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Bee People and the Bugs They Love
“A successful and funny book that is sure to swell the ranks of the world’s beekeepers.” —New York Times A fascinating foray into the obsessions, friendships, scientific curiosity, misfortunes and rewards of suburban beekeeping—through the eyes of a Master Beekeeper . . . Who wants to keep bees? And why? For the answers, Master Beekeeper Frank Mortimer invites readers on an eye-opening journey into the secret world of bees, and the singular world of his fellow bee-keepers. There’s the Badger, who introduces Frank to the world of bees; Rusty, a one-eyed septuagenarian bee sting therapist certain that honey will be the currency of the future after the governments fail; Scooby the “dude” who gets a meditative high off the awesome vibes of his psychedelia-painted hives; and the Berserker, a honeybee hitman who teaches Frank a rafter-raising lesson in staving off the harmful influences of an evil “Squash her, mash her, kill, kill, kill!” Frank also crosses paths with those he calls the Surgeons (precise and protected), the Cowboys (improvisational and unguarded) and the Poseurs, ex-corporate cogs, YouTube-informed and ill-prepared for the stinging reality of their new lives. In connecting with this club of disparate but kindred spirits, Frank discovers the centuries-old history of the trade; the practicality of maintaining it; what bees see, think, and feel (emotionless but sometimes a little defensive); how they talk to each other and socialize; and what can be done to combat their biggest threats, both human (anti-apiarist extremists) and mite (the Varroa Destructor). With a swarm of offbeat characters and fascinating facts (did that bee just waggle or festoon?), Frank the Bee Man delivers an informative, funny, and galvanizing book about the symbiotic relationship between flower and bee, and bee and the beekeepers who are determined to protect the existence of one of the most beguiling and invaluable creatures on earth.“A very entertaining book.” —American Bee Journal “A playful storyteller… A compelling memoir.”—Foreword Reviews “A useful how-to guide as well as an affectionate ode to nature’s pollinators and honey makers.”—Publishers Weekly “This book includes great humor and a use of allegory that reveals tremendous background knowledge.”—San Francisco Book Review “Frank’s personal stories of his beekeeping journey are entertaining, well written, and will quickly have you happily lost in the world of bees.”—Paleo Magazine "Bee People and the Bugs They Love is the bee's knees and getting a ton of buzz. Bee smart, people, and read this un-BEE-lievably interesting look at the quirky world of beekeeping."—Harlan Coben, #1 New York Times bestselling author“A delightful portrayal for non-beekeepers of what life is like for those of us who are always think
332 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 30, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews
October 20, 2021
As a fellow beekeeper I found his condescending attitude towards other beekeepers who made mistakes or didn’t think things through completely to be distasteful. He even admits he made a lot of mistakes starting out, so why be so judgmental in a book that was meant to be informational…especially giving them nicknames like Mr. and Mrs. Nittywit (unsure how he spelled it as I listened to the audiobook)? He even speaks poorly of his mentor, which is surprising since without him he wouldn’t be where he is today, even if they have different attitudes towards beekeeping. I was also disappointed that we didn’t learn more about other Bee People, as the title indicates will happen. I don’t know what the other beekeepers in his circle do for a living or what their home life is like or if anyone has a bee allergy but loves bees so much they are still in beekeeping (surprisingly happens a lot). The only bee person we really got to know is Frank himself, and I honestly wish I knew less…
Once he started revealing how he met his current wife I had a hard time finishing the book. He was a middle aged man taking advantage of his college aged nanny from another country who probably didn’t know many other people. When I googled images of his family his wife looks more like a daughter. Left me feeling…icky.
Once he started revealing how he met his current wife I had a hard time finishing the book. He was a middle aged man taking advantage of his college aged nanny from another country who probably didn’t know many other people. When I googled images of his family his wife looks more like a daughter. Left me feeling…icky.
February 5, 2020
Bee People and the Bugs They Love is the first book to answer the question: What type of person keeps bees?
