10:04am Thursday 15th April 2010
By Chris Koenig
They say there is no such thing as a boring beekeeper, and the beautifully produced Collins Beekeepers’ Bible (£30), complete with its old-fashioned honey-coloured cover, suggests that there never has been such a person throughout the thousands of years that humans have had a close relationship with honey bees.
Like the best cookery books — and indeed this bible contains more than 100 honey recipes — this is far more than a lavishly illustrated practical guide. It’s packed full of facts, anecdotes and myths about bees and honey; and about by-products such as beeswax and mead, the alcoholic drink made since time immemorial from honey.
The Beekeepers’ Bible offers practical advice for the budding and the established beekeeper alike. But its trivia, ancient and modern, is fun too. For instance, in Greek mythology the god Aristaeus, son of Apollo, is often credited with being the first beekeeper. And Aristotle too, writing in Historia Animalium between 344 and 342 BC offers a detailed picture of beekeeping in ancient Greece.
But now, in the 21st century, beekeepers are facing crisis in the shape of the mysterious Colony Collapse Disorder — the cause of which is still unknown. Could the problem be, after all these years, the advent of the boring beekeeper: the kind who transports hives about all over the world for commercial reasons, thereby spreading viruses and confusing bees of all classes: workers, drones, and queens.
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