Noted apiarist killed at 86
Two trucks pin beekeeper handling hives
By Wes Woods II, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/16/2008 12:00:00 AM PST
EASTVALE - An 86-year-old Riverside man described as a legend in the beekeeping business was killed early Friday after he was pinned between two trucks unloading hives.
Albert George Knoefler died about 12:55 a.m. on a dirt road at 68th Street and the 15 Freeway, according to a Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner news release.
"He's well known amongst beekeepers - he's known as a legend," said his daughter Lucy Knoefler, who also owns Albert G. Knoefler Honey Co. in Bloomington.
"He was an extremely active man," Lucy Knoefler said from Lodi. "He could probably outwork anyone half his age. He was very knowledgable and a very successful beekeeper."
Albert Knoefler had provided pollination services and honey since the early 1950s in the states of Nebraska, North Dakota, Nebraska, Mississippi and California, Lucy Knoefler said.
Lucy Knoefler said Friday she was preparing funeral arrangements for her father and was in the process of coming to Southern California.
The crash - which was listed as an automobile versus a pedestrian - was originally reported at 68th and Hamner Avenue.
A Riverside County fire spokeswoman Massiel De Guevara said when firefighters arrived the trucks had been separated.
California Highway Patrol Officer Jeremy Pursley could not confirm how the man got between the trucks.
Lucy Knoefler said her father was helping to move the bees for almond tree pollination, but became pinned
between the trucks.
A Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner's release said Albert Knoefler may have been struck by a tractor-trailer and pinned against a utility truck about 12:35 a.m.
"He should have been in the cab of the truck," Lucy Knoefler said.
When asked about the midnight operation of moving the bees, Lucy Knoefler said "Normally, when he was with me, I'd have him go home early. I'd have him stay home. He was with a different group of people."
Albert Knoefler had lived in California in the La Sierra neighborhood of Riverside since 1922, Lucy Knoefler said.
The apiarist was born in Texas but moved with his family to Knoefler Drive in La Sierra at age 1, she said.
"He was always willing to help anyone," Lucy Knoefler said. "Through the years he was a philanthropist - him and my mother were always willing to help people who were down and out."
He would help people who needed a job or money and employed many students through the Loma Linda University-La Sierra campus, she said.
Many people involved in apiculture today worked with her father when they were young, she said.
Albert was a second generation beemaster, she said.
"At 86, he was still out there working and was still able to drive the truck and load semi-trucks with a forklift," Lucy Knoefler said.
He was still running more than 2,000 beehives when he died, she said. He managed the business with his son, Lloyd Knoefler.
"He had such a strong work ethic, he couldn't seem to retire from the bees," she said. "That's what he enjoyed doing."
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