The Australasian Beekeeper

The Goodacre Award is the Australian beekeeping industry’s peak recognition for excellence and dedication. To receive this award you must be nominated by six persons associated with the beekeeping industry. The nomination is then assessed by the Goodacre Award Committee, who makes a decision on whether the nomination is worthy. In Bruce White’s case the decision was not in question. Bruce has spent his life providing services to the beekeeping industry as an employee of the NSW Department of Agriculture, a total of 43 years.  In his retirement Bruce continues to be very generous with his time and knowledge, continuing with his dedication to passing on his extensive experience and enthusiasm for honey bees. In his retirement he is a committee member of the RIRDC Honey Bee Research and Development Advisory Committee; he has taken up a very active role in the Australian Queen Bee Breeding program and continues to attend various conferences, meetings and field days as an active participant.

This all started at primary school when Bruce acquired two bee hives. Bruce received a Junior Farmer’s award for best project which was about keeping bees. The judge was Alan Clemson! From here Bruce obtained a Junior Farmer’s scholarship to attend Hawkesbury Agricultural College. Under the guidance of Neville Cutts (“Cuttsie”), Bruce’s enthusiasm for honey bees grew. As a foot note, Cuttsie inspired many people who are now major players in the beekeeping industry. During the three years Bruce attended Hawkesbury he assisted with three beekeeping summer schools.  In 1962 Bruce received the Commonwealth Parliament Prize for the best thesis on agriculture.  The title of this thesis was “Honey and Pollen Flora”.

Twelve months after Bruce graduated from Hawkesbury Ag. College, a job was advertised for an apiary officer with the Department of Agriculture.  Given Bruce’s achievements and obvious enthusiasm the job was made for him. Thus he started his long career as an apiary extension officer in February 1964. This would span 40 years serving the NSW and Australian beekeeping industry.  After a period of training Bruce was stationed at the Orange district office. In 1975 Bruce applied and gained the position of assistant principal to Alan Clemson (“Clemo”) in Head Office near Central Station.  In 1983 “Clemo” retired and Bruce became the head of the bee section in the NSW Department of Agriculture.

Bruce served in this position at the Parramatta office, then the Seven Hills poultry research station. After this was closed Bruce moved to the Windsor office then to the Richmond office back on the old Hawkesbury Ag College Campus, which is now the University of Western Sydney.

In the late 1970s the quarantine facility was built at Eastern Creek.  This facility, and the cessation of the direct importation of stock to beekeepers, has no doubt assisted the Australian beekeeping industry maintain its freedom from mites including Varroa and Tracheal mites for this many years. During his time as the principal apiary officer, Bruce managed this facility, overseeing the successful maintenance of the imported queen stock and providing advice to both AQIS and the importers.

Bruce has been involved in a number of notable projects that have benefited the beekeeping. These include the production of the endemic bee disease video, the exotic bee disease video, “It’s a Buzz” video and the package bee video. He has travelled as an official ambassador for the Department and the beekeeping industry to New Zealand, Russia, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, United Arab Emirates, Germany, England, Korea, Thailand and Norfolk Island.

While the principal apiary officer within the Department, Bruce was required to attend and assist at all NSW Apiarists’ Association executive meetings, he was the executive officer for Beekeeping Industry Consultative Committee, secretary/treasurer of the Goodacre Award, and judge at the RAS show. He continues in this latter role to this day. He has been a strong supporter of all beekeeping associations in NSW and interstate, regularly attending meetings on request from those organisations.

Bruce has been asked to talk at interstate conferences, and is one of the main presenters at nearly all beekeeping field days held in NSW, which again he continues to do into his retirement.   His role in major international conferences started at Apimondia in Adelaide in 1977 when he was the secretary of the beekeeping economy segment. He was the chairman of a session at Apimondia in Slovenia. Bruce also played a very big part in the successful Australian Apimondia in 2007.

Bruce is the beekeeping teacher for the Open Training and Education Network of TAFF and also co-wrote educational packages for the Australian beekeeping industry.

Bruce regularly entertains international beekeeping visitors to our country and has proven on a regular basis to be a great ambassador for the Australian beekeeping industry.

It is a privilege and honour to present this award to Bruce tonight – Congratulations.

(Doug Somerville, Secretary/Treasurer, Goodacre Award Committee).

Previous recipients of the Goodacre Memorial Award

1956 Morris W. Morgan

1958 Clarence A. Hungerford

1960 Frederick L. Morgan

1962 Cecil E. Cottman

1964 Richard Whiting

1968 Gilbert Roots

1970 Claude Ilton

1974 Frances J. Armstrong

1983 Alan A. Clemson

1984 Charles R. Roff, MBE

1984 Rex Deer, OAM

1987 Clements W. McIntyre, MBE

1988 Linton Briggs, AM

1988 Graham J. Kleinschmidt

1991 Norman V. Rice, MBE

1993 Robert H. McDonald, OAM

1993 Murray Charlton

1994 Michael Hornitzky, Ph.D.

1996 J. Carlyle (Tim) Smith, MBE

1996 Sydney (Syd) Murdock

1998 Keith Mitchell, OBE

1999 Harold Charles Ayton

2000 Donald Keith, AM

2002 Colin Parker

2002 Trevor Weatherhead

2004 Keith McIlvride, OAM

2004 John L. Guilfoyle

2005 Denis Anderson, Ph.D.

2005 Gretchen Wheen

2009 Bruce White