A Honeybee Heart Has Five Openings

A Honeybee Heart Has Five Openings begins as Helen Jukes is entering her thirties and struggling to settle into her new job and home. Then friends gift her a colony of honeybees—a gift that, according to folklore, brings good luck—and Jukes embarks on the rewarding, perilous journey of becoming a beekeeper.

Jukes writes about what it means to "keep" wild creatures and to live alongside beings whose laws of life are so different from our own. She delves into the history of beekeeping, exploring the ancient—and sometimes disturbing—relationship between keeper and bee, human and wild thing. And as her colony grows, the very act of beekeeping seems to open new perspectives, making her world come alive again. A beautifully wrought meditation on uncertainty and hope, feelings of restlessness and home, and how we might better know ourselves, A Honeybee Heart Has Five Openings shows us how to be alert to these small creatures flitting among us that are yet so vital a force for the continuation of life.

Helen Jukes is a writer and writing tutor based in the United Kingdom. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Port Magazine, Aeon, The Clearing, and other venues. Follow her on X @helen__jukes.

This is classic modern nature-writing; a synthesis of scientific learning, observation and the author's response. If you care for the wellbeing of bees and the planet and for the state of the human heart, then this book, with its deft and beautiful prose, is for you.

While you will undoubtedly learn something new about bees, this is, first and foremost, a successful and eloquent piece of modern nature writing.

Jukes shares insights on her decision to become a beekeeper. Throughout her journey, we see the importance of nature and the potentially devastating effects our separation from nature can lead to. Required reading. Compelling.

A subtly wrought personal journey into the art and science of beekeeping.

Jukes portrays her experiences with vivid imagination and a spirit that encourages readers to think deeper about a creature that is vital to all life on this planet. Entertaining reading for budding apiarists and armchair nature enthusiasts.

Evocative. Affecting. Readers will appreciate the candor and inviting openness of Jukes's voice throughout this winning memoir.

Luminously honest and affecting. Jukes is a gloriously gifted writer and her book ought to become a key text of this bright moment in our history of nature writing.

Michael Pye, author of The Edge of the World:

A lovely, entirely personal journey into the very heart of the hive.

Helen Macdonald, author of H Is for Hawk:

As strange, beautiful, and unexpected, as precise and exquisite in its movings as bees in a hive. I loved it.

Robert Macfarlane, author of Underland:

Beautifully written and timely.