William Bernhardt Tegetmeier

A correspondent and friend of Charles Darwin,[1] Tegetmeier studied pigeon breeds and the optimality of hexagonal honeycomb cells constructed by honeybees.

He wrote a number of books dealing with home economics, poultry farming, pigeon breeds, bee-keeping and on the maintenance of livestock.

Born in Colnbrook, Buckinghamshire, the oldest of three sons, of Sarah Luer and Godfrey Conrad Tegetmeier.

Returning to London in 1841 he attended lectures by John Hoppus to train in mesmerism and then led a life of Bohemianism and worked as a freelance journalist.

[7] He wrote several textbooks for students including "Arithmetical tables", "Classification of Animals and Vegetables" and "First Lines of Botany".

[15] He conducted a number of experiments and estimated that bees needed 12-15 lbs of sugar to produce a pound of wax.

[17] Darwin also had Tegetmeier repeat some of his experiments on breeding different varieties of pigeons and fowl to see if their offspring were fertile.

[18] Tegetmeier was elected a Fellow of the Zoological Society, a member of the British Ornithologists’ Union from 1837 and he became the natural history editor of The Field magazine.

[3][24] A green heritage plaque was installed on the house where he had lived at 101 St James's Lane, Muswell Hill in 2008.