An inspiring combination of humorous and feel-good stories about beekeepers intertwined with fascinating, up-to-date, and easy-to-understand information about honeybees. It is NOT a “how to” book, as Bee People and the Bugs They Love is written to entertain, with stories about the people that are passionately obsessed with the honey-loving bug, woven together with bee facts and everyday explanations.
Bee People and the Bugs They Love follows the author’s personal journey from beginner to certified master beekeeper as he keeps you laughing with the details of his biggest mistakes, misfortunes, and all the quirky, offbeat, eccentric people he’s met along the way.
If you are looking for a heartwarming, feel-good, happy read, then this is the book for you! Bee People and the Bugs They Love is much more than just a book about bees—as it focuses on people—the people who willingly choose to hang around with stinging insects.
An inspiring combination of humorous and feel-good stories about beekeepers intertwined with fascinating, up-to-date, and easy-to-understand information about honeybees. It is NOT a “how to” book, as Bee People and the Bugs They Love is written to entertain, with stories about the people that are passionately obsessed with the honey-loving bug, woven together with bee facts and everyday explanations.
Bee People and the Bugs They Love follows the author’s personal journey from beginner to certified master beekeeper as he keeps you laughing with the details of his biggest mistakes, misfortunes, and all the quirky, offbeat, eccentric people he’s met along the way.
If you are looking for a heartwarming, feel-good, happy read, then this is the book for you! Bee People and the Bugs They Love is much more than just a book about bees—as it focuses on people—the people who willingly choose to hang around with stinging insects.
June 27, 2021
I don't plan on becoming a beekeeper, but this book would be excellent for anyone who has those aspirations. Beyond that, it is funny, and it gives a tremendous amount of information about bees and bee "society" that is worthwhile for anyone to know. A bee colony is a truly amazing thing, and, as you know, the role of bees as pollinators is crucial.
June 8, 2021
Sweet book about an author, his family and his bees. He discusses his trials and tribulations in caring for them, successes and failures. It’s easy to tell he loves bees and the other beekeepers in the world.
March 30, 2021
I loved this at first, then had moments of unmhhhh, then liked it again by the end.
July 14, 2021
The guy's a guy who loves bees and can engage a listener in a good yarn. Sometimes he's snarky, sometimes he's a titch too pedantic, or righteous, or whatever... the editors missed a couple of things as did the proofreaders... but all in all a fun read.
If you're lost in the description of the hive, note that there's a photo section in the middle that's helpful. Google would of course be even more so if you care that much.
Some good advice, but mostly just entertainment.
Book Darts, aka the author says:
While it's true that honeybees are not native to North America, they've been here more than 2 centuries. Almonds, pears, apples, oranges, watermelon are also not native.
The round ball hanging from a tree is Winnie-the-Pooh's *lie* to us because that is a wasp nest.
Honey wound dressings are very effective, and honey is a very effective cough suppressant.
If you're lost in the description of the hive, note that there's a photo section in the middle that's helpful. Google would of course be even more so if you care that much.
Some good advice, but mostly just entertainment.
Book Darts, aka the author says:
While it's true that honeybees are not native to North America, they've been here more than 2 centuries. Almonds, pears, apples, oranges, watermelon are also not native.
The round ball hanging from a tree is Winnie-the-Pooh's *lie* to us because that is a wasp nest.
Honey wound dressings are very effective, and honey is a very effective cough suppressant.
April 7, 2021
I find bees fascinating, but don't plan on owning any hives, so this book was great for me. This is not a "how to" book, but is Frank's first person account of his life with bees. This book covers how he became interested in bees, what he learned about bees and how he learned those lessons - some of which are pretty funny. It also covers the quirky people he meets along the way. Even though I have no plans to own any bees, I learned a whole lot about them, and that knowledge is super interesting. This book kept me engaged, and I really liked the way the bees changed his whole life. I highly recommend this book. It is a great and easy read.
Thanks to Goodreads for this ebook. I appreciate the give-away.
Thanks to Goodreads for this ebook. I appreciate the give-away.
