Rothamsted: Cradle of agricultural and apicultural research. 1. Origins and development

Ingrid H Williams

This year Rothamsted Experimental Station in Hertfordshire, UK, the oldest agricultural research centre in the world, celebrates the 150th anniversary of its founding by John Bennet Lawes, a Hertfordshire landowner and father of agricultural science. Rothamsted is of course also recognized as an internationally renowned center for bee research; it was one of the first to be established seventy years ago, and many distinguished scientists have made significant contributions to bee research at Rothamsted. This, the first of two articles about Rothamsted, traces the beginnings and development of agricultural and apicultural research at this site. A second article will highlight some of the research achievements of bee scientists at Rothamsted over the past seven decades.