Apicultural Society's 40th annual conference, held at UC Davis, where it was founded. He predicted that the nation's 250,000 beekeepers (who manage around 4 million colonies) will turn into a million beekeepers in five years.
Kim applauded "the incredible rise of new beekeepers in the last 10 years."
"The urban, suburban and country beekeepers are younger than the norm and we have more women beekeepers than ever," Kim told the crowd. "This isn't like the 1970s Green Movement--I'm old enough to remember that. It's got legs! But watch out for an ugly urban disaster like a major bee spill or bad honey recall."
"If I'm in beekeeping, pollination services is a sure bet," he said. "Beekeepers now get 200 bucks a colony for almond pollination in California. Pollination is more profitable than honey. Bee breeding? Queens can sell for as much as $40 or $50."
"In the United States, we eat on the average 1.2 pounds a year, but in Canada, it's 2.5 or 2.4 pounds." He lamented that unsafe and/or questionable honey from China floods our nation's supermarkets and is being sold at undercut prices. (Some statistics indicate that a "third or more of all the honey consumed in the U.S. is likely to have been smuggled in from China and may be tainted with illegal antibiotics and heavy metals"--Food Safety News.)
It's important for American beekeepers to label their honey "Made in America" or localize it by city or state, Kim said.
He also touched on such issues as honey bee health, nutrition, loss of habitat, poor quality forage, and pesticides.
The varroa mite/virus is the No. 1 problem for beekeepers, he said. "Other stressers include nutrition, nosema, pesticides...All of these can be fixed with money, increased diversity of bee stock, and a move away from both ag and in-hive legal and illegal chemicals."
Extension apiculturist emeritus Eric Mussen (1944-2022), serving his sixth term as president of WAS in 2017, commented at the time: "Kim Flottum has been a stalwart in U.S. beekeeping for decades. He ferrets out information on national, regional, and local beekeeping happenings and disseminates the news in various places, depending upon his role at the time. He has been associated with the A.I. Root Company; Gleanings in Bee Culture, and now editor of Bee Culture magazine. He is very active in the Eastern Apicultural Society and is well known by nearly every University and USDA scientist in the country. Kim consolidates all that information into some really interesting presentations in which he is not known for concealing his opinions."
Kim Flottum received his bachelor's degree in horticulture production from the University of Wisconsin and then worked as a researcher at the USDA Honey Bee Research Lab in Madison, where he specialized in crop pollination, pesticide problems with honey bees, and "honey plants" for the home landscape.
His career took him to Connecticut. He was elected president of Connecticut Beekeepers' Association. He served as publications manager and editor of Gleanings In Bee Culture, A. I. Root's monthly beekeeping magazine. He created a new magazine, BEEKeeping, Your First Three Years. He also served as president of the Ohio State Beekeepers' Association. He continued to keep bees in his backyard in Medina up until his death.
The son of the late Arnold and Edna Flottum of Turtle Lake, Wisc., Kim is survived by his wife, Kathy, of Medina; a daughter, Jessica of Akron; two stepsons, Matt and Grant Summers, both of Medina; and two brothers and two sisters, all from Wisconsin: Julie (Flottum) Hugg of Ashland; Bob Flottum of Chippewa Falls; Susan Flottum Zurcher of Wales; and Tom Flottum of Turtle Lake. A celebration of life is planned next spring. (See obituary)
A post on his Facebook page said simply: "RIP, Kim Flottum, you will be missed by all beekeepers."
And the bees.
His passion for bees, his wisdom about all things bees, his generosity, and his kindness, will never be forgotten.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Moths, anything about moths, was the kind of event that Powell loved. He was an associate of the Bohart Museum and a scientific collaborator, identifying scores of insects and attending many of the Leipidopterist Society meetings held there.
The open house, free and family friendly, is set from 7 to 11 p.m., Saturday, July 22 in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis, campus.
Plans call for scientists to set up their traditionalblacklighting (ultraviolet or UV) display to attract moths and other night-flying insects. Bohart Research Affiliate John DeBenedictus, a retired UC Davis Staff Research Associate, also known as "The Moth Man," usually heads the blacklighting project. De Benedictus received his master's degree in 1988 from UC Berkeley, studying with Powell. "I spent more time in the field with Jerry than any other grad student," he related. "I was privileged to be Jerry's student and lucky to have become his friend."
Powell and Paul Opler (1938-2023) co-authored Moths of Western America, published in 2009.
In a tribute to Powell on its website, the Essig Museum posted in part:
"In his teen years he was heavily influenced by Charles 'Harbie' Harbison, who ran the Junior Naturalist Program at the San Diego Museum of Natural History, and sparked an interest in Jerry for butterflies and moths. Seeing his potential, Harbie recommended Jerry for the Entomology program at UC Berkeley, where he received his BS in 1955 and his PhD in 1961. While climbing through the ranks of Junior Entomologist (1961-62), Assistant Entomologist (1962-67), Associate Entomologist (1967-73), Entomologist (1973-94), Lecturer in Entomology (1964-69), Associate Professor (1969-73), and Professor (1973-94) at UC Berkeley, Jerry also became Curator (1972-2018) and Director (1993-1999) of the Essig Museum of Entomology (1972-1999) and Project Leader for the California Insect Survey (1963-1999). Although he retired as Director in 1999, Jerry remained a professor of the Graduate School until 2012 and maintained an active research program in Lepidoptera life histories and systematics until 2018, advising many students along the way. (See more on Essig website.)"
