Review by Booklist Review
Migratory beekeeping is not a job found in a high-school guidance counselor's files. And yet were it not for these roamin. bee guys. some 1,200 strong in the U.S., there would be no almonds or blueberries or cranberries. Nearly $15 billion worth of crops every year depend on pollination, and only honey bees can perform up to the level required by agriculture and the demand of the nation's consumers. Journalist Nordhaus follows beekeeper John Miller as he leaves his family for eight months each year, trucking thousands of hives and millions of bees from California (almonds) to Washington (apples) to North Dakota (wildflowers for honey) to Idaho (where the bees sleep for the winter in potato cellars). Miller has to contend not only with bee stings one humorous part of the book provides th. sting pain inde. but also a host of other problems. Miller is a complex and colorful man, and his story, along with the story of the bees, is an engaging read.--Bent, Nanc. Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this revelatory, bittersweet investigation into the state of commercial beekeeping in the 21st century, Nordhaus follows the migratory life of a commercial beekeeper, John Miller, as he trucks his bees between California and North Dakota, pollinating almond orchards, defending his territory of "bee yards" (flowering pastures), collecting honey, and, against all odds, keeping his bees and his business alive. It turns out that colony collapse disorder, which recently brought awareness of bees and their essential agricultural function to an oblivious public, is only the most recent of numerous threats to bee health, from 19th-century plagues of wax moth comb invasion to more recent infestations of tracheal and varroa mites that "killed nearly every single one of the continent's feral colonies, obliterating the wild bees that once did much of the work pollinating the nations crops and flowers." According to Nordhaus, hives survive now only with drugs administered by their keepers, who, in a profession where disaster is commonplace and profit elusive, are becoming nearly as exotic and endangered as their bees. Miller, smart, antisocial with humans, but tender toward bees and prone to writing ironic free-verse e-mails, keeps the narrative lively despite its often grim content. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Nordhaus weaves the science of bees with the history and business of beekeeping into a pleasing tale of migratory beekeeper John Miller and his bees. The story is elegant and informative, and Nordhaus explores the vital role that honeybees play in American agribusiness and the food chain. She shares fascinating details of bee behavior and such topics as the history of tick infestations, providing welcome additional information. Xe Sands narrates ably. The story is ideal in the audio format as it works well in short spurts or listened to in its entirety. VERDICT Will appeal to literary and popular science listeners as well as those interested in American popular culture. Highly recommended. ["Highly recommended as both a character study and a compelling popular science work for interested readers": LJ 6/1/11 review of the Harper Perennial hc.]-Eric -Albright, Tufts Univ. Health Sciences Lib., Boston © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A crackerjack story of one American beekeeper's days, with both his songs of joy and sorrow, presented within the context of beekeeping's natural and social history.While researching a story about beekeeping, journalist Nordhaus happened upon John Miller, a migratory beekeeper who shuttles his thousands of hives from California to North Dakota. The author struck gold with the colorful Miller, a man who "likes to pontificate, joke, write, say incendiary things, tell stories, drip with sarcasm." As beekeeping has a fascinating, ages-old story to tell, Miller is an excellent ambassador, born to a long line of apiarists and a willing slave to his hives. Nordhaus is a lively writer who knows how to get to the nub of a topic, be it the architecture of a hive, the sting of a honey bee or the various nefarious infestations that beleaguer bee colonies. Since Colony Collapse Disorder has captured much national interest, she covers that plague, plus a host of other malefactors, such as mites and pesticides. Beekeeping has never been easy, but without the honeybees and their keepers, hundreds of crops would perish. The money in beekeeping, such as it is, is in the pollination fees, not the honey, and Nordhaus ably conveys the economics of the trade. She is just as able to describe the romance and miracle of honey, however. To make a pound, some 50,000 bees travel a collective 55,000 miles and visit more than two million flowers: "[B]ees carry the future from tree to tree, and honey is the reward for their labors, nectar distilled by desire and duty into something more."A smooth-as-honey tour d'horizon of the raggedy world of beekeeping.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
