Roger A. Morse, Ph.D. (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, a profession known as beekeeping. The term beekeeper refers to a person who keeps honey bees in beehives, boxes, or other receptacles. The beekeeper does not control the creatures. The beekeeper ow ...

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 (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The en ...

of the honeybee, acarine mite, varroa mite, and African small hive beetle were introduced to the United States. These, along with the Africanized honeybee 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 join the U.S. Army at age seventeen and served from 1944 to 1947. He received his bachelor's degree from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

in 1950, his masters in 1953 and his doctorate in 1955, and did postgraduate work with the State Plant Board in

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. After a brief stint as assistant professor at the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

, 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. He was made chairman of the

entomology Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

department in 1986, until 1989. In 1989 he was made a fellow of the

Entomological Society of America The Entomological Society of America (ESA) was founded in 1889 and today has more than 7,000 members, including educators, extension personnel, consultants, students, researchers, and scientists from agricultural departments, health agencies, ...

, and had been a member of the

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since 1975. He also served as visiting professor at the

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, the

University of São Paulo The Universidade de São Paulo (, USP) is a public research university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, and the largest public university in Brazil. The university was founded on 25 January 1934, regrouping already existing schools in ...

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, 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'', '' 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 Academic staff of the University of São Paulo {{Bee-stub