Writing a book about bees and their humans has gotten me very interested in the subject of symbiosis on both literal and figurative levels. In The Beekeeper’s Lament, there’s lots of codependency. There are flowers and bees—bees depend on flower nectar for sustenance; flowers depend on bees to reproduce. There are bees and beekeepers—beekeepers take care of bees and give them shelter, water, and an express ride to the best flowers around; beekeepers get honey, and money. There are bee guys and almond guys—bee guys help almond trees get pollinated; almond guys’ big pollination paydays keep beekeepers in business. And yes, there are bee guys and bee writers—bee guys elicit publicity for a worthy cause; bee writers get, well, someone to write about. Read more
The Beekeeper’s Lament started as an article called “The Silence of the Bees,” which ran in a magazine called High Country News. The article told the story of a beekeeper named John Miller and his dying bees. The piece was well-received, and a few publishers contacted me to ask if I would be interested in writing a book on the subject. At that point, they, and I, envisioned it as a work of environmental journalism: a hard-hitting story about a looming biological crisis that will leave a gaping hole in the natural world. There would be heroes, and villains, and impending ecological apocalypse. Read more
My first book, The Beekeeper’s Lament, comes out in late May. When I tell people it’s about a beekeeper, the first thing they say is, “Oh, is it a novel?” Read more
