After serving in the Army in Europe from 1944 to 1947, Morse enrolled at Cornell, where he earned a bachelor's degree, a master's degree in 1953 and, in 1955, his doctorate.
Career
Achievements
Membership
American Association for the Advancement of Science
After serving in the Army in Europe from 1944 to 1947, Morse enrolled at Cornell, where he earned a bachelor's degree, a master's degree in 1953 and, in 1955, his doctorate.
(Cornell University Professor Roger A. Morse's classic boo...)
Cornell University Professor Roger A. Morse's classic book on the production of comb honey. He considered comb honey production and queen rearing to be the benchmark of an accomplished beekeeper.
(The first significant book on making mead that continues ...)
The first significant book on making mead that continues to be a best-seller, this book contains the essence of what you need to know about making honey wine (mead) from the honey sitting.
(A comprehensive manual for the beginning beekeeper includ...)
A comprehensive manual for the beginning beekeeper includes discussions of the necessary equipment, the life cycle of bees, harvesting honey, and the control of pests.
Beeswax: Production, Harvesting, Processing and Products
(Beeswax is a substance secreted by worker honey bees from...)
Beeswax is a substance secreted by worker honey bees from four pairs of glands on the underside of their abdomens and used by them for the construction of honeycomb. Beeswax is not on the material but a mixture of many long-chain molecules.
(In step with this pastime's great resurgence on city roof...)
In step with this pastime's great resurgence on city rooftops as well as across rural America, this trusted guide will lead experienced beekeepers into new areas, answer questions, and help refine your skills.
Roger Morse was an American bee biologist and beekeeper. Morse was a professor of entomology at Cornell University from 1957 to 1989 who was one of the most highly regarded experts on bees and apiculture.
Background
Roger Morse was born on July 5, 1927, in Saugerties, New York, the United States. His father, Grant, a superintendent of schools, kept bees as a hobby and instilled interest in his son. Roger Morse began tending his own hives when he was about 10.
Education
After serving in the Army in Europe from 1944 to 1947, Morse enrolled at Cornell, where he earned a bachelor's degree, a master's degree in 1953 and, in 1955, his doctorate.
Two years after completing his education, Morse began working at his alma mater and was an entomology professor at Cornell University for more than 40 years. Over the years, he also taught in Helsinki, Brazil, and the Philippines.
He spent much time studying the incursion of the Africanized bee, a cross-breed known popularly, if fancifully, as the killer bee, which escaped from a laboratory in Brazil in the 1950's. The bees' reputation for aggressiveness made for many scare stories as they made their way north, eventually arriving in this country in the early 1990's.
At Cornell, in addition to his other teaching duties, Morse taught the introductory beekeeping course and a laboratory course on practical beekeeping.
Morse’s first work, The Complete Guide to Beekeeping, defined the standard for apiculture-related books in 1972. The book has evolved through five editions, and in 1994 was published as The New Complete Guide to Beekeeping. Some of his other writings include the 1985 Beeswax, which he wrote with William L. Coggshall, and his 1990 ABC and XYZ of Bee Culture.
Morse was a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science since 1975.
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Personality
Morse often gave the honey away to acquaintances, which endeared him to them.
Connections
Morse spent his life with Mary Louise Smith, whom he married in 1951. They had two daughters, Susan and Mary Ann, and a son Joseph, an entomologist at the University of California at Riverside.