Carla Marina Marchese is changing the way people taste and think about honey. She is the design visionary and beekeeper behind the iconic brand Red Bee Honey. A graduate of The School of Visual Arts, Marina's designs for JOUJOU sportswear were featured in Woman’s Wear Daily and landed a feature inVictoria Magazine, which launched her international career licensing her designs for giftware, home and stationary. It was in 2000 that Marina was unexpectedly invited to visit a neighbor’s apiary where her first taste of fresh honey from the beehive would change the course of her life. Surprised to find that allowing docile honeybees to crawl across her hands instilled a serene tranquility and comfort, she was inspired her to quit her job, build her own beehives, and acquire a colony of Italian honeybees to become a full-time beekeeper and she hasn't turned back.
It was on a visit to Montalcino, Italy, “The City of Honey”, that Marina became passionate about the diverse flavor profiles of varietal honey determined by the type of nectar gathered by the honeybees. Compelled by the philosophy of terroir, Marina studied wine tasting in order to transfer those skills to honey tasting which lead her to curate a collection of single-origin honeys launching the Red Bee Brand. In 2004, Marina and Red Bee honey landed the cover of American Bee Journal for her innovative packaging and label designs elevating honey to a gourmet worthy product earning Red Bee the Slow Food Snail of Approval.
Marina is available for speaking engagements, television appearances, interviews and consulting assignments.
Media and Publicity Inquiries
CONTACT: Kara Thornton
at Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers
Land: 212.364.0537
Email: [email protected]
Her best selling book Honeybee Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper chronicles her entrepreneurial journey into beekeeping and how a hobby quickly turned into a full - time career and nationally recognized brand. Her second book, The Honey Connoisseur Selecting, Tasting, and Pairing Honey co-authored with Kim Flottum (editor of Bee Culture Magazine) is the definitive guide to honey, it floral sources and flavors . Marina was invited to write the chapter on honey in the international best selling book Beekeeping for Dummies for her mentor and friend Howland Blackiston and has appeared in a variety of television series like ABC-TV’s The Chew, The Untitled Action Bronson Show on Viceland TV, On the Road with Edible Nutmeg, The Splendid Table. Marina's Red Bee will be featured in Weekend with Yankee on PBS withe Emmy award winner Richard Weise. James Beard award winning author Rowan Jacobsen wrote about Marina obsession with varietal honey in his book, American Terroir.
Marchese is the first US citizen to be accepted as a member of the Italian National Register of Experts in the Sensory Analysis of Honey, where she received her formal training as a honey sensory expert and Italian honey judge.
Carla Marina's personal web site is honeysommelier.com.