A Honeybee Heart Has Five Openings

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Pub Date 1 Aug 2018 | Archive Date 25 Jun 2018

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Description

A fascinating, insightful and inspiring account of a novice beekeeper's year of keeping honeybees, which will appeal to readers of H is For Hawk and The Outrun

Entering her thirties, Helen Jukes feels trapped in an urban grind of office politics and temporary addresses – disconnected, stressed. Struggling to settle into her latest job and home in Oxford, she realises she needs to effect a change if she’s to create a meaningful life for herself, one that can accommodate comfort and labour and love. Then friends give her the gift of a colony of honeybees – according to folklore, bees freely given bring luck – and Helen embarks on her first full year of beekeeping. But what does it mean 'keep' wild creatures? In learning about the bees, what can she learn of herself? And can travelling inside the hive free her outside it?  

As Helen grapples with her role in the delicate, awe-inspiring ecosystem of the hive, the very act of keeping seems to open up new perspectives, deepen friendships old and new, and make her world come alive. A Honeybee Heart Has Five Openings is at once a fascinating exploration of the honeybee and the hive, the practices of honey-gathering and the history of our observation of bees; and a beautifully wrought meditation on responsibility and care, on vulnerability and trust, on forging bonds and breaking new ground.

A fascinating, insightful and inspiring account of a novice beekeeper's year of keeping honeybees, which will appeal to readers of H is For Hawk and The Outrun

Entering her thirties, Helen Jukes feels...


Advance Praise

'This book has found a special place in my heart. It’s as strange, beautiful and unexpected, as precise and exquisite in its movings, as bees in a hive. I loved itHELEN MACDONALD, author of H IS FOR HAWK


'A mesmeric, lovely, quietly powerful book. A gentle but compelling account of the redemption that comes from relationship and attention' Charles Foster, author of Being a Beast


'A very human story about the aliens gathering  in her back garden – bees, fascinating but almost unknowable. Their wildness and her duty to them help open up a desk rat’s uninspiring life to all the possibilities of love, care, connection and sheer wonder. It is a lovely, entirely personal journey into the very heart of the hive' Michael Pye


‘An intimate exploration of the heart and home, and a tantalising glimpse into an alien culture. A brave and delicate book, rich and fascinating’ Nick Hunt, author of Where the Wild Winds Are


'A profound, funny and sometimes deeply moving book that describes a year of inner city bee keeping, while dancing between bee history and what it means to be human in our modern world'  Julia Blackburn, author of Threads: The Delicate Life of John Craske

'This book has found a special place in my heart. It’s as strange, beautiful and unexpected, as precise and exquisite in its movings, as bees in a hive. I loved itHELEN MACDONALD, author of H...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781471167713
PRICE £14.99 (GBP)

Average rating from 10 members


Featured Reviews

Tired of the city rat race that has ground her nerves and her very heart and soul into nubs, Jukes takes possession of the gift of a honeybee colony. Folklore says a gift of bees brings good luck, so Jukes decides to slow down, step back and raise her bees for a year. What follows is a lovely meditation into the world of wild, beautiful, creatures. As Jukes learns the basics of beekeeping, she also learns a lot about herself and her relationship with the natural world. I have always loved bees myself, the sight and sound of them as they go about their work, how they return after a bitter, cold winter; there seems something magical about them. While I read this book in one sitting, it would also be a lovely read to spread out, a bit every day to ground readers, relax them and help them celebrate our natural world

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