September 7, 2021
Rating: 5/5
Thank you to whatever random person recommended this book to me because I LOVED IT!!!
This book is all about bees and beekeeping, and while I liked bees before reading this book, I now have such a greater appreciation for the fuzzy little creatures!!
If you're looking for an entertaining, but also educational and inspirational nonfiction book to read, check this one out!!
Bookoplathon:
1. The Midnight Girls
2. Furia
3. Bee People and the Bugs They Love
Thank you to whatever random person recommended this book to me because I LOVED IT!!!
This book is all about bees and beekeeping, and while I liked bees before reading this book, I now have such a greater appreciation for the fuzzy little creatures!!
If you're looking for an entertaining, but also educational and inspirational nonfiction book to read, check this one out!!
Bookoplathon:
1. The Midnight Girls
2. Furia
3. Bee People and the Bugs They Love
August 13, 2021
This book is precious!!! If you are looking for a fun, lighthearted read about someone whose passion for something is contagious - this is for you! I loved the stories, the education I received from reading this one, and just the overall warmth from this read! Oh and the mistakes and misfortunes will have you laughing!! I never thought I would laugh as much as I did while reading a book about bee keeping! I cannot recommend this one enough!
February 26, 2021
This book was absolutely delightful, and if Frank Mortimer's goal was to fascinate his readers with the life of bees, he has succeeded with me!
July 16, 2022
I can't understand who the intended audience for this book is. While it has some basic bee information, it's not a how-to book. It describes people in bee clubs with a sneering attitude and I hope the author used fake names for all of the people he disparages. The cringy references to dated TV shows and music (e.g. The Jeffersons, and ABBA) narrow the target audience to the 50+ crowd. So maybe it's intended to be read by older people who want to know a little about beekeeping and who like a good mocking of other people. Disappointing.
November 12, 2021
Bee keeping stories were fun, but the author’s drawn out caricatures of bee keepers he does not approve of were mean-spirited. Just stick to the bees!
January 21, 2022
Not really a nonfiction education book. Very judgmental, single minded concept of how to manage a bee keeping operation. It’s more a story of a single beekeepers journey and his judgments on others that have different experience and beliefs. The author goes one further in the wrong direction than many beekeeping books that claim to want more people involved but only if they do it their way! Beekeeping is challenging by any standard. This type of book uses humor and political references to insult any group of beekeeping outside of the standard American hive system. Just one example of this is when he referred to Natural Beekeeping and those working no chemical mite treatments as misguided souls akin to “anti-vaccine people of the bee world”! All while failing to mention anti hygienic bee research and other options. There are several options that the author list as the only way to do things that make me cringe. Cover to cover it’s an interesting story of one beekeepers journey. I take no issue with how he sees appropriate to manage his bee hives, it would be nice to see a bit less criticism of others in his book and a lot more acceptance.
May 6, 2021
This was great! A fun introduction to bees and beekeeping that's informative without being boring.
February 16, 2024
Frank Mortimer Jr. a man who was staring down the barrel of a life in textbook editing for Pearson and McGraw-Hill, wanted a hobby to ease the strain of his failing first marriage. More to the point he wanted somewhere to belong.
Enter beekeeping, a hobby he freely admits has taken over his life. What I expected was a simple book about the in's and out's of beekeeping. A soft instructional that shows people, through the joy of the written word just how much these little bugs can mean to us as people, and to the world. What is presented here is anything but.
Frank's book is a puff piece for himself. If he realizes that's what he wrote or not is not for me to say. Every single error he makes in the course of his beekeeping career he is soft handed with himself. Laughing. Gentle as a bee. Others don't get that same calm harbour. Frank's literary crutch is spitting poison at people he deems as less than worthy. Be they poor or wealthy all wilt under Frank's pen. He never even has a kind word to say about his fellows or his mentors either, they seem to be just in his way. Old fuddy-duddys that can't plan or be organized, and what’s worse they can't mind read to know that they needed to tell him he shouldn't work his bees at night before he did so! Shock and awe.
Side bar: God help you if you happen to be a woman you better stay away from Frank's darling little hobby.
