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Letters to a Beekeeper
This the story of how, over the course of a year, Alys, the Guardian gardening writer, learns how to keep bees; and Steve, the urban beekeeper, learns how to plant a pollinator-friendly garden. Part beautifully designed coffee-table book, part manifesto, this collection of engaging letters, emails, texts, recipes, notes and glorious photos creates a record of the trials, tribulations, reward and joys of working with, rather than against, nature. And along the way, the reader picks up a wealth of advice, tips and ideas for growing food and keeping pollinators well fed.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published September 17, 2015
3 people are currently reading
69 people want to read
About the author
Alys Fowler
19 books93 followersAlys Fowler trained at the Horticultural Society, the New York Botanical Garden and the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew. After finishing her training, she worked as a journalist for the trade magazine, Horticulture Week, and then joined the Gardeners' World team as a horticultural researcher.
Alys is a gardener who loves food. She has an allotment and an urban back garden with two chickens, lots of flowers and plenty of vegetables. Her inspiration for urban gardening comes from her time volunteering in a community garden on the Lower East side in Manhattan, New York City. Much of the ethic, thrift and spirit she encountered there is found in her work today. She is author of several books and writes a weekly column on gardening for the Guardian.
Alys is a gardener who loves food. She has an allotment and an urban back garden with two chickens, lots of flowers and plenty of vegetables. Her inspiration for urban gardening comes from her time volunteering in a community garden on the Lower East side in Manhattan, New York City. Much of the ethic, thrift and spirit she encountered there is found in her work today. She is author of several books and writes a weekly column on gardening for the Guardian.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 10, 2019
I love it when you read a book and not only discover lots of things you didn’t know before but are also allowed a glimpse into a special relationship between two people. This is a smashing book about two people teaching one another new skills as their (platonic) relationship develops.
When the book concludes, they both realise just how much they have gained!
When the book concludes, they both realise just how much they have gained!
May 12, 2018
Memoir of beekeeping and gardening (just where do all those bees you see around LONDON live? The answer is a delight.....)
Letters to a Beekeeper is a quite beautiful coffee table memoir written by Steve Benbow, founder of the The London Honey Company, and Alys Fowler, gardening writer and author of a weekly column in The Guardian newspaper. It describes a year in their lives as Steve (with Alys mentoring) sets up a pollinator friendly garden at Tate Britain in London, and Alys (with Steve mentoring) takes up beekeeping at her allotment in Birmingham.
I am, I confess, both a beekeeper and a gardener, which perhaps makes me a tad biased – but Letters to a Beekeeper is one of most delightful books I have read in quite a while. It is beautifully illustrated with Steve’s photographs and reproductions of the letters they wrote to each other (one on a runner bean with a stamp on it!). It is also, most importantly, chock full of fascinating facts and anecdotes about both beekeeping and gardening. There is a lot to learn, and they are both brilliant communicators.
I recently went to see Steve Benbow (and his dog, Teal) at the Hexham Book Festival. Steve has a fascinating tale to tell. A few years’ ago he was homeless in London, and he set up his first hive on the roof of a squat where he was living. He progressed to living (with his expanding colonies of bees) in a damp warehouse in Bermondsey. And now has hives on the roofs of Tate Britain, Tate Modern, Fortnum & Mason, The National Portrait Gallery, and Somerset House – he looks after the apiary at Highgrove House (the country house of Prince Charles), and lives happily in a proper home with a bee friendly garden in Hackney. Oh, and produces and sells some quite exceptional honey.
Steve and Alys met when they were on a stage together, promoting their individual books, at the Edinburgh Festival a couple of years back. It was ‘love at first sight’ (well, not actually – Alys had come out as gay, and Steve has since found his life partner…). But they are absolutely best mates. And it shows in the letters they write each other. They are witty, sad, informative, and occasionally frustrated. Steve doesn’t always look after the garden at Tate Britain as he ought to and Alys (because Steve is so busy) doesn’t always get the support she needs as a new beekeeper. But somehow they get through the year without too many disasters.
This is clearly a book that appeals particularly to the Beekeeping and Gardening communities – but it is a story of friendship and shared endeavour that should have a much wider audience. Highly recommended.
Letters to a Beekeeper is a quite beautiful coffee table memoir written by Steve Benbow, founder of the The London Honey Company, and Alys Fowler, gardening writer and author of a weekly column in The Guardian newspaper. It describes a year in their lives as Steve (with Alys mentoring) sets up a pollinator friendly garden at Tate Britain in London, and Alys (with Steve mentoring) takes up beekeeping at her allotment in Birmingham.
I am, I confess, both a beekeeper and a gardener, which perhaps makes me a tad biased – but Letters to a Beekeeper is one of most delightful books I have read in quite a while. It is beautifully illustrated with Steve’s photographs and reproductions of the letters they wrote to each other (one on a runner bean with a stamp on it!). It is also, most importantly, chock full of fascinating facts and anecdotes about both beekeeping and gardening. There is a lot to learn, and they are both brilliant communicators.
I recently went to see Steve Benbow (and his dog, Teal) at the Hexham Book Festival. Steve has a fascinating tale to tell. A few years’ ago he was homeless in London, and he set up his first hive on the roof of a squat where he was living. He progressed to living (with his expanding colonies of bees) in a damp warehouse in Bermondsey. And now has hives on the roofs of Tate Britain, Tate Modern, Fortnum & Mason, The National Portrait Gallery, and Somerset House – he looks after the apiary at Highgrove House (the country house of Prince Charles), and lives happily in a proper home with a bee friendly garden in Hackney. Oh, and produces and sells some quite exceptional honey.
Steve and Alys met when they were on a stage together, promoting their individual books, at the Edinburgh Festival a couple of years back. It was ‘love at first sight’ (well, not actually – Alys had come out as gay, and Steve has since found his life partner…). But they are absolutely best mates. And it shows in the letters they write each other. They are witty, sad, informative, and occasionally frustrated. Steve doesn’t always look after the garden at Tate Britain as he ought to and Alys (because Steve is so busy) doesn’t always get the support she needs as a new beekeeper. But somehow they get through the year without too many disasters.
This is clearly a book that appeals particularly to the Beekeeping and Gardening communities – but it is a story of friendship and shared endeavour that should have a much wider audience. Highly recommended.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews