Carla Marina Marchese
Beekeeper, Author, Speaker
and Honey Expert
Marina Marchese is changing the way people taste and think about honey. This entrepreneur is a beekeeper, an author, a honey sommelier and the visionary behind Red Bee ® Artisanal Honey. During a former career as an international designer, Marina unexpectedly visited a neighbor’s apiary where her first taste of fresh honey from the beehive would change the course of her life. She quit her job, built a beehive and acquired some Italian honeybees to become a beekeeper. It was on a visit to Montalcino, Italy the City of Honey, that Marina became passionate about single-origin honeys. Compelled by the philosophy of terroir and the diverse flavor profiles of honey determined by the type of nectar gathered by the honeybees, Marina launched a revolutionary collection of single-origin honeys under the Red Bee Brand. Today, Marina sells her Red Bee ® luxury honey to celebrity chefs, Relais & Chateaux restaurants, fine cheese and artisan food shops all over the country. Marina is the founder of The American Honey Tasting Society, to protect the quality and character of this noble food and educate through her signature Honey Tasting Laboratory Workshops at venues like Mario Batali’s Eataly, The Food Network, The Four Seasons Restaurant, Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture, Murray’s Cheese Shop, Artisanal Premium Cheese Center and The United Nations. Marina’s Red Bee Honey was honored with a Snail of Approval from Slow Food Metro North. Marina’s Red Bee Apiary has been featured on ABC-TV’s The Chew and profiled in Williams Sonoma’s Meet the Maker.
Marina studied honey tasting in Montalcino, Italy and trained as a Honey Judge at the University of Georgia. She is certified by the American Apitherapy Society and the author of Honeybee: Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper and The Honey Connoisseur with Kim Flottum, editor of Bee Culture Magazine. Red Bee Honey has been featured in NY Times, Wall Street Journal, MORE Magazine, The Saturday Evening Post, Martha Stewart radio and blog, Edible Communities, Bee Culture and American Bee Journal. James Beard winning author Rowan Jacobsen calls Marina “The Red Queen” and dedicates one chapter of his new book American Terroir to tasting honey with Marina at her Red Bee Apiary.
Red Bee Honey is the subject of an 2011 Emmy nominated video series by YAHOO. When not tending her Italian honeybees, Marina eats, dreams, talks and writes about the culinary delights of artisanal honey.
Media and Publicity Inquiries for Marina’s books
HONEYBEE Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper or
The Honey Connoisseur
CONTACT: Stephanie Sorensen at Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers
212.647.9336 x102 or by email stephanie@blackdogandleventhal.com
Working from the charming red cottages that were once the home of celebrity ballerina and author Gelsey Kirkland, dancing partner of Mikhail Baryshnikov, Marina carries on this creative spirit at Red Bee, her boutique honeybee farm. Committed to a sustainable lifestyle, Red Bee boast a spectacular edible garden, chickens and honeybees. For those who are looking for plant-based skin care, Red Bee handcrafts a luxury collection of plant based sustainable skin care under the Rossape Brand. Red Bee ® products truly are an unparalleled labor of love and uncompromising integrity.
FAQ:
Q: When is your next book coming out?
A: HONEY is due out in Spring 2013, I wrote it with Bee Culture editor Kim Flottum
Q: Will you come speak to our book club or group?
A: You may contact my publicist Betseykellerpr@gmail.com she will let you know details and my schedule.
Q: Do you ever get stung?
A: Yes, if I am lucky! Beekeepers are the healthiest humans and a little pinch is worth the honey.
Q: What is your favorite honey?
A: I adore every type of honey and its flavor, it really depends upon what else I’m eating-like wine.
Watch Marina on ABC-TV The Chew
