Honey and Venom: Confessions of an Urban Beekeeper Hardcover – June 9, 2020

Highly recommended! I met Andrew Coté in February 2012 when I started taking the beekeeping course taught by him and his father, Norm, for the NYC Beekeepers Association. His class was the catalyst that got me into becoming a beekeeper in NYC.His book was just released this week and I received my preordered copy from Amazon 2 days after.It has been a fun read for me during my (limited) non-beekeeping time these last two days.As a NYC beekeeper it is a must read as you most likely have seen Andrew either in person or in various press articles and videos; he is the “go to” beekeeper in NYC. If you are a beekeeper elsewhere it is a great read because you will relate to many of the stories and real-life characters Andrew writes about. You will get the chance to see a side of beekeeping you might not see where you keep your bees. As a non-beekeeper it is also a great book to read because Andrew gives some interesting bee facts throughout the book without getting overly technical – like how honey bees have gone up in the space shuttle, or that honey bees have been utilized to sniff out cancer.Each chapter represents a month in the life of a NYC beekeeper. Andrew writes about what beekeepers and the bees themselves do during that month, and then tells stories about things that happened during that particular month for him. For instance, one month talks about swarms, what they are and how they work. He then takes the reader to unusual swarm calls like one atop One Times Square, where the big ball drops on New Year’s Eve.He tells many stories of travels around the world working with beekeepers in under-developed areas feed their families and villages by keeping honey bees. The first chapter details how wrong things went while teaching beekeeping in Uganda and how his party was attacked by Apis scutellata. Other chapters discuss beekeeping related adventures in China, Japan, and Iraq. There are many crazy New York City beekeeping stories.The book really shows a hidden side of Andrew Coté the person, not just the celebrity beekeeper. He shares many stories of meeting famous people like Martha Stewart, Yoko Ono, Paul Newman and Spike Lee, amongst many others.Inside Honey and Venom, you will see plenty of Andrew’s fine sense of humor and his witty sometimes sarcastic humor. We also learn what most people don’t know about Andrew, like how he was a Fulbright professor and a tenured university professor who left academia to chase his passion for honey bees.He also tells a great deal about his family lineage including their four generations of beekeeping history, his obvious closeness and love for his father Norm is woven throughout, and the reader follows along and learned how he met his wife (while at a farmers’ market), followed (not too closely) by birth of his son.Andrew includes a cast of NYC Beekeepers in his book, and I am honored to be one of the many local beeks mentioned. In fact, I am included in one of the best chapters of the book (in my opinion) where a man in Queens had harbored 50 beehives in his driveway, driving his neighbors crazy, and eventually drawing the attention of the authorities who removed the overcrowded apiary.The book is 295 pages long and published by Penguin Random House and is available as a hard cover book, e-book, and an audio book recorded by Andrew. Highly recommended.Tom WilkCornell University Certified Master BeekeeperESHPA Director Long Island/NYC District

Our book club had a Zoom meeting with the author Andrew Coté which I was invited to join. I started reading the book that day so I could have a context for the discussion and I couldn’t put it down. The book is divided into the twelve months of the year so we get a taste of what is happening inside the hive as well as in Andrew’s life as an urban beekeeper who also travels the globe assisting others through his organization Bees Without Borders. Each chapter is filled with anecdotes and information written in an engaging way that feels like the storyteller is physically present. The author was just as entertaining during our group conversation which explained why I felt like he was actually telling the stories in the book. I found his style to be warm and amusing and he presented the informative parts about bees and honey like the best teachers do: he made it come to life. Please note the subtitle of Honey and Venom is Confessions of an Urban Beekeeper, it is not an instruction manual on keeping bees. It is full of stories, some sweet, some thought provoking, and all together well worth reading. Although I read the book a few months ago I still find myself thinking about it so I bought a few copies to give as gifts and to donate to a library. Enjoy!

I live in and love New York City and I love bees so I’ve been anticipating this book for months. The book spans one year in the life of New York’s amazing rooftop beekeeper, who sells honey at the farmers market at union square (among others). Its a fun, passionate and eccentric year in what must be a pretty interesting life and I could barely put the book down. Andrews love of what he does shines through and it’s also somehow a love story with New York, filled with stories of all the interesting (and sometime nasty) People that populate this city. Can not recommend highly enough!Note: some of these bad reviews seem to be written by people who haven’t picked up this book in the first place. If you’re looking for a great read about a great beekeepers, this is it. It’s not a beekeeping manual!

This is definitely a book worth checking out. It's a perfect mix of Andrew Cote's real life beekeeping adventures, his personal experiences, as well as interesting and informative facts about the work and habits of honey bees. He tells the story in 12 chapters to follow each month of the year. I didn't expect to enjoy learning about honeybees as much as I did. They are fascinating, hardworking, and highly organized little creatures! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and stories with us Andrew!

Great stories, and such a love for the news themselves. Amazing story.My favorite had to be about the international cultures and how they interferes with common sense and science. And of course the media loving Tony Bee.Thank you for writing such a great book.

What a fascinating story of raising bees for honey in New York City! Not only what it is like to have hives on the rooftops of the city, but how the author helped form an organization to make the practice legal. It also relates lots of stories of dealing with swarms, how to avoid problems with queen bees, etc.

The media could not be loaded.  Andrew takes the reader through the City on a guided tour full of laughs, ups and downs.

Thouroughly enjoyed. Andrew has personality to burn. The anecdotes and the mechanics of all things beekeeping is a great read. I buy his honey and bee pollen at the Farmers market at Union Square and online and the quality is superb. Online ordering is easy and arrives promptly with great protective packaging.