Gilles Ratia is former President of Apimondia (International Federation of Beekeepers’ Associations). He is a pioneer in website development and originator of the Apiservices Portal, which has been in existence since practically the beginning of the World Wide Web in the mid 1990s. The introduction on the Apiservices home page provides just a glimpse of what one might find perusing these pages now in English, French, Spanish and German, truly one of the most international web resources available to beekeepers with the following prologue:
“Thanks to the indefatigable pollinating honey bees, beekeeping plays an essential role both in terms of agricultural yields and the maintenance of plant and tree biodiversity throughout the world. Scientists all agree that 35% of our food worldwide is dependent on their work! In addition honey bees provide different honeys as food supplements, but also noble products used in apitherapy such as pollen, royal jelly, propolis, venom and wax. Via this website, the world’s No. 1 portal for the apicultural sector, Apiservices offers beginner’s articles, thousands of papers for professionals, scientific papers on the impact of pesticides on bees and databases on all topics related to bees, apiary techniques, treatments against apiary diseases, tricks against predators. Also listed are the coordinates of over a hundred beekeeping equipment suppliers for apiaries and honeyhouses, bee products, populated colonies, package bees and queens, veterinary drugs, service providers, apiculture trade unions and others. Welcome everybody!”
I met Gilles in 1996 while on sabbatical in France from the University of Florida. He helped me to understand European beekeeping during this period, which led to several letters that were written at the time to beekeepers in the United States. This series of messages became an integral part of the book: Beekeeping Without Borders: Apiculture in Italy and France at the Dawn of the European Union published by Northern Bee Books, available via Amazon.com and other outlets.
