Entranced, the boy lay on the grass beside the hives. He listened, put his hand close, and watched the bees crawl on his skin. Now 86, he still feels that one of the great blessings of spring is to visit the bees, lie down beside them, and listen. Bill Thurlow—“Honey Bill”—based in Ottawa, Canada, believes that beekeeping is 20% science and 80% art. A beekeeper has methods and strategies to protect and maintain the health and productivity of their apiary, but Bill also listens to his bees, watches them, learns from them, and wonders at them. Method and artistry walk hand in hand. The beekeeper needs a deep biological understanding of the life and health of bees, but must also observe, intuit, and perceive. They are two sides of the same coin but, says Honey Bill, the side that needs to be uppermost is the attentive, intuitive, and imaginative one. …