Quite apart from the harvests of honey and wax, the life-giving role of bees in pollinating many plants that people rely on for food has made them the stuff of legend, mystery, worship and – nowadays – also controversy.

Anyone interested in growing food, who wants to find out what a beehive or two will give them, even on such a small scale as the suburban backyard or the terrace-house garden, will find this book an indispensible introduction to keeping bees.