Honeybee: Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper

This was not the best book I have read in this genre, but I did enjoy parts of it. Part of the problem is that the books did not seem to know what it wanted to be. It started out as a memoir on how the author got into beekeeping, then it flirted with being a beekeeping manual without quite enough details. For a while I felt that it was an advertisement for the author's line of natural bee products that I am not familiar with, and then it turned into a review of honeys around the world with a pitch that honey should be as competitive as fine wines. Any of those books would have been fine, but the odd mixture of incomplete parts left me feeling that it was not well laid out, and it definitely needed more editing. There is an interesting index of world famous honeys in the back, and it does mention my personal favorite Tasmanian Leatherwood Honey (perhaps because I have not tried many of the others, but Leatherwood is excellent) so I liked that part.I expected the book to be more like the excellent, though obscure _Beeing: Life, Motherhood, and 180,000 Honeybees_ by Rosanne Daryl Thomas which I read a few years ago and absolutely loved (5 stars), but this book was not nearly so inspiring. If you liked this book, please find a copy of _Beeing_ as it is a much better book in this genre. If you want a better book on the different types of honey in the world, I recommend _The Honey Trail: In Pursuit of Liquid Gold and Vanishing Bees_ by Grace Pundyk which is a fascinating travel tale sampling the honeys of the world and where they come from with many more details than this book.

Honeybee: Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper, is an intriguing and wondrous journey through a spellbinding world created by author, Marina Marchese. Marchese's study of the world of bees offers revelations our human world needs to consider and become privy to. This is not just a book for beekeepers and those who love the taste of honey. It is an in-depth, inviting exploration of an invaluable creature's life which plays an all important, eternal role in the on-going salvation of Earth, Nature and the survival of Humankind! Ms. Marchese has fully crossed the threshold of this fantastic realm by living daily within it. She reveals, interprets and depicts the dynamic presence and respect afforded life's magnificent Queen Bee by multitudes of male subjects. Equally, "Honeybee" makes us well aware of our own need to fully understand, value and protect the life of this small but magnificent lifeform. Marina Marchese's book, "Honeybee" offers us so very much more. It tenders succulent recipes; splendid wine and honey concoctions and blends; and helpful pollen oriented health care products. It offers a graceful glimpse via a nearly meditative viewing of the exceptional cosmos of the honeybee. It is not only a book worth reading, it is a life exploration to be shared and not to be missed by everyone who cares for our Earth and its' future.J.M. CarnrightFuturistic Author: "ARIA HAHN -The Astral Light Journeys"

I've read a large amount of books pertaining to bees and bee keeping over the years but I've never enjoyed one this much! The author tells the story of her journey into bee keeping in such a warm and friendly manner that it's impossible not to be drawn into the story within the first few pages. Although this is not the standard how-to book on bee keeping,New comers to the hobby will gain a lot of insights into the workings of a honey bee colony as well as enjoy the recipes scattered throughout the book to try with your own or market purchased honey. I've kept bees for many years and the author's triumphs as well as her mistakes during the early learning process brought back fond memories of trying to fathom the workings of my first colony and has renewed my appreciation for these hard working little creatures. If you're a beginning or lifelong bee keeper or are just interested in how that jar of honey gets to your table,This is a must read book that you'll be glad you picked up.

My partner and I started reading this book aloud to each other on the night that some friends were bringing over a hive of bees for us to babysit while their household was in transition to a temporary location for an unknown amount of time. We were interested in becoming beekeepers, so this seemed like a good way to enter a new world. Bee-bee sitting. So, as the sun set and our friends were smoking the bees and moving them onto a truck in Albany, we were watching dusk and fog mingle in the Richmond Hills and reading about another new beekeeper. We were sucked right in to her story narrative that is both informative as well as entertaining and humorous. We enjoyed the book so much that we have bought and given away 3 more copies. It helps explain why we are becoming so enamored of bees and honey. It is a good bouncing off place for reading more bee books!