It is this mean spirited attitude that soured me on Frank as a person and as a narrator. Nearly put me off bees all together. I understand this man in his 50s-60s is trying to be funny. Or what passes for funny in his mind. But I found myself more then once in my time with this book blinking in confusion and thinking: "Dude...get a hobby."
Back to the book. Among the explanations of beekeeping and his experiences in his first few years we get these character studies through Frank's eye of the not so stellar beekeeper and these studies are meant to be comedic but are in fact disgusting windows in Frank's worldviews. Slurs like 'spastic' are thrown around so liberally I have a hard time believing these are based in any sort of reality.
This isn't for a lack of research, mind you. I looked up every single news article of police activity involving bees in the New Jersey area available on the internet and came up with nothing. Without evidence I'm willing to believe he just made the story up. Or exaggerated parts. This view softens some of the stories Frank tells in this book. If it's just from his imagination that's completely fine. Says a lot about the man and the words he wants to use but it's fine.
Less so his writing style. Knowing he is a corp in his professional life, and a marketing corp at that explains a lot. This goes beyond his patronizing grey boxes emblazoned with BEE NERD ALERT on it. This book needs a complete re-edit. The repetition of info is downright laughable. Frank, we know Langstroth made the first modern hive, you do not have to keep explaining it this isn't a meeting where we need to reestablish our stated goals.
His other publications have similar issues the tone is a touch too jovial, and I concede that maybe it isn't my cup of tea. Though I am seeing a distinct lack of calling people manipulators and twitchy spastics, or his musing on how people who make errors in beekeeping made it this far in life. All of this seems to vanish when he publishes for straight journals and not for himself. How rude of you, sir! Depriving the people at bee culture magazine and its readers of your colourful vocabulary. I’m sure they’ll know you’re joking.
Bottom line is this book’s skeleton is a mess. a caustic mess. If Frank edited it, he had a fool for a client. If Denise at Kensington Publishing did it? She failed you Frank ol' boy.
Why?
Because any editor would have dragged you in by your veil and sat you down before screaming at you to get rid of the dated media references, and that's just for a start! The Warriors, Frank? Seriously? In the bit about a cub scout Aquarium camp out? Seriously? Why? Because it's a movie you like? So what?
I guess herein lays the queen cell of my problem with this book. Allow me, dear reader to float a question down through the bee space. Did we need to know he married his son's Swedish nanny? A woman in college who is so young she could be his daughter? In a book about bees? No. Absolutely not. But in a book about Frank Mortimer Jr’s ego? Wouldn't be complete without it.
I am so glad I didn't spend money on it, pirating this I now know was the only ethical option. For us and the bees. Printing less copies of his book wouldn’t stop climate change, but it probable will save a few hives from CCD.
Fuck you Frank, you made bees boring.
Enter beekeeping, a hobby he freely admits has taken over his life. What I expected was a simple book about the in's and out's of beekeeping. A soft instructional that shows people, through the joy of the written word just how much these little bugs can mean to us as people, and to the world. What is presented here is anything but.
Frank's book is a puff piece for himself. If he realizes that's what he wrote or not is not for me to say. Every single error he makes in the course of his beekeeping career he is soft handed with himself. Laughing. Gentle as a bee. Others don't get that same calm harbour. Frank's literary crutch is spitting poison at people he deems as less than worthy. Be they poor or wealthy all wilt under Frank's pen. He never even has a kind word to say about his fellows or his mentors either, they seem to be just in his way. Old fuddy-duddys that can't plan or be organized, and what’s worse they can't mind read to know that they needed to tell him he shouldn't work his bees at night before he did so! Shock and awe.
Side bar: God help you if you happen to be a woman you better stay away from Frank's darling little hobby.
It is this mean spirited attitude that soured me on Frank as a person and as a narrator. Nearly put me off bees all together. I understand this man in his 50s-60s is trying to be funny. Or what passes for funny in his mind. But I found myself more then once in my time with this book blinking in confusion and thinking: "Dude...get a hobby."
