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A Conversation with Tammy Horn
Describe your background in beekeeping.
In 1997, I began beekeeping when my grandfather, who suffered from Parkinson's
in the last years of his life, could no longer do many basic hive maintenance
chores himself. Until then, I didn't know a honey bee from a yellow jacket,
to quote one of my sources. But, from the first moment my grandfather and I
opened a hive, I found something I had always searched for, an orderly and stable
society that provides unsung benefits to the human one. It was the perfect hobby
to complement my teaching career.
What kind of people are beekeepers? Why do you think they're so drawn
to bees?
To have such respect for order and society, beekeepers are as individualistic
and independent as the colonies they take care of. They also have an insatiable
curiosity about the processes of the bees they are fortunate to take care of.
In working with bees, keepers can gain a larger perspective about the importance
of family, social groups, and the necessary skills that come with taking care
of insects.
What part of writing or researching the book most interested you? Was
there anything you were surprised to learn?
Every page contains a surprise. When re-reading the manuscript, I was surprised
by how natural disasters in seventeenth-century England affected how people
constructed values associated with bees, especially drones, and applied them
to people. I'm surprised by how the interconnected political events in Europe
during the past four centuries affected beekeeping in America by encouraging
beekeepers (or potential beekeepers) to leave Europe and come to America, especially
communities such as the Shakers and French Icarians.
Do you think beekeeping is as culturally relevant today for Americans
as it was when colonists first settled the country?
More so, for a several reasons. First, Americans, like most people, need to
feel secure. And no other insect or animal best represents security than the
honey bee. There isn't another symbol that can do that in the American popular
imagination.
Second, if America continues to be the dominant global power in terms of military
strength, safety, and humanitarian aid, the country needs beekeepers. It will
need beekeepers to provide food, and since every culture needs food, beekeepers
are important, unsung players in American agriculture. It makes no difference
if the beekeepers are commercial or hobbyists—they are both important and their
importance will continue to grow. Pollination is the one process that cannot
be duplicated. The crises facing beekeepers in the 1990s alerted our culture
not to take honey bees for granted.
Third, we have so much media and networked information sources that it is easy
for the honey bee image to permeate the cultural mindset though television,
the internet, newspapers, film, radio, and books. As women make advances in
the marketplace, for example, they still encounter the “queen bee”
stereotype, which has become the theme of television scripts in shows such as
“CSI,” “Foyle’s War,” and “Ally McBeal.”
What does the future hold for bees and their keepers?
The future for bees and their keepers will be as complicated and intricate
as it was when America was still a land of European colonies and Native Americans.
Beekeepers are shrinking in numbers, but the need for their services is increasing.
Since much of the 1922 Honey Bee Restriction was repealed in 2004, I predict
beekeepers will want to import other varieties of bees and that cottage industries
will develop and coexist with the commercial industries. This way, we would
mirror the current beekeeping practices in Europe rather than just placing most
of our financial and scientific investments on the Italian honey bee.
I also think apitourism will become more systemized than it is now. Americans
want to learn and see how beekeepers in other states and countries operate.
This industry is in its beginning stages, but I predict it will continue to
grow.
Bees in America:
How the Honey Bee Shaped a Nation
Tammy Horn
Publication Date: March 11, 2005 $27.50 cloth, ISBN 0-8131-2350-X
For additional information, please contact: Leila Salisbury, Marketing Director,
859/257-8442
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