Beekeeping, stewardship and multispecies care in rural contexts

Maderson, Siobhan ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5351-3139 and Elsner‐Adams, Emily 2024. Beekeeping, stewardship and multispecies care in rural contexts. Sociologia Ruralis 64 (2) , pp. 202-221. 10.1111/soru.12457

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Abstract

Rural society consists of both humans and other‐than‐human species, whose needs may appear to contradict each other. There is a growing awareness of the shared ecological fate of all members of this interspecies community and the importance of transitioning to more caring, sustainable relationships between species. Various rural activities, and relationships with other species, are considered to be avenues for promoting care and stewardship of other‐than‐human species. Using interviews, archives and ethnographic research, this article explores how beekeepers navigate multiple and interrelated challenges as they care for their bees and the implications of this care for other species. The beekeeping community is heterogeneous and experiencing dramatic changes. This article finds that beekeepers have different motivations underpinning their diverse practices, yet all share a sense of stewardship for their own bees and for the wider physical environment; this manifests in their understanding of and interactions with other members of rural society. We propose that interspecies understandings and caring relationships, as exemplified within beekeeping, can support efforts towards sustainable socio‐ecological transitions.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Geography and Planning (GEOPL)
Additional Information:	License information from Publisher: LICENSE 1: URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Publisher:	Wiley
ISSN:	0038-0199
Related URLs:	https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1...
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	10 October 2023
Date of Acceptance:	23 September 2023
Last Modified:	12 Jun 2024 12:37
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/163121

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