This the story of how, over the course of a year, Alys, theGuardiangardening writer, learns how to keep bees; and Steve, the urban beekeeper, learns how to plant a pollinator-friendly garden.

Part beautifully designed coffee-table book, part manifesto, this collection of engaging letters, emails, texts, recipes, notes and glorious photos creates a record of the trials, tribulations, rewards and joys of working with, rather than against, nature. And along the way, you will pick up a wealth of advice, tips and ideas for growing food and keeping pollinators well fed.

Letters to a Beekeeper is for lazy gardeners, novice beekeepers and everyone in between. It is the best rule-breaking, wildlife-friendly, guerilla, urban gardening, insect-identifying, honey-tasting, wax-dripping, epistolary how-to book you could ever hope to own.

Alys Fowler(@AlysFowler) likes growing food and flowers. Her flowers are a bit too far away for Steve's bees, so she's keeping the pollinators of Birmingham happy instead. She has written four books, presents gardening programmes on TV (including her own showThe Edible Garden) and writes for theGuardian. She likes wild swimming, riding bikes and cooking.

Steve Benbow(@Londonhoneyman) runs the London Honey Company which he set up twelve years ago from the roof of an ex-council block in Tower Bridge. It now has hives on the roof of Fortnum and Mason, Tate Modern and the National Portrait Gallery. Random House published his first bookThe Urban Beekeeperin 2012.