Back to the book. Among the explanations of beekeeping and his experiences in his first few years we get these character studies through Frank's eye of the not so stellar beekeeper and these studies are meant to be comedic but are in fact disgusting windows in Frank's worldviews. Slurs like 'spastic' are thrown around so liberally I have a hard time believing these are based in any sort of reality.
This isn't for a lack of research, mind you. I looked up every single news article of police activity involving bees in the New Jersey area available on the internet and came up with nothing. Without evidence I'm willing to believe he just made the story up. Or exaggerated parts. This view softens some of the stories Frank tells in this book. If it's just from his imagination that's completely fine. Says a lot about the man and the words he wants to use but it's fine.
Less so his writing style. Knowing he is a corp in his professional life, and a marketing corp at that explains a lot. This goes beyond his patronizing grey boxes emblazoned with BEE NERD ALERT on it. This book needs a complete re-edit. The repetition of info is downright laughable. Frank, we know Langstroth made the first modern hive, you do not have to keep explaining it this isn't a meeting where we need to reestablish our stated goals.
His other publications have similar issues the tone is a touch too jovial, and I concede that maybe it isn't my cup of tea. Though I am seeing a distinct lack of calling people manipulators and twitchy spastics, or his musing on how people who make errors in beekeeping made it this far in life. All of this seems to vanish when he publishes for straight journals and not for himself. How rude of you, sir! Depriving the people at bee culture magazine and its readers of your colourful vocabulary. I’m sure they’ll know you’re joking.
Bottom line is this book’s skeleton is a mess. a caustic mess. If Frank edited it, he had a fool for a client. If Denise at Kensington Publishing did it? She failed you Frank ol' boy.
Why?
Because any editor would have dragged you in by your veil and sat you down before screaming at you to get rid of the dated media references, and that's just for a start! The Warriors, Frank? Seriously? In the bit about a cub scout Aquarium camp out? Seriously? Why? Because it's a movie you like? So what?
I guess herein lays the queen cell of my problem with this book. Allow me, dear reader to float a question down through the bee space. Did we need to know he married his son's Swedish nanny? A woman in college who is so young she could be his daughter? In a book about bees? No. Absolutely not. But in a book about Frank Mortimer Jr’s ego? Wouldn't be complete without it.
I am so glad I didn't spend money on it, pirating this I now know was the only ethical option. For us and the bees. Printing less copies of his book wouldn’t stop climate change, but it probable will save a few hives from CCD.
Fuck you Frank, you made bees boring.
January 14, 2022
I love the info in the book. Learned so much more about the bees, sadly he doesn't very many nice things to say about the people in his life.
July 2, 2020
This book will have you laughing out loud! Mortimer introduces us to the many varied, and often eccentric, characters who make bees a part of their everyday lives, in the most readable, and delightful way. Not a how-to, but much more of a why, in regard to beekeeping, rich in history, science and anecdotes. For anyone curious about bees, this book is a must read
November 5, 2019
Bee People and the Bugs They Love is a marvelously original, funny, inspirational look inside the world of suburban beekeepers. The characters in this book are hilarious and at the same time oddly familiar. The explanations and analogies are easy to understand, as the book describes everything about honeybees and beekeeping in an everyday language that makes complete sense. The way the author details his mistakes and misfortunes kept me laughing while also teaching me a lot about honeybees. Most of all, I enjoyed experiencing what it’s like to keep bees and “bee” in a swarm of beekeepers. Reading Bee People and the Bugs They Love, made me want to start keeping bees myself, or at the very least get to know some local beekeepers to see if they’re as passionately-obsessed, and interesting, like the cast of characters in this book. If you are looking for an inspiring, feel-good book that will make you burst out laughing, while have you cheering for one of earth’s most invaluable creatures, then this is the book for you!
December 21, 2019
Just finished Bee People and the Bugs They Love, and really enjoyed it. It was a fun read, with parts that had me laughing out loud as well as parts that had me cringing! The author is really easy to relate to and his journey into the world of beekeeping is written in such a way that someone with no knowledge of bees or a fellow “master beekeeper” could follow and enjoy.
