Book info

• Title The Bad Beekeepers Club
• Author Bill Turnbull
• Year 2010
• Genre Non-fiction

Hello. My name is Bill and I'm a bad beekeeper. A really bad beekeeper. So begins Bill Turnbull's charming and often hilarious account of how he stumbled into the world of beekeeping (sometimes literally). Despite many setbacks - including being stung (twice) on his first day of training - beekeeping somehow taught Bill a great deal about himself, and the world around him. The Bad Beekeeper's Club also highlights the very real threats to Britain's bee population. One in every three tablespoons of food derives directly from the pollinating process of the humble bumble bee. But hives are collapsing at an accelerating rate with significant environmental consequences. Fascinating and extremely funny, The Bad Beekeeper's Club is a universally appealing story about a very singular passion.

Thoughts

Lovely Bill Turnball wrote this in 2010, giving some insight into his hobby of beekeeping, with a few stories from his life along the way - his time on Strictly Come Dancing, a visit to New Orleans after the hurricane, and time spent in Northern Ireland. But the point of the book is to give an insight into what it is to be a beekeeper, good or bad. What it takes, whether you should do it, and what an important role it can be. A lovely book.

Rating: 4 / 5