Bees underline the reality that we are more, not less, dependent on nature’s services in a world of close to 7 billion people

Jodi Dee has been a hobbyist beekeeper for over 20 years and has been in awe of the intricacies and magic of a hive since day 1. She met Ken Warchol, the "Bee Whisperer" during his tenure as the State inspector. She learned so much every time he would visit, and still does. She realized this needed to be documented. Jodi is a multi-award-winning author but decided a documentary would be the best medium to share her passion and love for the bees with the world, rather than a book. Jodi has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology & History and a Master’s in Education from Clark University. 

 Eddie Frateschi is a New England-based video director & producer who founded Red Mailbox Media International in 2013. Right out of the gate, his collaboration work with world-renowned rowing athlete Josh Crosby sold in over 60 different countries.  Eddie's career has led him to projects all over, such as Toronto, San Francisco, Miami,  Mexico, New York City, and Boston. Among his clients are prestigious Harvard University and the New England Patriots. Today, his love and eye for outdoor adventures, music, and nature continue to drive his creativity and passion for capturing interesting stories and beautiful imagery. 

 Ken Warchol, coined "The Bee Whisperer", is a 6th generation beekeeper and has been a beekeeper for more than 70 years. Ken worked for the State as the local Chief Bee Inspector for 45 years. He was solicited to aid and support research and comprehensive studies conducted at Harvard University and the USDA regarding environmental threats and colony collapse to hives. Warchol increased his bee involvement in 2009 after he retired from 40 years of teaching at Northbridge High School. Ken speaks at many events and is recognized as a world-renowned expert on the management and care of honeybees.

Research Leader, Agricultural Research Service, Department of Agriculture

Dr. Chen and Dr. Evans—known as the Bee Team—liken their work to being bee detectives. They also use epidemiological modeling to link health effects to causes to find cures for current diseases and understand future threats. 

By applying molecular and genomic technologies to bee research, “We know every single gene in their bodies,” Evans said. “We can find out if their immune genes are turned down in some way or aren’t active.” 

Their work focuses on four broad categories: bee-specific pathogens and other organisms that cause disease; parasites like Nosema carnae that affect the honeybee’s digestive system; environmental stressors such as pesticides or lack of nectar diversity; and poor bee management practices.  

Chen calls herself a “a bee doctor.” Evans said he “treats each colony like it is a human patient.”  

Dr. Alburaki is currently a Research Scientist at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Bee Research Laboratory (BRL) in Beltsville, Maryland. He is a longtime beekeeper and practiced beekeeping in many countries. He obtained his Ph.D. in honey bee genetics and behavior from the University of Pierre and Marie Curie, Paris – France. Dr. Alburaki conducted extensive studies on honey bee diversity, evolution, and functional genomics during his Post-doctoral research and investigated the effect of pesticides on honey bee health in Canada and the USA.

Currently, his Lab at the USDA-ARS focuses on studying the effects of biotic and abiotic stressors on honey bee health and how to mitigate their negative impacts on bees. His team also investigates the causes of queen failure and poor performance from an ecological and genetic perspective. Dr. Alburaki is also interested in developing molecular markers and novel eco-ethological methods to evaluate honey bee adaptation to local climate, forage, and environmental conditions. His Lab’s ultimate objective is to develop sustainable strategies to promote and enhance honey bee health and performance in contemporary agricultural ecosystems. Dr. Alburaki has published many research papers for the USDA for over a decade is committed to helping the bees.

President Massachusetts Beekeepers 

President of Eastern Apicultural Society (EAS)

Association EAS Master BeekeeperHoney Wellness Consultant & Honey bee Educator 

Mary Duane has been fascinated by Honeybees since attended her first beekeeping course in 1999. She is the President of both the Massachusetts Beekeepers Association and the Eastern Apicultural Society (EAS). She maintains between 10-15 colonies of her own each year. She is coordinating the Massachusetts committee organizing the EAS 2023 conference which is in Amherst MA July 31- August 4th, 2023. She has attended over 20 EAS conferences.

1999-Present  Membership to the WCBA

Assistant WCBA Bee School Director

WCBA Vice President

WCBA  President

WCBA President

Massachusetts BeeKeepers Association Vice President  2016-2020

Massachusetts Beekeepers Association President 2020-2024

Eastern Apicultural Society President  2023

WCBA  Beekeeper of the Year Recipient

EAS  Master Beekeeper Certification  2012

WCBA All-Star Mentor Award

WCBA Life Time Award Recipient- 2024

 Dr. Thomas D. Seeley is the Horace White Professor in Biology at Cornell University. He is based in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, where he teaches courses on animal behavior and does research on the behavior and social life of honey bees. His work is summarized in three books: Honeybee Ecology (1985), The Wisdom of the Hive (1995), and Honeybee Democracy (2010). 

 From 1980 to 1995, he directed most of his efforts at understanding how a honey bee colony solves the problem of allocating its foragers across an ever-changing landscape of flower patches so that it gathers its food efficiently, in sufficient quantity, and with the correct nutritional mix. This work is reviewed in detail in his book The Wisdom of the Hive (1995, Harvard University Press). Since 1995, he has concentrated on figuring out how a swarm of honey bees chooses a new home. This problem arises when a colony reproduces and the old queen bee and some ten thousand worker bees leave the parental hive to produce a daughter colony. The emigrating bees settle on a tree branch in a beard-like cluster and then hang there together for several days. During this time, these homeless insects do something truly amazing: they hold a democratic debate to choose their new living quarters. Exactly how they do so is reviewed in his book Honeybee Democracy (2010, Princeton University Press). 

Dr. Marla Spivak is an American entomologist, and Distinguished McKnight University Professor at the University of Minnesota specializing in apiculture and social insects.

Spivak graduated with a B.A. from Humboldt State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Kansas. She is particularly well known for her work breeding lines of honey bees that detect and quickly remove diseased larvae and pupae, which is called hygienic behavior. Spivak has extensively studied the causes and impacts of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), a phenomenon where honey bee hives are abandoned by their worker bees. She attributes CCD to a combination of factors, including parasites, diseases, poor nutrition, pesticide poisonings, and habitat loss. Her research aims to identify stress factors that compromise bee immune systems and develop methods to mitigate these stresses. She was instrumental in setting up the first bee Tech-Transfer Team in the United States, which continues to help honey bee queen breeders select for disease resistance traits. More recently, she has begun studying the role of resins, which bees collect and mix with wax to make propolis coatings on the inside of their hives, as an example of honey bee social immunity. Her lab also studies the effect of the surrounding landscape on the health and nutrition of both honey bees and native bees.

Throughout the episodes, we will showcase many colonies of honeybees at all different stages. There will be nucs (new hives), swarm hives, old hives, young hives, thriving hives, and problem hives. 

Many of our experts have dedicated their lives to the study of this amazing creature that lives among us. 

Thousands of hours of research and many studies have gone into understanding this complex species. Bees have lived for millions of years before humans ever walked the Earth.

We must remain in awe and appreciation of them for all they do for our planet, and support them in survival as best we can.