I have 3 little kids and time to myself when they’re sleeping is precious. Any mom (or dad!) who loves to read knows the dilemma of wanting to dig into the book you’re reading vs the things you “should” be doing: sleep/dishes/laundry/write emails/make phone calls/work etc etc. Any book that trumps the Should List is 5 stars to me- and this is definitely one of those books!
I have 3 little kids and time to myself when they’re sleeping is precious. Any mom (or dad!) who loves to read knows the dilemma of wanting to dig into the book you’re reading vs the things you “should” be doing: sleep/dishes/laundry/write emails/make phone calls/work etc etc. Any book that trumps the Should List is 5 stars to me- and this is definitely one of those books!
February 10, 2024
What I liked: The story moved along at a good pace, the chapters were well-formed and appropriately in length, the narrator engaged with the material, and I learned a bit about bees.
What I didn't like: there was a comment somewhere in there about how bee-keeping was something that anyone could do and brought people together. I understand he means it in a jovial kind of way, but it rubs me the wrong way given the equipment/space/climate/time barriers for many.
What I didn't like: there was a comment somewhere in there about how bee-keeping was something that anyone could do and brought people together. I understand he means it in a jovial kind of way, but it rubs me the wrong way given the equipment/space/climate/time barriers for many.
May 21, 2021
The beginning of the book was informative and I enjoyed reading about how this person became a beekeeper. The second portion became more memoir-like and could have been cut down drastically.
May 12, 2021
I highly recommend this book!
Bee People and the Bugs they Love
by Frank Mortimer is a delightful, heartwarming, joyful, inspiring journey of discovery. You’ll fall in love with nature’s most fascinating six-legged creatures—Bees. Besides telling great stories about the quirky, mostly wonderful people who become beekeepers, readers have an opportunity to learn whether or not the world of beekeeping is right for them or not. This book is marvelous for many reasons but one of them is because it’s packed with “Bee Nerd Alerts” and amazing scientific facts about bees like:
*Bees can count to four.
*Bees have five eyes.
*Bees beat their wings up to 240 times/second and fly up to 20 mph.
*The unending battle between beekeepers and the Varroa Destructor—a deadly Darth Vader mite that endangers honeybees.
*Bees talk to each other by doing what’s called the waggle dance. The waggle dance communicates the direction, distance, and quality of a source of nectar to within 1 meter. That blows me away. Think about just how amazing that is. The very best GPS technology in the world is accurate to within ~4 meters.
*Consider some “Bee math”—just how hard do these extraordinary creatures work? A healthy hive of foraging bees will fly a distance equivalent to an astronaut’s journey from the Earth to the Moon—only they do it every single day!
*It takes 12 bees a lifetime of work to bring you 1 teaspoon of honey.
“Frank the Beeman’s” primary objective is sharing his passion and love of bee with others—to teach. This book is packed with practical how-to information too. He walks the reader through how to become a beekeeper: how to start, care for, avoid mistakes, harvest your honeybees and their golden treasure. He shares one delightful—and often ridiculous or hilarious story after another to teach readers or the curious about bees and beekeeping.
This book is a step-by-step demonstration of how a love for something can positively change an individual’s life. How that positive passion will then spill over; touching hundreds of people, families, communities, and the environment.
Whether your new to bees, an experienced beekeeper, an environmental advocate, or just looking for a very positive story, the pure magic of this book has something for everyone.
It has been my distinct pleasure to read an ARC copy of this book so that I could share my thoughts with others. Thank you. I marked up my copy with “wows” on amazing facts and have at least another dozen questions.
His generosity, big-hearted love and commitment bursts forth on every page of the book. Just like perfect golden honey, this book is very well written. Just like a bee it’s a fuzzy-warm, easy read with some zingers that will capture your heart, make you laugh, and fill you with joy and marvel. Master beekeeper Frank—“The Beeman’s” book Bee People Book and the Bugs they Love is a sweet golden treasure. Don’t miss out. Get it. Read it!
