It is that ebbing season between the autumnal and the vernal equinox, through the almost pulseless slackness of the winter solstice, that dreams and dreaming tease us into believing that the sun will indeed shine again, and the animal form again throb with strong pulse and toned muscle. This is the season when despair may become so deep that only a total resurrection of the universe can be believed possible to melt the snow; but it is also the season for the miracle of faith—faith strong enough to believe even in the prophecy of a seed catalogue, which arrives an exact month before Lent.
These gardener-friendly words are from the opening pages of Beekeeping: The Gentle Craft by John F. Adams. Adams is the writer of The Epicurean Gardener (pub. info here), which I enjoyed as much for its wry and engaging writing style as its practical wisdom on gardening for the kitchen. I've wanted to pick up more of Adams's books, regardless of their subject matter, and hence now Beekeeping. (An unsolicited testimonial for alibris.com: I ordered this book around dinnertime on Monday, and it arrived in Wednesday's mail, standard shipping.) There is no prospect of my taking up beekeeping as a hobby on my less-than-quarter-acre city lot (particularly after having gone through a home invasion of bees a couple of summers ago in which my husband suffered a midnight sting and a painful allergic reaction), but I welcome bees as a sign of health and life in the garden, and reading Beekeeping has been a delight. It blends clear "how-to" instructions (complete with diagrams and illustrations) with solid information about the biology and sociology of the honey bee, but it's never dry. While this book is also sprinkled with the same humor that made me a fan of The Epicurean Gardener, Adams is not shy about relating inexorable facts of nature with poignancy:
The life of the drone is relatively long, unless he fulfills his destiny by mating with a queen. In spite of his being a drag on the domestic economy of the hive, he is suffered gladly, tolerated and even pampered by all. [....] During a time of want, however, a scarcity of nectar during the summer, or at the onset of autumn—the tolerance for drones ends. With utter lack of sentiment, drones are summarily excluded from the hive and denied food by their sisters/mothers. Since the drones are incapable of feeding themselves, they quickly die. It is absolutely characteristic of autumn in the apiary to see crowds of rejected drones on the alighting board in front of each hive, sternly being denied entrance. And as the autumn deepens, in front of the hives and generally around the bee yard will be seen the dead husks of drones, finally having succumbed to starvation and the weather.
John F. Adams, Beekeeping: The Gentle Craft. Avon Books, 1972. ISBN 0800772008.
I have been wanting to read The Epicurious Gardener for some time and am glad to hear it lives up to its reputation. Sue Hubbell, the author I mentioned to you a few posts back, also writes about beekeeping, both in A Country Year and other tomes. I had romanticized beekeeping until reading her book. Now I'm not as convinced I want to have hives of my own! (dounle meaning intended...)
Posted by: avril | January 09, 2005 at 09:09 AM
I ordered A Country Year at the same time, but it's taking the expected time to wend its way through the postal system...thanks again for the recommendation! I like how Adams, although openly enamored of beekeeping, is always matter-of-fact about its not-so-pleasant aspects in the book. I think it's fun enough just being an "armchair" beekeeper, yes?
Posted by: Chan S. | January 09, 2005 at 11:05 AM
how is Adams's book coming along? I am beginning to get that spring itch to read more gardening lit, probably due to this unexpected and glorious stretch of warm weather. The most unpleasant aspect of beekeeping in Hubbell's book was the description of self-prescribed stings to build up immunity....maybe I'll just keep buying my honey from the roadside stand....
Posted by: avril | January 11, 2005 at 07:00 PM
The Adams book has made honey bees fascinating to me--but I have no urge whatsoever to take up beekeeping. (I use honey in my cooking once in a while, but I'm not even that much of a honey eater!) I'm happy to keep planting lots of bee-friendly plants, though.
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