Roger Alfred Morse; Scholar, Expert on Bees

Roger Alfred Morse, 72, who turned a childhood interest in beekeeping into an encyclopedic knowledge that made him a highly regarded apiculturist. An entomology professor at Cornell University for more than 40 years, Morse was also a prolific author. His “The Complete Guide to Beekeeping” is one of the definitive works on the subject. He was born in Saugerties, N.Y. Morse’s father, a superintendent of schools, kept bees as a hobby and instilled an interest in his son, who began keeping hives at age 10. Morse enrolled at Cornell University after serving in the Army during and after World War II. He received his bachelor’s degree and doctorate from the school before joining the faculty. He become chairman of the entomology department in 1986. Morse also traveled extensively, often under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, teaching beekeepers in Africa, South America and the Philippines how to improve their craft. In reporting his death, the New York Times noted that Morse was not impervious to bee stings. His daughter Susan said that four days before his death, Morse returned home sporting the evidence of another encounter with a bee. “He died with a little bee sting on his eye,” she said. On May 12 at his home in Ithaca, N.Y.