after the gold rush?

I've always admired my friend Alison's knowledge of ecology, her writing, and her marvelous garden, which is visited by all kinds of wildlife—I've seen accipiters and great lepidoptera there. Alison's first book, Hives in the City: Keeping Honey Bees Alive in an Urban World is out in paperback and e-book. Alison came to Philly and met some of our beekeepers, and also made a pilgrimage to the site of L. L. Langstroth's home—Philadelphia's own Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth invented that modern hive that resembles a bureau, and is much kinder to the bees. She also interviewed urban beekeepers in DC, Baltimore, and New York.

In addition to being a neat tour of the urban beekeeping word, Hives in the City breaks down Colony Collapse Disorder and bee die-offs, and neonicotinoid pesticides. The situation for bees is as grim as it is confusing, and I found this book the best guide to the subject I've come upon. Nice job, Alison.