Tom Meadows: Bees and Beekeepers

One of our favourite speeches to date was by Tom Meadows, who, in his speech titled, From abacus to apiary, educated us on a fascinating topic: bees and beekeepers!

Tom is a chartered accountant and partner of a small City firm – that’s the abacus bit that pays the bills. He grew up on a farm/riding stables on Dartmoor, Devon and immersed in husbandry.  In 1980, Tom moved on to university in London (UCL) where he studied geography, followed by post-grad research in palaeontology – and in particular, the study of fossilised pollen grains. That was the lead in to a fascination with pollination and bees in particular and an interest which he now enjoy, as an active (very active at this time of year), beekeeper!