By Troy Fore, Editor/Publisher

“Frank was a real Southern gentleman.” That statement from Laurence Cutts summed up what I was told by several people who knew Frank Robinson

“He was always interested in bees,” Sarah Robinson said as she related to me some of the highlights of her husband’s career: After he got his Master’s at Auburn in 1947, he went to work at the bee lab in Baton Rouge. There he worked with Otto Mackensen and Everett Oertel. In 1950, he moved to the University of Florida in Gainesville, where he would stay for 35 years.

Frank was a believer in the benefits of associations and how they would help beekeepers. He actively supported the Florida State Beekeepers Association, which he served as president for two years, and the Southern States Beekeepers Federation, which was a strong regional group at that time.

He moved on into national beekeeping circles, representing Florida as a Director to the American Beekeeping Federation. After four years on the ABF Executive Committee, he was elected vice president and was set to become ABF president. However, ABF secretary-treasurer Bob Banker wanted to step down and Frank was chosen to replace him. He held this post from 1978 to 1988.

When I took over as ABF secretary-treasurer from Frank in 1988, he told my wife, “I am going to give Troy a gift: I am going to stay out of his way.” And he did. When I called him, he freely shared his wisdom and experience, but he never called to say, “You should have….” – even though he must have felt that urge often.

As an impetuous member of the ABF Board of Directors and, later, member of the ABF Executive Committee, I occasionally chafed at Frank’s “old fashioned” ways. Then, when I sat in his seat, I could see from his perspective. I remember getting off one Executive Committee conference call and wondering how Frank Robinson had put up with Troy Fore.

Sarah said that Frank had most valued the many friends he had made over the years, “really good friends around the country.”

One of those was Binford Weaver, a former ABF president who Frank had worked with in the ABF. “Frank had the ability to cut to the heart of any matter (being debated),” Binford remembered. “He could see the important points that needed to be addressed. His levelheadedness kept the ABF on course.”

Binford cited Frank’s ability to deal with staff people in Washington agencies and to set the appointments with people in Congress the ABF legislative delegations needed to see.

“Frank held the ABF together,” was a sentiment offered by Binford as well as by Randy Johnson, another ABF president during Frank’s tenure. “He was important to the ABF and to the beekeeping industry in so many ways,” Randy said, adding that he felt Frank’s background in dealing with university bureaucracy and scientists was especially helpful.

David Hackenberg worked with Frank Robinson as a Florida winter beekeeper as well as in the ABF. “Frank was… well, what can you say… he was just a good man,” he said. “He was well-respected by the beekeepers. They were glad to cooperate with him on his research at the university.”

Laurence Cutts recalled some areas that Frank had researched – effects of pollination on citrus, optimum timing of nosema treatments in the Southeast, and limiting pesticide losses. “A lot of it was practical research with immediate impact on the beekeeping industry,” Laurence recalled. “He was a big asset to the beekeeping industry in Florida. He didn’t brag about it a lot; he just did his work. He was a real Southern gentleman.”