Trailer Video for this book:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbF7u...
*Bees can count to four.
*Bees have five eyes.
*Bees beat their wings up to 240 times/second and fly up to 20 mph.
*The unending battle between beekeepers and the Varroa Destructor—a deadly Darth Vader mite that endangers honeybees.
*Bees talk to each other by doing what’s called the waggle dance. The waggle dance communicates the direction, distance, and quality of a source of nectar to within 1 meter. That blows me away. Think about just how amazing that is. The very best GPS technology in the world is accurate to within ~4 meters.
*Consider some “Bee math”—just how hard do these extraordinary creatures work? A healthy hive of foraging bees will fly a distance equivalent to an astronaut’s journey from the Earth to the Moon—only they do it every single day!
*It takes 12 bees a lifetime of work to bring you 1 teaspoon of honey.
“Frank the Beeman’s” primary objective is sharing his passion and love of bee with others—to teach. This book is packed with practical how-to information too. He walks the reader through how to become a beekeeper: how to start, care for, avoid mistakes, harvest your honeybees and their golden treasure. He shares one delightful—and often ridiculous or hilarious story after another to teach readers or the curious about bees and beekeeping.
This book is a step-by-step demonstration of how a love for something can positively change an individual’s life. How that positive passion will then spill over; touching hundreds of people, families, communities, and the environment.
Whether your new to bees, an experienced beekeeper, an environmental advocate, or just looking for a very positive story, the pure magic of this book has something for everyone.
It has been my distinct pleasure to read an ARC copy of this book so that I could share my thoughts with others. Thank you. I marked up my copy with “wows” on amazing facts and have at least another dozen questions.
His generosity, big-hearted love and commitment bursts forth on every page of the book. Just like perfect golden honey, this book is very well written. Just like a bee it’s a fuzzy-warm, easy read with some zingers that will capture your heart, make you laugh, and fill you with joy and marvel. Master beekeeper Frank—“The Beeman’s” book Bee People Book and the Bugs they Love is a sweet golden treasure. Don’t miss out. Get it. Read it!
Trailer Video for this book:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbF7u...
June 20, 2022
If an alternate life I'd be a beekeeper. And Mortimer's book while encouraging also lays it all out in black and white that it's not an endeavor to take lightly (and I love that he calls out some off the bee-havers who did it wrong) while also fully admitting he did a lot wrong and still learns every day. Who knows, maybe after retirement I'll take it up. In the meantime, I bought a bee house from a local bookstore and it'll be installed in the backyard shortly. I buy my local honey from a house up the road and they also sell bee nucs, and now that I know more about those, maybe it'll happen sooner than later.
Either way Mortimer is the guy who learned from others and then wants to impart his knowledge on you over a cup of tea, he's approachable and straightforward. He knows the history of honey but also the science of the honey bee with his cool nerd facts interspersed and how it made him a better human (similar to how Montgomery writes her stories which I love). I would totally go back and re-read this one when I get closer to deciding to becoming a beekeeper too and I liked that he even included some pictures.
Either way Mortimer is the guy who learned from others and then wants to impart his knowledge on you over a cup of tea, he's approachable and straightforward. He knows the history of honey but also the science of the honey bee with his cool nerd facts interspersed and how it made him a better human (similar to how Montgomery writes her stories which I love). I would totally go back and re-read this one when I get closer to deciding to becoming a beekeeper too and I liked that he even included some pictures.
March 29, 2021
[Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC]
“..an ordinary friend might give you the shirt off his back, but only a beekeeper would give you a wall from his house.”
I really enjoyed the quirky and humorous tone of this book. Mortimer is skillful at weaving educational information about the bee world into his narrative. He also does a great job of making every individual he encounters come to life on the page. His observations about the dos and don’ts of beekeeping were often entertaining; the author seems like a brutally honest person who tells it like it is. His interactions with the other beekeepers were also amusing to read about, and I came to admire the work they do and how much they care about bees. While I admit to having a mild bee phobia (due to being stung at a young age), I have developed an admiration and appreciation for these industrious insects. Bees truly are an invaluable part of our world!
