The buzz continues for a bee memoir released in April by Ladner author Dave Doroghy.
Show Me The Honey: Adventures of an Accidental Apiarist is a self-deprecating account of one fledgling beekeeper’s misadventures. With wit and warning in equal measure, this informative, refreshingly honest narrative will resonate with any new beekeeper.
In recent weeks, the book received a thoughtfully positive review in the New York Times as well, was announced as the winner of the Best Book on Honey in Canada in the prestigious Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.
Having won in Canada, Show Me the Honey will now continue to compete in their categories against winners from other countries in the Gourmand Best in World competition. Results from that competition will be announced in May 2021.
Doroghy said he is thrilled with the Times review and the Gourmand World Cookbook award.
“The New York Times review has really shot the book up in the Amazon ratings, resulted in book sales, given the book credibility,” he said. “I talked with the publisher and it is really hard to get books reviewed in the New York Times. They get hundreds and are very selective, so this is great.
“The award is absolutely fantastic, don’t get me wrong, but if I was to compare the two, what is more important to me is the reach of the New York Times and the credibility really stands out as a writers’ point of view.”
Doroghy also co-authored 111 Places in Vancouver That You Must Not Miss, which the Optimist also previewed earlier this year.
Doroghy became an apiarist when his sister gifted him 15,000 honey bees for Christmas —a hive that had recently produced 100 pounds of award-winning honey thanks to its unique location on the deck of Doroghy’s Ladner float home.
In an effort to continue producing delicious honey, he spent the next two years learning everything he needed to know to keep that beehive alive: he attended a beekeeping conference, joined a bee club, and even went to bee school.
Doroghy found that keeping bees was a fascinating, yet frustrating hobby.
He sustained multiple stings, wasps attacked his hive, and he fought an ongoing battle with killer varroa mites. He even lost his queen— twice!
In Show Me The Honey, he recounts his often tension-filled misadventures in beekeeping with self-deprecating humour. Whether it’s the impending chaos of transferring tens of thousands of insects to an outyard, the horror of discovering bees on the inside of his beekeeping suit, or just wondering if he will end up with even an ounce of honey for all his efforts, Doroghy shares the joy, the surprises, and the less-acknowledged financial sting of keeping bees.
Show Me The Honey, was released April 28 by Touchwood Editions.
Doroghy said it can be a challenge releasing a book at the best of times, but during a pandemic it’s even more challenging.
“I always look on the bright side…people have more time to read and can order on-line,” he said. “This is a project that took me two and a half years to write. I wrote almost all of it at Stir Coffeehouse in Ladner. I’d go to Stir every morning and sit in the corner and hammered it out.
“I finally finished it, found a publisher and here we are.”
Doroghy said even though some of his promotional plans have changed due to COVID-19, he has received great support locally, especially from Black Bond Books in Ladner.
“When you do local events like books signings you sell lots of books, but the power of the New York Times and Amazon is more global, so I’m getting people buying the book all over the world,” he said. “The pandemic just threw water on our plans, but when one door closes another opens. I will say all of the local buzz, I will do that later this year or next year.
“But I will say, locally, I posted on Facebook and Holly, from Black Bond, is just lovely and she is so in-tune to local authors and her support, is just great to have. She has been a huge supporter.”
Doroghy notes that Aug. 15 is World Honey Bee Day, which gives everyone the perfect opportunity to honor the honey bee and the critical role that honey bees play in our everyday lives.
