Learning From My Beekeeping Heroes
About Me: I’m Steve Donohoe, author of a book called “Interviews with Beekeepers.” It features my interviews with mainly commercial beekeepers around the world (the parts I wanted to visit!). I spent time with some spectacularly knowledgeable people and discovered their stories and their methods; it’s all recorded in their own words with little input from me.
My mission was to question the real experts – those who have kept bees for a living over a lifetime – and let their knowledge and experience be my guiding light. I hope that the book will appeal to all beekeepers, including those who have been at it for years, and perhaps even the odd ‘civilian’ (somebody who doesn’t regularly stick their hands into the nests of thousands of flying stinging insects).
My interviewees were: Michael Palmer, Randy Oliver, Ray Olivarez, Peter Bray, Richard Noel, Murray McGregor, Peter Little and David Kemp
Interviews with Beekeepers is OUT NOW; the publisher is Zuntold.
UPDATE: I am now busy on A NEW BOOK, working closely with Paul Horton of Apidae Honey.
Book Reviews
An interesting book of interviews with an eclectic collection of commercial beekeepers from several very different locations. All of these people have something unique about their operations, and the author finds ways to get them to share much about how they do business. This isn’t a book for beginners, but each of these people talk about the problems that beginners will have.
…you get a feel for the whole operation, which is uncommon, but both entertaining and insightful.
Kim Flottum, Bee Culture
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Donohoe sets the scene at the start of each interview. He does it so well that you feel like a silent observer—you can almost hear the accents and feel the atmosphere. Each interview is recorded and transcribed for the reader.
This is a fabulous book to read and it is wonderful to have something in print that goes beyond a book for beginners. This is a book for the individual looking for the next level of information, potential expansion, and for the experienced beekeeper interested in other practices and tips that could potentially be adapted into their own beekeeping operations.
Judith de Wilde, New Zealand Beekeeper
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Despite focusing on beekeeping as a business, many of the management techniques and beekeeping concerns discussed (including queen rearing, varroa treatment and swarming) are of equal concern to the hobbyist, so there is much useful information to be gleaned.
…advanced beekeepers and anyone earning even part of their living from bees will find this nicely produced publication invaluable.
Richard Rickett, BeeCraft Magazine (UK)
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Although I am only half way through my copy even in these self isolating times, I am finding Interviews With Beekeepers almost un-put-down-able!
I highly recommend this work to beekeepers of all scales, and it would be a great gift if you have an active beekeeper in your family.
Leading online booksellers like Booktopia and Bookdepository, both reliable and readily accessible on the web, have it listed for circa $A38 to $40, postage included.
Just buy it. John Kennedy, Australian Bee Journal
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It is perhaps of most value to the beekeeper with some degree of experience, operating on a semi-commercial or commercial basis, or with aspirations to do so. For such individuals, I suspect all will gain ideas to influence their own practices from the detailed conversations relating to husbandry and management
Alex Ellis, Bee Farmers Association (UK)