“..an ordinary friend might give you the shirt off his back, but only a beekeeper would give you a wall from his house.”
I really enjoyed the quirky and humorous tone of this book. Mortimer is skillful at weaving educational information about the bee world into his narrative. He also does a great job of making every individual he encounters come to life on the page. His observations about the dos and don’ts of beekeeping were often entertaining; the author seems like a brutally honest person who tells it like it is. His interactions with the other beekeepers were also amusing to read about, and I came to admire the work they do and how much they care about bees. While I admit to having a mild bee phobia (due to being stung at a young age), I have developed an admiration and appreciation for these industrious insects. Bees truly are an invaluable part of our world!
October 19, 2021
A surprisingly great read. Frank Mortimer's exuberant love of bees, honey and everything related to them spills over into his book. I got very absorbed in his detailed descriptions of how to tend a hive, the mites that threaten bees, and the colorful characters who keep bees. He's not a sophisticated writer and glories in bee puns and other jokes, but the book provided a wonderful escape from my own life and the perfect way to unwind before bedtime.
February 15, 2023
Mortimer can be pretty condescending about other beekeepers for a man who proudly talks in bee puns and shares his honey-themed playlist, but overall an interesting read about beekeeping and what it's like to be a beginner in the hobby. Makes me want to read better books on the subject by more likable people, ideally people who don't compliment their college-age nannies/future wives by calling them "natural-looking." Yikes.
June 2, 2021
Adult nonfiction: memoir. This book is an entertaining glimpse into the world of beekeeping. It is not a dry straightforward how-to book, but does not set out to be. Instead it's the tale of how the author started with his first ill-fated hive and gradually became a regional bee club president with a hive for every member of the family and additional hives at other sites. I loved hearing about the bees and the beekeeping; it's always been a bit of a fascinating mystery to me. We learn about hive politics-- not just the importance of a queen, but what can happen when the queen dies or needs to be overthrown. There is much talk about honey-- what the bees need to produce for themselves, what can impact the amount they produce in excess of that, and even a honey tasting competition. And throughout all of this are anecdotes of beekeepers the author met along his travels-- the man who helped him get into it but didn't teach him much, several people who wanted to have hives but had no interest in actually working with them, and more than a few of his own misadventures. This was a great book to listen to, with a good balance of information and entertainment. As a gardener, I would love to have bees, but after listening and hearing of all that's involved I now realize it wouldn't be a good fit for my life at this time.
September 22, 2021
Bee people is one of my favorite books about honey bees. Another book I like about honey bees is The lives of bees: The untold story of the honey bee in the wild by Thomas D. Seeley.
Bee people is full of stores about interesting people and interesting facts about honey bees. Frank Martimer writes about how he got started beekeeping, how he became the president of of his local beekeeping association, how he met his wife.
On some pages of bee people there was sentences with a grey background that contained tips or facts on honey bees or beekeeping. I enjoyed reading those tips or facts a lot.
If you like honeybees or even if you don't care about honey bees I think that you will enjoy reading bee people.
Bee people is full of stores about interesting people and interesting facts about honey bees. Frank Martimer writes about how he got started beekeeping, how he became the president of of his local beekeeping association, how he met his wife.
On some pages of bee people there was sentences with a grey background that contained tips or facts on honey bees or beekeeping. I enjoyed reading those tips or facts a lot.
If you like honeybees or even if you don't care about honey bees I think that you will enjoy reading bee people.
April 17, 2024
Frank did such a wonderful job of telling his story of becoming a beekeeper, while also weaving together incredibly fascinating facts about bees. The more I read about bees, the more I realize there is left to learn!
October 21, 2021
This is a very delightful reading.. a lot of anecdotes with bee knowledge compactly hidden. As a first-time beekeeper, this book sheds not only delight but a sense of bonding to beekeepers around. After checking this out from our local library, I would like to buy a copy and keep it for my future reference.
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