The Beekeeper's Lament by Hannah Nordhaus

Confession: I have spent an inordinate amount of time in my adult life nursing pastoral fantasies. With all the urban farming manuals and memoirs out nowadays, there are plenty of opportunities to indulge my wannabe Laura Ingalls Wilder, without actually, you know, having to commit to caring for livestock. My latest love is The Beekeeper’s Lament: How One Man and Half a Billion Honey Bees Help Feed America. The book tracks commercial beekeeper John Miller on his gypsy nomad/businessman tour of American beekeeping. Miller is a true delight with his quirky turns of phrase, old school ethics, and cheeky attitude. Read this book, and you’ll never look at those plastic bears in your cabinets the same way again.