The Rooftop Beekeeper

January 20, 2014
In this information-rich and handsomely designed introduction to beekeeping, enlivened by Masako Kubo’s delightful illustrations, Paska draws on her years of Brooklyn beekeeping and teaching to encourage and instruct adventurous city-dwellers on keeping bees in highly populated places. She covers both science and practicalities, beginning with arguments for keeping bees—especially in the city—and the story of her own journey from childhood bee-phobe to avid gardener to intrepid rooftop apiarist. She describes bee anatomy, hive society, and plant sexuality; details essentials such as hive placement, keeping it “queenright” and heading off threats of swarm; offers culinary and cosmetic recipes for honey and beeswax; and, perhaps most importantly, advises how to find local beekeeper mentors and associates and maintain good relations with neighboring humans. Locavores and city gardeners, urbanites with urges to re-connect with nature, and young natural scientists will appreciate this accessible but comprehensive guide. Although the book focuses on urban beekeeping, suburban, rural, and small-town aspiring and novice beekeepers should find it useful as well.

Starred review from May 1, 2014

As beekeeping grows in popularity among homesteading hobbyists, books such as this one by apiarist and blogger Paska will help people from urban areas discover the ins and outs of the process. Once a pioneer urban beekeeper in New York City, the author encapsulates her extensive experience and knowledge in personable prose. Highlighting all the basics of beekeeping for beginners, she cautions readers ("I still get stung") that there is no way to master it perfectly. Numerous color photos and illustrations bring lightness to a book that thoroughly covers the heavier topics of bee biology, equipment, hive management, and honey extraction. The informative volume is capped by a chapter of recipes, giving readers ideas for how to use the sweet rewards. VERDICT Paska offers a fresh voice to the art of beekeeping and shows that even people who cannot see a field of flowers from their window can benefit from this hobby.--Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., South Deerfield

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.