A Keeper of Bees: Notes on Hive and Home

by Allison Wallace

I was hooked. Call it adrenaline surge, call it honeybee venom in my veins–whatever the explanation, henceforth I would need these funky little critters in my life. Givers of sweet, thick honey, bringers forth of the fruits from trees and bushes and who knew what else, they also gave more food for thought than a body could know what to do with.
–from A Keeper of Bees

Allison Wallace’s devotion to honeybees and their amazing, intensely lived lives started years ago, when she was living in a cabin in the North Carolina woods. Ever since then, wherever she has called home, Wallace has kept company with bees. Now she gives us the honeybee in all its glory, dancing “the great, never fully knowable ecological dance,” striving like other creatures and plants to be all it can be in its short life.
With a philosopher’s perception and a scientist’s knowledge, Wallace interweaves the facts of honeybee biology with reflections on desire, intimacy, work, evolution, memory, and home. She shares the thrill of intimately observing thousands of busy bees cozily ensconced in their brilliantly designed, perfectly weatherproofed hive. She muses on the female workers’ unceasing activity, and on the male drones’ idleness as each awaits his acrobatic midair mating with the queen, followed by his instant death. She marvels at the cosseted queen, upon whom the future of the hive depends.

Genres: Nonfiction

186 pages, Hardcover

First published July 11, 2006

Reviews

[Nettles · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up for the bees

I fear the author should have written about something else. She is clearly full of many interests--going on tangents about religion, her divorce, Orpheus, philosophy, a "door fetish", as a few examples--but admits early on she doesn't know very much about beekeeping and spent a small portion of the book actually talking about bees.

She's also very opinionated and occasionally says offensive things here and there, joking about fat people, mocking religion, calling [unspecified] indigenous beliefs around communication with animals "wishful thinking", and other things I'm forgetting. I saw another comment say this book taught them a lot about what not to do in their own memoir writing AKDKDK

I enjoyed the bee sections

[Cat Leonard · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author should have stuck to writing about her bees and her life. Her venture into expressing contempt for people who accept the Bible and Creationism was not at all necessary for this book and did not enhance it in any way. Lowered my rating by one star due to this.
I did enjoy the other parts and the story she had to tell.

[Melody · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the parts about bees. The odd interlacings of Hurricane Katrina, Wallace's divorce, her nearly English-speaking dog? I didn't like those parts nearly so much. The authorial voice is warm and friendly, and the writing is workmanlike but didn't strike me as inspired. A pleasant diversion.

[La · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book as research for my own memoir style writing and to get myself excited about beekeeping. I definitely think that I have a better idea about the lifestyle of beekeeping as well as some new ideas on what and what not to do in my writing.

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought I would like this one more than I did. The parts on the bees themselves seemed well fleshed out and I found them interesting. However the parts on beekeeping and the author's life seemed very superficial. The book just did not work for me.

[Jasmine Fogwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written. A lot of interesting information about bees and bee keeping woven into a story that encourages a love of learning.

[Liza C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweetness and light. The author describes how the Roman poet Horace once stated that the aim of literary expression should be "to blend in one [work] the delightful and the useful." Reading this book, the author's co-mingling with her bees throughout her life, her reflections on such and the changes that her own life made and the bees as they went about changing sunlight and earth into sweetness was very much delightful and useful. My intent, as I go through my own change from self-imposed separateness with the world into becoming more fully part of it is to have my own hive of bees (or two) and see if I can't learn from the experience as well.

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote that if the stars were to come out just once in the entire history of the world, everyone would fall over themselves getting outside to see. Honey bees are a part of the working natural world that we take so much for granted, and perhaps by knowing just a small piece of the mysterious world we might remember that we ourselves are a part of both the minute honey dance and the larger unending spin of the universe as well.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

bees are so fascinating! i don't know why i picked up this book, because i'd never really been all that interested in bees.

but this book is written in a perfect way to really get me into them. the author interweaves the science of bees with her personal experiences with raising bees and just her general musings on life. the way it all came together just left me in awe of how intricate and beautiful the natural world is.

the book just progressed really naturally and gave tons of information without feeling at all like a textbook. i kept finding myself asking questions in my head as i was reading like.. "but how exactly do bees behave without the support of a beekeeper?" or "what exactly is honey?" somehow these questions always seemed to be answered within two pages of my inner inquiry.

it got me really interested in bees and kind of reminded me a little of how i got excited about apples and potatoes and marijuana and tulips after i read the botany of desire.

i'd really recommend this book to anyone, whether you like bees or not.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a how-to-beekeep book, but the author looking at her life and her beekeeping weaved in. The details on beekeeping are fabulous, plus full of great tidbits on the "amazingness" of bees.

The downside of this book is plodding through the Political Correctness of the author. Her viewpoints aren't constantly thrust at you, which sometimes I wish she would just state what she thinks instead of just being so polite and including all sorts of viewpoints to make sure no civilization or belief is left out.

If you are fascinated by bees and contemplating taking up beekeeping, I think you should add this book to your list for mere enjoyment -- a "living book" on beekeeping.

[Kaijsa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, it only took 7 years and three or four tries, but I finally finished this one. I loved every word about bees and beekeeping and could have skipped almost entirely everything about her and her life (nothing of which I could relate to). Somewhat random at times, and other times very poetic. 3 stars for the bee parts and the beautiful writing moments. Glad to be done and to finally send this on to Goodwill, though.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming memoir filled with essays about the lives of honeybees with some crossovers to the author’s life. For instance, she introduces the essay on hive construction with a story about visiting her mother’s home in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Also covered are flower constancy, the reproductive method, and the honeybee democratic process.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another memoir--this one with bees. Allison Wallace weaves together science, natural history, philosophy, literary references along with her personal life experiences tending bees. It's a quick lovely read and if you're interested in bees at all, you'll learn lots. My reading has been all domestic lately so I think I have this unspoken desire to simply sew, cook, raise chickens and keep bees.

[LisaKaren · Rating 5 out of 5]

This author is a writer in the true sense. This is not only a book about beekeeping as about all life and the world around us. She makes words sing on the page! This is not a how to book of beekeeping, but it might be a "why to". She presented a richer sense of what it would be like to keep bees than many other more practical books.

[Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unlike Katie, I didn't really like this writing style. I was interested in the information she shared about bees--and about her experience with bees--but I had a hard time keeping that interest when she moved to other, more personal, topics.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed learning more about bees and the way they work. The author also wrote some about her personal life. I was greatly saddened when I read about the demise of her marriage. I could identify with her feelings!

[Ilana · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you ever wondered why beekeepers remain so fascinated with their livestock, and all the intracacies (and they are surely intracacies) of the bees' lives and work - this is the book for you.

[Jodi Ralston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Humorous and interesting, although I wished for a few more details on the life of bees instead of our own personal life.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hope to learn about bee keeping while hearing some fun/interesting life stories. But it was poorly written and couldn't keep my attention. Only got through about 4 chapters.