DAPHNE'S BEES

Dempsey, debut author and past president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Beekeeping Association, opens the buzzy world of beekeeping to young readers.

On her 10th birthday, Daphne, a White redhead, receives her dream gift—an unassembled beehive. Her parents and grandmother, all White as well, have also bestowed her with a bee suit and beekeeping tools. Over the next few days, they nail together and paint the hive, then they set it up in the bee yard and transfer some of Gramma’s bee frames into the hive box. Throughout the year, Daphne and Gramma regularly visit the bee yard. Their work entails inspecting and monitoring the hives, protecting them from wasps, and weatherproofing them for the winter. Readers hoping to read about the harvesting process will be disappointed; the story ends with Daphne looking forward to the promise of honey in the spring. The narrative is largely carried forward by unconvincing dialogue that sounds less like natural speech and more like textbook discourse on such topics as the roles of different types of bees, the insects’ life cycle, and how to smoke a hive. Tomova’s painterly artwork captures the changing seasons and the Zen aspect of beekeeping and includes several close-ups of the bees as well as field book–type sketches. The extensive backmatter consists of bee facts, advice for dealing with bee stings, and a few cheesy jokes. The lack of a glossary is glaring and unfortunate.

Less of a storybook and more of a comprehensive, if not quite inspiring, manual for already-enthusiastic young apiarists.