Roger A. Morse,

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

(July 5, 1927 - May 12, 2000) was an American bee

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

who taught many

beekeeper A beekeeper is a person who keeps honey bees. Beekeepers are also called honey farmers, apiarists, or less commonly, apiculturists (both from the Latin '' apis'', bee; cf. apiary). The term beekeeper refers to a person who keeps honey bees i ...

s both the rudiments and the finer practices, through his research and publications. During his long career, three new

parasites Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson ha ...

of the honeybee, acarine mite,

varroa mite ''Varroa destructor'', the ''Varroa'' mite is an external parasitic mite that attacks and feeds on the honey bees '' Apis cerana'' and ''Apis mellifera''. The disease caused by the mites is called varroosis. The ''Varroa'' mite can reproduce o ...

and African small hive beetle were introduced to the United States. These, along with the

Africanized honeybee The Africanized bee, also known as the Africanized honey bee and known colloquially as the "killer bee", is a hybrid of the western honey bee (''Apis mellifera''), produced originally by crossbreeding of the East African lowland honey bee (''A. ...

and pesticide kills were all important beekeeping issues. Morse was extensively involved in research on each of these and provided guidance to the beekeeping industry.

Education and career

Morse was born in

Saugerties, New York Saugerties () is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in the northeastern corner of Ulster County, New York, Ulster County, New York (state), New York. The population was 19,038 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 C ...

, and served in the U. S. Army from 1944 to 1947. He received his bachelor's degree from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

in 1950, his masters in 1953 and his doctorate in 1955, and did postgraduate work with the State Plant Board in Gainesville, Florida After a brief stint as assistant professor at the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, ...

, he returned to Cornell University where he remained until retirement. Morse taught a very popular introductory course on beekeeping, which was available to any student as an elective. During the 1970s many Cornell students were informed and entertained by his superb relating of the honey bee and its close relationship with human endeavors. He was made chairman of the entomology department in 1986. In 1989 he was made a fellow of the Entomological Society of America, and had been a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science since 1975. He also served as visiting professor at the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, the

University of Sao Paulo A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, and the University of the Philippines, Los Baños.

Publications

Morse was a prolific writer of numerous books and magazine articles. He also edited and made contributions to a number of collective works. This is a partial list. Contributor: *''Annotated Bibliography on

Varroa Jacobsoni ''Varroa jacobsoni'' is a species of mite that parasitises ''Apis cerana'' (Asian honey bees). The more damaging ''Varroa destructor'' was previously included under the name ''V. jacobsoni'', but the two species can be separated on the bas ...

'', '' Tropilaelaps Clareae'' and '' Euvarroa Sinhai'' (IBRA Bibliography) *''The ABC and XYZ of Bee Culture'' *''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Beekeeping'' *''Honey Bee Pests, Predators, and Diseases'' *''Making Mead Honey Wine: History, Recipes, Methods and Equipment'' *Morse wrote a regular column in ''Bee Culture'' magazine Author: *''Bees and Beekeeping'' *''Honey Shows: Guidelines for Exhibitors, Superintendents, and Judges'' *''The New Complete Guide to Beekeeping'' *''Rearing Queen Honey Bees'' *''Richard Archbold and the Archbold Biological Station'' *''A Year in the Beeyard: An Expert's Month-by-Month Instructions for Successful Beekeeping''

References

1927 births 2000 deaths American beekeepers Cornell University alumni Cornell University faculty University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty University of São Paulo faculty {{Bee-stub