CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 9/17/2026

Long live idiosyncratic 'Hives!'

Spreads from bookseller favorite Aladin Borioli: Hives, 2400 BCE–1852 CE, first published in 2020 by Paris-based RVB Books and widely available only now through this must-have new co-edition with The Ice Plant. Retaining all of the perfect original design details, from the bright yellow paperback cover (and spine) with knocked out historic hive shapes to the adorable 4.25 x 6-inch trim size, this 448-page ode to golden-age apiaries emanates pure passion project from every awkwardly-cropped, low-res spread. Before honey harvesting was modernized and industrialized, beekeeping was idiosyncratic and culturally specific. "A log hive is no better than a Langstroth hive, nor is a Langstroth hive better than a skep hive," Ellen Lapper and Aladin Borioli write. "It is about advocating for hive design which is free from colonial, capitalist and for-profit logic. This is a task for the whole community. Remember: unite and create, not alienate and dictate!" Long live idiosyncratic beekeeping!