21/10/2020
We have been so fortunate to have had Sarah Wyndham Lewis - Bologna-trained honey sommelier, Author, Great Taste Awards judge + Co-founder of Bermondsey Street Bees - write a review on the 2020 reprint of Eva Crane’s ‘Honey - A Comprehensive Survey.’
CLICK TO BUY: https://bit.ly/35klAqz
(Photo taken by Sarah Wyndham Lewis.)
Read Sarah's full review below...
"Eva Crane died in 2007 but her lifetime of research still bears constant revisiting. It’s exciting then, to see one of her most wide-ranging books ‘Honey – A Comprehensive Survey’ now reprinted and accessible to a wide audience. For me, it replaces a battered, very second-hand copy that I bought at vast expense a few years ago. It sits on my bookshelf alongside many of her other titles, all of which I use regularly, especially in my work as a professional Honey Sommelier and when writing/speaking about forage.
The great joy of this particular book lies in the word ‘comprehensive’. Although dated (having first been published in 1975), it covers a huge range of topics that remain central to all beekeepers’ knowledge. From the biological and physical properties of honey to technical information on processing and storing liquid honey and dealing with comb, it offers both facts and tantalising signposts towards deeper research.
There are good sections too on commercial honey processing and the world trade in honey, both of course out of date, but easily used as a starting point for seeking contemporary data. Some of the content is contributions from other experts, but there are glorious chapters written by Eva Crane herself, especially the ones on forage and the language and history of honey. Her voice shines through them, as with all her work, combining her matchless knowledge and scientific clarity with her great love of all things bee.
Let’s be clear though that this is not a book for idle glancing. It is a serious reference work, presenting much of its data in formal, scientific formats. I am not a trained scientist, so consulting it often requires high-level concentration, especially in marrying the text with highly detailed tables and diagrams. But if I had to do a ‘Desert Islands Discs’ and elect just one title to help in my continuing exploration of the world of bees and honey – it would this one.
Revisiting the book for review, I’ve rediscovered many useful commentaries but was struck, in particular, by this most excellent piece of advice: “It is important to distinguish between a) what is assumed to be true because it has been known (i.e. stated) since earliest times; (b) what a large body of evidence suggests is likely to be true; (c) what has been proved by experiment to be true (under the conditions of the experiment); (d) what is true under certain conditions but irrelevant if taken out of its proper context.” A life lesson for us all perhaps?"
Sarah Wyndham Lewis is co-founder of Bermondsey Street Bees. A professional Honey Sommelier, she speaks and writes widely on honey and on planting for pollinators.
bermondseystreetbees.co.uk
Instagram: /