For over 40 years I have worked in and around the honey bee and beekeeping industry. After a stint as a High School teacher, I went back to college at Ohio State University to learn about Honey Bees from Dr. Jim Tew. Then on to the USDA Bee Breeding a Stock Lab, (as it was titled back in the ’80s), for a short time, then to Dadant and Sons and the American Bee Journal for a long time. I then joined the Florida Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services as the Chief of the Apiary Inspection Section for almost a decade. I then went on to work on RNAi with Monsanto to control Varroa, and now as editor of Bee Culture magazine.

I’ve been a beekeeper before Varroa and am now on this journey after Varroa and all the collateral health effects that we are struggling with. I’ve seen bees mysteriously disappear with CCD. I’ve seen people and animals killed by Africanized Bees. I’ve seen prairie lands converted to ag lands, which meant fewer flowers for bees and more impacts from pesticides. I know I get to be with you for a short time.