How to Start a Book Club for Beekeepers

Wouldn’t it be fun to have a Beekeeping Book Club?

The other day a thought struck me as I was drooling over another one of my friend’s book club photos on Instagram. I have so many friends who are in some pretty cool book clubs. They meet once a month at a cafe or home and talk about a book they all chose to read. Some involve wine, some are potlucks. Either way, it involves friends (new and old) getting together to share insights about what they read.

Sounds cool. I want to do that!

That’s what I thought too, except that the books I want to read are all about bees. How to keep bees, the History of Bees, Bees in Art and Archaeology… You get the idea.

If you are like me, then you have an entire shelf dedicated to books about bees and beekeeping. Most of them I have read or at least skimmed, but there are quite a few that are still on my to-read list. I think that having a little incentive to read them, as well as some accountability would do me good. Not to mention, I LOVE getting together with friends. In this post-pandemic world we live in, I think we need to push ourselves to get out and actually BE with people again, even if it feels weird or unproductive.

If this sounds like something you would like to do, here are some tips for making it happen.

Beekeeping Book Club Tips

Decide you want to invite and how.
Define the purpose of the book club– social, educational, strict or lax.
Decide on where you will meet– members homes, cafe, or even an apiary.
Choose the day and time will you meet,– monthly, bimonthly? Plan 3-6 months out
Determine how books are chose– anonymous vote, host chooses, etc.
What is your structure going to be? Will there be food and drinks?
Agree on how will the club be conducted– Question/Answer? Chapter by chapter discussion? Personal insights?
Finally, give your book club a funky name. How about The Sticky Bee Book Club? or the Buzzed Book Club? (I think I’ll join that one!)