Beeing: Life, Motherhood, and 180,000 Honeybees

by Rosanne Daryl Thomas

"Rosanne Daryl Thomas's tale of her enchantment by bees is a delight to read. It also contains close observations of the natural world, tales of failure and triumph with the hives, and a stellar cast of characters that includes her daughter, their cats, the hapless Farmer Tom, Pete the crossing guard, and, most important, the Bee Master. Every word tastes sweet as honey." -Janet Lembke

Post-husband, pre-rest of life, Rosanne Daryl Thomas and her seven-year-old daughter move to a small New England town. When, on a whim, she decides to take up beekeeping, her daughter is so proud of her that she can't back out-no matter how bumbling and unprepared she is. Thomas learns much from the Bee Master and other locals intrigued by a novice woman beekeeper who needs their help-at first.
As she finds her courage, Thomas also finds herself embracing a life she never dreamed of. Entering the mysterious world of bees, she begins a relationship with nature that mingles science with mythology, wonder with humility, and motherly devotion with a search for new ways of seeing and untried possibilities. She learns that beekeeping, like life, can never be completely mastered. There is always room to make another mistake, and with each mistake comes an opportunity. Along the way, she gets her share of stings, some honey-and, perhaps, a little wiser.
With a novelist's eye for detail, and prose that intimately engages the reader, Rosanne Daryl Thomas opens the mysterious and seductive world of beekeeping to a whole new audience.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Nature

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[GoldGato · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a little Italian bee, I am Queen of a colony

Divorce happens, life happens, and bees happen. After splitsville from her husband, author Rosanne Daryl Thomas makes both a physical move and a spiritual move. The former to a new state, the latter to a state of raw honey. How cool is that?

And I have no parents to bother my life,
I have no husband to call me "wife"

Using the concept of motherhood to its wider extent, this book tells the simple story of a new life in a new town while learning, from scratch, how to handle being a beekeeper. It's not just being a parent to a young child but also being a 'mother' to thousands of bees, always referred to as "my girls".

I have no taxes and no debts to pay,
Living's high cost don't come my way

The writing was wonderful. The mistakes made were wonderful. The 'a-ha' moments were wonderful. I enjoyed it enough so that I would stop reading before my daily train commute was done, so I could have another week to slowly tread my way through the adventure. There are also stories about her neighbours, which gave it a New England-ish tinge to the autumnal pages.

And I am as busy as busy can be
At superintending this colony.

This book also appealed to me because I have considered becoming beekeeping but never could because of time constraints. Instead, I plant what the little buzzers like and hope they return to their colonies to tell their brethren what I have for them. However, after completing this book, I am now looking at getting this Bee Hotel...



I recommend this book for anyone interested in bees. My only negative is that as she was describing what she was building or improving, I would have loved to have seen a picture so I could figure out what she was doing. A mere quibble.

Book Season = Spring (bumblebees doing the backstroke)

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a very good memoir of a single mom in New England who gets into bee keeping by chance and learns to love it. I thoroughly enjoyed it as I have been interested in beekeeping (the mechanics of, not the doing of) since reading _The Secret Life of Bees_ several years ago. It was a fast read and humorous. The author has a strong independent female spirit.

[Desiree · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely gorgeously written. As much about bees as about the miracle of motherhood and seeing the world through a child's eyes. An example:

"I embarked on a very long, authoritative lecture about how hammering was serious business and not for flibbertigibbets. She listened politely, and asked if she might make a doll couch... With no ado beyond a maternal warning to tuck her thumbs in, my daughter breezily drove her first nail... Soon she had just the couch she'd pictured in her mind. She summoned her four- and six-year-old pals from across the street to admire her craftsmanship and they hurried inside to find dolls the right size with the right kind of bendiness to sit on this fine piece of furniture. How lovely it is to be a mama and see your small daughter do fearlessly what, three months before, you hardly dared attempt. She was free of the cowardice that had shackled me. And that was no small thing."

[Lanette · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was another quick read. I really liked her writing style. It might have been a 4 star except I was really turned off by the one or two pages where she talks about sleeping with a married foreigner. It added nothing to the story and really made me wonder what kind of woman would admit to that, never mind write about it. It bothered me.

[Karen Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ms. Thomas is a novel writer and this is a slice out of her life with the great writing skills of a novelist. You will go along with her on her bee adventure from how she stumbled into it to how she became a "beekeeper". Just a fun read and you'll learn along the way.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Newly single adoring mother takes on bees almost by accident. The story is a parable about personal growth and exploration. Entirely perfect for me right now. I'm getting a bee hive!!

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book hold special meaning for me and was so beautifully written. A favorite.

[Katelyn Thibeault · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this book. Some parts were cute and I loved the authors spirit. But I found the book kind of dull. It took me a lot longer than it should have to read since it’s a short book. I found myself skimming over parts. I guess I was just expecting more from it. It did give a good idea on how to have bee hives though, I definitely learned a lot.

[Gail Oliver · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting portions regarding the author is sensitivity to the raising of bees.
Her writing style isn’t for me.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

For someone trying to get a feel for the experience of beekeeping, this would be a fun read. However, I was hoping for either some really cool motherhood parallels based on the author's observance of her bees, or, at least, a really good story line. But, alas, it wasn't fiction. I think I was hoping for something like Stratton-Porter's "The Keeper of the Bees." Oh well.

[Mary Ann McNally · Rating 4 out of 5]

For all those naturalist out there, great read, light, quick but fulfilling!

[Jana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have just taken up the hobby of Beekeeping and found this book to be very intertaining since it mentioned so many facts about bee keeping. I will keep this as a resource for my hobby!

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

very interesting

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. Not quite non-fiction as some of her "bee" experiences are improbable but could be informative for those interested in hobby beekeeping.