Michael Joshin Thiele lived and practiced at San Fransisco Zen Center for eight years and received lay ordination in 2001. He is leading an innovative and multidimensional approach within the biodynamic apiculture movement and teaches in the United States and abroad.
He is Founder and President of Gaia Bees and is researching wild honeybees and new dimensions of apiculture in a sociocultural, agricultural, and spiritual context. In the last decade, Michael has been involved with the creation of honeybee sanctuaries and refuges as a means of protection and education. The underlying concept of a “Landscape Apiarium” is the leading principle in this bee-centric approach. In 2013, he worked as a biodynamic consultant for the USDA in the Dominican Republic. His work is documented in various national and international magazines, books and film documentaries (Queen of the Sun). He lives with his family in California.
