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.

In this interview, he shares candidly about his life and provides anecdotes about his journey into honey bee studies and observations.

Here are links to all of Dr. Seeley's published books.
These are affiliate links to Amazon. You can google the titles and likely find them for sale from your favorite source.

Honeybee Ecology: A study of Adaptation in Social Life (1985)
https://amzn.to/3xVGgqR

The Wisdom of the Hive: The Social Physiology of Honey Bee Colonies (1995) https://amzn.to/3UHtaXr

Honeybee Democracy (2010)
https://amzn.to/3UDVxFH

Following the Wild Bees: The Craft and Science of Bee Hunting (2016)
https://amzn.to/3QodsxL

The Lives of Bees: The Untold Story of the Honey Bee in the Wild (2019)
https://amzn.to/3JF2u36

NEW!
Piping Hot Bees and Boisterous Buzz-Runners: 20 Mysteries of Honey Bee Behavior Solved (2024)
https://amzn.to/44kGKmu

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CHAPTERS:
00:00 Introduction
01:54 Books by Dr. Seeley
02:29 Young Thomas meets his first honey bees in a walnut tree.
04:28 The first bee book that Tom owned.
06:20 Tom Seeley gets a job at the Dyce Lab, cutting the grass etc.
08:35 The First Master Beekeeper Program in the U.S.
10:35 Burning Hives! American Foul Brood
12:02 A Raccoon named Vega
14:32 Tom meets his future wife on Appledore Island.
18:26 Tom uses his woodworking and technical skills to build his own gear.
20:16 Detecting CO2 in Bee Hives.
25:15 How bees vent their hive.
26:30 How small entrances benefit honey bees.
28:50 The many benefits of Observation Hives.
30:39 Dyce Lab Observation Hives with long entrances.
31:41 Hive top ventilation.
34:04 How Tom selected his summer helpers at the Dyce Lab.
35:49 Radios helped with field reporting.
36:43 Various dances and associated frequencies.
37:11 How honey bees hear.
39:00 The Shaking Signal
39:50 Grooming Invitation
46:00 How video improves observation, and accurate measurements.
53:10 How fast does a swarm travel?
53:54 How does a swarm know what direction to go?
57:55 Swarm Collection Boxes.
58:56 Swarms prefer boxes with comb inside.
01:00:18 Water studies inside the Glass House.
01:04:20 Water spreading bees.
01:07:00 Bees don't want a top entrance.
01:10:10 How do comb builders determine cell wall thickness?
01:11:48 Tom and Robin encounter defensive bees while on their honeymoon.
01:18:13 How does Tom Seeley set up his own hives at home?
01:26:20 Closing Thoughts from Tom.
01:27:40 Nature Based Beekeeping, a better way of saying Darwinian Beekeeping.