Dead Bees Still Sting
Tales of Life at the Edge of Nature
Susan Cormier’s Dead Bees Still Sting is a poignant, often surprising collection of nature essays about rural life and beekeeping.
These essays concern five seasons on a small farm on the edge of suburban Vancouver. Several focus on the art of beekeeping, including the instincts that beekeepers develop over time about when a hive is thriving or beginning to fail. Also addressed are techniques for capturing a loose swarm of bees, bees’ efficiency as pollinators, and bees’ seeming indifference to their keepers.
The narratives are tight, suspenseful, and often humorous. In “Schrodinger’s Sting,” for instance, Cormier references quantum mechanics while describing an incident where a stinging insect crawled under her skirt. As the essay notes, it is pointless to retaliate against a stinging bee by poking it, but it is certainly “acceptable to yell at it.”
Other farm creatures and natural features also receive attention. “Starfish” describes, in touching terms, a quail that Cormier raised from a hatchling, while “Rearview Mirror” is about attempts to capture and find a safe home for a Siamese sable domestic rabbit released into the wild. “Beyond Science” is about a beloved dog’s final days, while “Bill” depicts a “stubborn curmudgeon” of an apple tree that started fruiting again after many barren years. The ancient geology of the area; changing landscapes as development spreads; and observations about human neighbors also wend into the book’s meditations, which maintain an absorbing edge: “We wait for stability, for the disruptions to end—in nature, in our lives, in our human-built global systems—but that will never come. The act of existing is chaotic.”
Dead Bees Still Sting is a delightful essay collection that celebrates nature from the vantage of life on a small farm.
Reviewed by
Kristen Rabe
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
