Let's talk honeybees.
On impulse, I recently picked up Honeybee: Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper (2009) from a display table at the library. This is the true tale of C. Marina Marchese's love affair with the little buzzing insects that make delicious honey that we get to enjoy on our buttered toast in the mornings.
Ms. Marchese, who lives in Connecticut, took a tour of a neighbor's bee yard and that led her to eventually leaving her position as a creative director for a giftware company to founding her own business, Red Bee Apiary, and beginning a successful new career in beekeeping.
Not only does her book offer a perspective of honeybees as clever and industrious, there are also stories of how Ms. Marchese got involved with the local Back Yard Beekeepers Association, built her own first beehive, got stung a few times, but persevered. She learned a lot and writes clearly about her adventures and the ins and outs of beekeeping, products of the hives in addition to honey, and some of the history of beekeeping as well.
Honeybee is fun to read and very informative without being overwhelming. The author packs a lot of information in 200 pages. It is fascinating to read about these little critters that do so much for the planet.
I have had some personal experience with honeybees. A couple of years ago, I lived with a friend and her family on their farm for six months. The farm was home to three sheep, two goats, seven chickens, three cats, a Labrador Retriever named Max, and 30,000 honeybees. I was there when the bees arrived and watched, from a respectful distance, as Brian set up the hives. Eventually I got to taste the fruits of the honeybees' labors. The best part!
A Country Year (1986) by Sue Hubbell is another book about a woman who left the corporate world, moved to Arkansas, and began raising bees. I read this one quite a few years ago. Hers is more of a look at adapting to country life, noticing the changing the seasons, and of course, her life with the bees.
If you have watched Lark Rise to Candleford, you will know that Queenie raises honeybees. There is a scene in one episode where she goes out to the hives to tell her bees of the death of someone in the hamlet. This is based on fact. Here is a bit from Honeybee on The Telling of the Bees:
There is an old beekeeping tradition known as "telling the bees". First the bees must know everything that goes on in their keeper's family, including births, deaths, illnesses, and marriages. Then, upon the death of the beekeeper, a close family member should approach the hive, knock three times with the key to the house, and whisper the news to the bees. The bees, it is said, need to be assured that someone will take care of them after their keeper has died; otherwise they will abscond or not produce honey.
I have just finished watching Season Two of Lark Rise to Candleford produced by the BBC. I missed this series when it was broadcast on PBS but am making up for it now (thanks to my library which has all four seasons on DVD.)
The show is based on the semi-autobiographical novels of Flora Thompson. The action takes place in Osfordshire in the late 1800s in Lark Rise, a small farming hamlet, and Candleford, a neighboring larger market town. The three novels, Lark Rise, Over to Candleford, and Candleford Green were published between 1939 and 1943.
The main character is the indomitable and independent Dorcas Lane (Julia Sawalha) who runs the Post Office (and some might say, the town) in Candleford. I love the scenes in the P.O. with its high counter and its cubicles for sorting the mail. There is a brass telegraph machine, brown paper packages tied up with strings (someone ought to write a song!), and letters written on thick paper slipped into envelopes addressed in the most elegant of handwriting.
Miss Lane's cousin, Laura, comes from Lark Rise to live and work in the Post Office. She is the narrator of the adventures of the citizens of Lark Rise and Candleford.
The stories are not all sweetness and light. So far they have touched on alcoholism, women's suffrage (and suffering), family planning, child and spousal abuse, and (almost) adultery. Then there is mention of atheism, the theory of evolution, and the philosophies of Herbert Spencer.
But mostly, the stories concern themselves with love (both steadfast and unrequited), family, and friendship.
There are some wonderful characters not the least of which are the Sisters Pratt, Pearl and Ruby, who are the dressmakers in Candleford and wear fashionable, matching outfits. And who love a good gossip. Then there is Minnie the inept but good-hearted housemaid of Miss Lane's. And Thomas Brown, the shy but very religious, postman. I especially like the character of Queenie, the 'witch' of Lark Rise, with her herbal potions, hives of bees, and wisdom.
If you liked Cranford (and I watched not only the series but read the book by Elizabeth Gaskell) you will love Lark Rise to Candleford. I plan on reading the books as well. There seem to be some free copies online and there is a Kindle edition for $3.99. Best of all, my library has the trilogy in its collection.