"Jerry's rearing program was the most extensive in the history of the study of New World Microlepidoptera," according to the Essig post. "For over 50 years he and his students processed more than 15,000 collections of larval or live adult Lepidoptera. Resulting data encompass more than 1,000 species of moths, through rearing either field-collected larvae or those emerging from eggs deposited by females in confinement. This total includes more than 60% of an estimated 1,500 species of Microlepidoptera occurring in California."
Powell gained international recognition when he detected the agricultural pest, the light brown apple moth, Epiphyas postvittana, in a ultralight (UV) trap on July 19, 2006 in his backyard in Berkeley.
In an email to colleagues on July 9, Peter Oboyski, executive director of the Essig Museum of Entomology, wrote: "With a heavy heart I am sad to report that professor Jerry Powell passed away this weekend. His contributions to our knowledge of California entomology, microlepidoptera, and insect life histories are inestimable, as is the value of the training he provided to his students. As one of those students, I am eternally grateful for the time, energy, and knowledge Jerry shared with me in the museum and the field."
"A consummate field biologist, Jerry's knowledge and interests were broad, allowing him to read landscapes and discover the most interesting and cryptic of species interactions," Oboyski noted. "This is well documented in over 220 publications, but also in the 60+ years of his field notes and rearing records that we are currently digitizing. He is the collector of over 400 holotypes of various insect orders, described over 170 species and 14 genera of moths, and honored by 41 patronyms. He also published papers on Hymenoptera, Coleoptera, Diptera, Dermaptera, and a Nematode. His legacy is impressive and will long be remembered."
Powell described himself as a "MothNut" on his vehicle license plate, and also displayed a sticker, "Larvae on Board."
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
We knew her initially as the wife of emeritus professor Charles "Charlie" Judson (1926-2015) of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, a noted insect physiologist, mosquito researcher and teacher who served as a member of the faculty for three decades. He died July 26, 2015 at age 88.
Marilyn Judson died July 7, 2020 at age 91.
Her death saddens us, but her contributions, her generosity and her joy live on.
The obituary in the Davis Enterprise began:
"On Tuesday, July 7, 2020, Marilyn Wilburn Judson died peacefully at the age of 91. Her dear friend Kitty Liebhardt described her best: 'She was a little lady who was big in many lives. Not loud or showy. Just quiet, accomplished and steady, secure in her competency, not only a creative artist, but a creative problem solver as well; a smile for the troubled, a hand for the needy, and pick me up for the weary and a calm antidote for the ruffled.'"
Judson, a native of Washington state, met her husband-to-be in Riverside where she was attending college. The couple married in 1950 and moved to Davis where they raised their children. (See obituary)
"It wouldn't be unusual for her to put out a demand to her family that she needed a picture of a stalk of wheat, a California poppy or a mosquito on which to model her work — she was able to find beauty and art in the everyday," the obituary indicated.
Yes, she found beauty and art every day and she shared it at art shows and classes.
"In addition to creating art, Marilyn shared her passion by teaching calligraphy classes at the Davis adult school. She co-authored and illustrated a book about making musical instruments with former neighbor Eileen Hunter, and also developed a small embroidery kit business called Dandelion with friends Pat Carmen and Jody House."
"She supported her community by involvement with the Davis Art Center and Pence Gallery. She volunteered with the Davis Friends of the Library and loved frequent coffee gatherings at Fluffy Donuts with dear friends."
"Charlie Judson radiated graciousness, trust and respect, and personified everything good in a university scientist, mentor, and teacher," recalled distinguished professor of entomology James R. Carey of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. "He not only helped shape our department in its early days, but also set a very high bar for personal decency and professional integrity. Colleagues like Charlie are hard to find, difficult to lose, and impossible to forget."
Our tribute to Professor Judson resulted in a number of emails, including one from former graduate student Benito O. de Lumen. His comments speak volumes of the Judsons' generosity: "I was a graduate student in Agric Chemistry- Biochemistry when my wife Helen, served as a research associate with Professor Judson, in the 1970s. I usually visit my wife in Judson's lab and helped in feeding his mosquitoes by poking my hand into the mosquito chamber. It itched initially, then I could not feel the pain anymore. Helen and I were invited into their home a number of times and when Helen visited the Philippines, Charles and Marilyn graciously, invited me for dinner, by myself."
It's the little things we remember, but it's the little things that mean the most.
Comments from the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility Facebook Page:
Barb Laidlaw Murphy
This makes me quite sad. The Judsons lived close to us and when I was in high school and college I used to go over and talk for hours about art with Marilyn. Mom would have to call and have her send me home for dinner. She and Charles were wonderful to my parents in their final years.
Marilyn Anne Love
a beautiful life, lived well
Lauren Gilmore
Oh wow, I'm so sorry to hear this. She was part of the Bees at the Bee thing I put together. I think she did paper sculpture of bees for that one. I remember a really lovely, kind hearted person who made me feel very welcome. I'm sure she's left that legacy of good feelings all over her friends and family. That sounds like good fun well done.
Frédérique Lavoipierre
I am so sorry to hear this. I knew the Judsons when I was growing up. Charles and my dad were colleagues. When my dad went to the hospital, she was the first person there to comfort me.
