Carla Marina Marchese is changing the way people think about honey, this designer turned beekeeper is best known as the visionary behind the beloved brand Red Bee Honey.During a former career as an international designer, Marina was invited to visit a neighbor’s apiary where her first taste of fresh honey would change the course of her life. She quit her job, built a beehive and wrangled some Italian honeybees to become a full – time beekeeper. It was on a visit to Italy that Marina stumbled upon a honey festival in Montalcino (coincidentally called The City of Honey). Compelled by the philosophy of terroir, Marina studied wine tasting in order to transfer those skills to honey tasting which led her to launch the Red Bee Brand. She returned to Italy to complete her formal education as a honey sensory expert becoming the first US citizen to be accepted as a member of the Italian National Register of Experts in the Sensory Analysis of Honey. In 2013, she founded the AmericanHoney Tasting Society to bring the Italian program to the US.

Passionate about environmental issues around honeybees and food policy, Marina's best-selling book Honeybee Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper chronicles her entrepreneurial journey into beekeeping, opening her eyes to the wonders of the natural world of honeybees, pollination and their direct connection to growing food. Red Bee elevated honey to an artisan brand through education and transparency. Her second book, The Honey Connoisseur Selecting, Tasting, and Pairing Honey co-authored with Kim Flottum (former editor of Bee Culture Magazine) is the definitive guide to honey. Marina wrote  Honey for Dummies with original mentor, Howland Blackiston.

 Co Sponsored with The Virginia State Beekeepers Association and the ApiSolutions Consortium