Lotte Möller

One thing I wanted to do when we came to the farm was try beekeeping. I kept bee hives for a few years and managed to harvest a little honey. I kept them just long enough to know that I wasn't going to be a long term beekeeper: it is hard, expensive and often heartbreaking when bad things happen to the hives.

Bees and Their Keepers by Lotte Möller was an homage to the bees and those who devote their lives to keeping them. She echoed a truth that I had learned when I took a local class: if you ask a question about beekeeping, you will get as many different answers as there are beekeepers in the room. They can be a disagreeable lot when dealing with humans but love their hives, tending them with loving care.

The book is organized in two sections. Part I moves through the year, giving seasonal information and providing details about bees and beekeeping in general. Part II focuses on the present state of beekeeping including the story of the bee war on the Danish island of Læsø.

Lovely, funny, insightful: you don't have to be a beekeeper to enjoy Möller's ode to bees.… (más)