Show Me the Honey
Adventures of an Accidental Apiarist
About the Book
Winner of a 2020 Gourmand World Cookbook Award
“If you think beekeeping is a quick and easy shortcut to wealth, this book will set you straight…” —New York Times
A lighthearted, self-deprecating account of one fledgling beekeeper’s misadventures. With wit and warning in equal measure, this informative, refreshingly honest narrative will resonate with any new beekeeper.
When Dave Doroghy’s sister gave him 15,000 honey bees as a Christmas gift, his practical knowledge of beekeeping would have fit on the proverbial backend of an Apis mellifera. He spent the next two years learning everything he needed to know to keep that beehive alive and well—he attended a beekeeping conference, joined a bee club, and even went to bee school. But bad things still happened—he sustained multiple stings, wasps attacked his hive, he fought an ongoing battle with killer varroa mites, and even lost his queen—twice!
In Show Me the Honey Doroghy recounts his often tension-filled misadventures in beekeeping with self-deprecating humour and lightheartedness. Whether it’s the impending chaos of transferring tens of thousands of insects to an outyard, the horror of discovering bees on the inside of his beekeeping suit, or just wondering if he will end up with even an ounce of honey for all his efforts, Doroghy shares the joy, the surprises, and the less-acknowledged financial sting of keeping bees. Above all, he relishes in the details of keeping a hive and getting to know the fascinating little creatures that inhabit those mysterious wooden boxes.
Reviews
An April 2020 Loan Stars Buzz Book
“If you think beekeeping is a quick and easy shortcut to wealth, this book will set you straight. . . a light read on the pleasures and pains of a beekeeper that will give you new respect for all the work — by two- and six-legged laborers alike — that goes into producing the spoonful of honey you stir into your tea.” —New York Times
“Beauty and joy, for sure, bees do offer. But Doroghy is differently compelled. He continues because of knowledge, but not the typical sort . . . By “carefully observing and respecting their world as an accidental apiarist might,” he finds he can discover from bees ‘how to navigate the complex, much more dysfunctional hive of humans swarming over Planet Earth.’ . . . He learns about himself and what he could be.” —New York Journal of Books
“This charming, hilarious, no-nonsense memoir about one man’s attempt to live up to the world’s most daunting Christmas gift—15,000 honey bees—is the perfect read for anyone contemplating an ambitions new hobby or just looking for a few fun and informative hours.” —Munro’s Books, Victoria
“What a fun book. Informative, funny, and local. The bees I have in my garden may very well be Dave’s. Perfect summer read.” —Holly Morgan, Black Bond Books, Ladner