Do Beekeeping

Honey. Drizzled over a slice of fresh bread… or eaten directly from the spoon… is one of life’s great pleasures. And with beehives springing up on urban rooftops, in next door’s back garden – even schemes for adopting bees or renting hives – becoming a honey producer seems… possible. So how easy is it and what’s involved?


By sharing the journey of 18-year-old beekeeper Orren Fox – who clearly remembers what it’s like to be a rookie – you’ll discover that keeping your own honeybees is easier than you think. Find out:

How and where to set up your hive
The tools and equipment you need to get started
The job of inspecting the hive
How and when to harvest your honey

With delicious honey-based recipes shared by talented and resourceful chefs and cooks, including Honey & Co., you’ll learn all about bees and their inspiring world of work and honey production. And may even be tempted to buy your first bee suit. 


Orren Fox is an 18-year-old beekeeper, chicken farmer, sustainable-food advocate, longboard builder and student. He grew up in Newburyport, MA and has been keeping chickens and bees for most of his life. He was a speaker at the Do Lectures USA in 2012. Orren is the author of happychickens.com, a blog on raising healthy chickens and bees, naturally. He has written several articles and has been interviewed for the Huffington Post.


In May 2012, Orren was invited to the White House as the guest of Kathleen Merrigan, then Deputy Secretary, as part of a Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food event. As part of the event, Orren was invited to send his honey to Sam Kass, the Executive Director of Let's Move and Senior Policy Advisor for Nutrition Policy for a 'honey show down'. The White House has hives and harvests the honey each year. Orren is also the founder of #beechat, a Twitter meetup whose goal is to gather beekeepers from around the world to share information and ultimately help bees.