National Geographic's documentary Secrets of the Bees became available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu starting April 1. In a recent interview, entomologist Dr. Samuel Ramsey discussed his bee research at the University of Colorado Boulder and efforts to sequence honey bee genomes worldwide. The series highlights global bee health challenges and his work in Southeast Asia.
Dr. Samuel Ramsey, an endowed professor at the University of Colorado Boulder's BioFrontiers Institute and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology department, leads the Boulder Bee Lab. He oversees six graduate students, soon expanding to seven, who study honey bee pathologies and how parasites overcome bee immune systems. Ramsey told Bee Culture Magazine's Jerry Hayes that his lab delves into biochemistry to aid beekeepers and bee health globally. CU Boulder customized his role to include science communication and flexible travel for fieldwork in Southeast Asia during bee migration seasons in the Philippines, Thailand, and Singapore. The university supports a research station there and integrates his nonprofit, the Ramsey Research Foundation, with lab efforts to build regional research capacity. Only 2% of bee research originates from Southeast Asia despite its unique biodiversity hosting all bee species, Ramsey noted, emphasizing the need to shift focus from Western-centric studies. His Honey Bee Genome Project, partnered with National Geographic and the Explorers Club, sequences genomes of all honey bee species, their pathogens, and parasites using advanced long-read technology. The first paper on the dwarf honey bee Apis florea appeared last month in the journal Genes, Genomes, Genetics (G3), with giant honey bee sequencing planned after Bhutan permits this summer. Secrets of the Bees features Boulder Bee Lab experiments and Asian footage to illustrate pollinator disease reservoirs and pandemic prediction models, akin to CDC and WHO virus tracking. Ramsey expressed concern over declining U.S. honey bee research funding amid ongoing colony losses and incoming threats like the Tropilaelaps mite, urging stronger beekeeper connections via presentations and documentaries.