The History of Bees

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to express my gratitude to all the many professionals who have taken the time to read the manuscript and answer my questions: historians Ragnhild Hutchison and Johanne Nygren; China expert Tone Helene Aarvik; zoologist Petter Bøckman; physician Siri Seterelv; senior advisor Bjørn Dahle at the Norwegian Beekeepers Association (Norges Birøkterlag); advisor Ragna Ribe Jørgensen at ByBi, the Urban Beekeepers’ Association in Oslo; Roar Ree Kirkevold, who writes about beekeeping; beekeepers Ingar Tallakstad Lie and Per Sigmund Bøe and last but not least, Isaac Barnes at Honeyrun Farm in Ohio.

A special thanks also to all the committed people who have read, commented on and supported my work along the way: Hilde Rød-Larsen, Joakim Botten, Vibeke Saugestad, Guro Solberg, Jørgen Lunde Ronge, Mattis Øybø, Hilde Østby, Cathrine Movold, Gunn Østgård and Steinar Storløkken.

Finally, I would like to thank my wise editor, Nora Campbell, and all her accomplished colleagues at Aschehoug, who have demonstrated a warm enthusiasm for The History of Bees from the very first day.

I have drawn from a wide range of reference materials for the work on this novel. Among the most important are The Hive by Bee Wilson; Ingar’sis birøkt (“Beekeeping by Ingar”) by Roar Ree Kirkevold; Langstroth’s Hive and the Honey-Bee by Rev. Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth; A World Without Bees by Allison Benjamin and Brian McCallum and Det nye Kina (“The New China”) by Henning Kristoffersen, along with the documentaries Vanishing of the Bees, More than Honey, Who Killed the Honey Bee?, Silence of the Bees and Queen of the Sun.