Beeing: Life, Motherhood, and 180,000 Honey Bees

I am beekeeper so that made the book even more enjoyable! Even if you have never thought about keeping bees the book is great!

I love reading books about someone passionately engaged in something new, and this book is exactly that. Author Rosanne Daryl Thomas tells a tale of becoming a beekeeper almost on a whim, but it goes deeper than that. Clearly, there was something that drew her to the bees. It simply took circumstance to bring it forward. More importantly, she triumphs over the setbacks that occur with an honesty that seems missing in many books today. Reading this story was like listening to her tell it over coffee in her honey-covered kitchen.Thomas' tales of learning the beekeeping trade from the bottom up are humorous, enlightening and presented in a conversational tone that kept me turning the pages. So much so that I finished the book in 1 day! She also throws in a few lessons about life and love, without being heavy handed or bogging down the story.Even as someone who knew a little bit about beekeeping, I learned new stuff about the processes involved. For the gardener in me, it is great to learn a little more about how my garden helps bees to survive and thrive. My neighbor has a single hive on top of his garden shed and I can sit in my garden swing, watching their comings and goings. He makes sure we get some honey each year, too. Tasty! Even more so since part of it arose from my garden.Several of my favorite books are based around the cycle of the year's passage. I think growing up on a farm certainly plays a part in this, but we all instinctively relate to the passing of the seasons in some way.

I love this book!!! It is sweet, funny, touchingand completely charming. (also inspiring: makes youwant to keep bees and appreciate them more.)This is a "keeper" for the personal favorites library.It is the gift I want to give my favorite friends andrelatives. The only thing possibly better than reading this story would be to see Sandra Bullock make this intoa movie!******Sandra Bullock please make this into a movie...it is PERFECT for you!!!!!****************************

What a deeply satisfying book, rich in character, witty and warm, reflective without being ponderous, a marvellous read that holds your attention. Recounting her troubles and travails as a novice beekeeper and single mother in a quaint New England town, Rosanne Thomas creates a vivid collection of characters full of quirks yet helpful and kind as she struggles to juggle the challenges of three buzzing hives, a number of unsuitable suitors and the vagaries of nature with the needs of her sensitive, bright young daughter. In the process she paints a panorama of life and death, courage and perseverance with such intelligence, humor and charm and renders the beauty of nature with such deft but delicate strokes that I laughed, spilt a tear, and will never again spread honey on my toast without acknowledging the painstacking labor of love it takes to produce. Beeing offers us by example the gift of true being.

BEEING is deep, insightful, and witty. Reading the book feels like sitting down to tea with a close friend who's telling her adventures. I also learned something new about writing, because the descriptions are extremely good. The part about Rosanne's first experiences with a hammer -- well, it had me grinning, and I also began to think about tools in a whole new way! Non-tool-users such as myself will have a heyday recognizing the signs and symptoms. I think that section, and many others, could be used in writing classes to teach people, by example, how to bring someone into the exquisite details of a story, and draw them into feeling as if they're living it along with the writer. It's a good book for EVERY parent, for EVERY woman, for EVERYone. And you'll learn plenty about beekeeping, in between the A-Ha! moments. I am not kidding. This book is GREAT. Rosanne is a terrific writer, as the New York Times Book Reviews of her other books will tell you, and this new book has the added bonus of a kind of personal gentleness, an intensity of quiet emotion that's never overstated, but always there -- like the humming buzz of the bees in the background. It's a beautiful, meaningful book.