Sue Hubbell Quotes

Powerful Sue Hubbell for Daily Growth

About Sue Hubbell

Sue Hubbell (born October 31, 1934) is an American author known for her memoirs about her life as a beekeeper and naturalist in rural Missouri. Born in New York City, she spent most of her early years in the bustling city, working as a professional dancer with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet and performing on Broadway. After marrying composer Lukas Foss in 1957, Hubbell accompanied him on his travels across Europe and Asia. They eventually settled in Paris for a number of years before moving to rural Missouri in 1974. The change in environment was transformative for Hubbell, leading her to develop a deep appreciation for the natural world and its inhabitants. In 1985, at the age of 50, Hubbell took up beekeeping as a hobby, eventually building her operation into one of the largest honey producers in Missouri. This experience formed the basis of her first book, "A Book of Bees" (1986), which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction and introduced many readers to the intricate world of bees. Hubbell's subsequent memoirs include "The Tao of Honeybees" (1992) and "Life in the Hive" (1998), both of which were praised for their insightful observations about nature, life, and the interconnectedness of all living things. Her writing has been celebrated for its poetic beauty and her unique ability to capture the essence of the natural world. In addition to her beekeeping endeavors, Hubbell has also written children's books, essays, and articles for various publications. She continues to live in Missouri, where she remains an active beekeeper and dedicated naturalist. Her works have not only enriched our understanding of the honeybee but have also inspired countless readers to reconsider their relationship with nature.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"The world you descend into as a beekeeper is infinitely richer and more compelling than the one you climb out of."

This quote suggests that delving into the world of beekeeping offers a profound, captivating experience that surpasses everyday life. By immersing oneself in this unique ecosystem and understanding the intricate lives of bees, an individual gains a richer, more complex perspective on the natural world. In essence, Sue Hubbell is implying that stepping into the world of beekeeping can enrich one's life by providing a deeper connection to nature, fostering a sense of wonder, and offering opportunities for personal growth and discovery.


"I learned that even when the weather is bad, you can find some compensation in honeybees."

This quote by Sue Hubbell suggests that despite challenging or difficult circumstances in one's life (represented by "bad weather"), finding a source of solace or comfort can help alleviate the hardship. For her, this source was the honeybees she kept, as they provided a focus and purpose amidst adversity. The quote emphasizes resilience and gratitude for simple joys that can help us find peace even in trying times.


"The bees are the only thing making any real money around here."

The quote suggests that the bees in Sue Hubbell's environment are her most profitable or valuable inhabitants, as they generate income through honey production or pollination services. This highlights the essential role of these creatures in their ecosystem, contributing economically where other elements may not.


"Honeybees live by a strict code of work and cooperation, a code that has allowed them to flourish for millions of years."

This quote highlights two essential factors in the long-term success of honeybees: discipline (represented by their "strict code of work") and collaboration ("cooperation"). The "code of work" refers to the dedicated labor honeybees perform, which includes collecting nectar, pollen, water, and defending the hive. The cooperation emphasizes the communal effort they put into achieving these tasks for the betterment of the colony as a whole. This combination of diligent work and teamwork has allowed honeybees to thrive over millions of years, suggesting an effective blueprint for survival in their environment.


"I have come to realize that we human beings exist for a hundred years at the very most. Bees have been around for over 100 million years; they will continue after we are gone."

This quote highlights two contrasting aspects of life on Earth: humanity, which has a relatively short lifespan, and bees, an ancient species with a long history that predates human existence. The message is one of perspective and the passage of time. Despite our brief sojourn, humans have a unique presence on this planet. Yet, we must remember that life will continue in various forms long after we are gone, and nature, represented by bees here, will endure as it always has. It encourages us to cherish our time on Earth while acknowledging the immense, enduring power of nature.


Late August still feels like summer here in the Ozarks, but it is the time of year the nighthawks are moving on to their South American wintering grounds.

- Sue Hubbell

Moving On, Here, Feels, August

I've lived all over the country - Michigan, California, Texas, New Jersey, Rhode Island and, now, Maine - but I never understood springtime until I spent 25 years farming in the Ozarks.

- Sue Hubbell

Texas, Country, Rhode, Maine

Fiddling with the genetic identities of domesticated plants and animals ever since we had become human. We are the fiddlingest animal the world has ever seen.

- Sue Hubbell

Genetic, Domesticated, Fiddling

Otherness is what I have always liked about bugs.

- Sue Hubbell

Always, About, Liked, Bugs

Healthy camel crickets spend a lot of their waking hours grooming, so I have learned to recognize the ones that will soon die because they walk about encrusted with sand and bits of litter, having lost all interest in keeping clean.

- Sue Hubbell

Die, Soon, About, Litter

In the wild, those traits that are adaptive for survival and reproductive advantage are brought out through natural selection. So cats that were fierce, furtive hunters, alert to the snapping of every twig, with coats that gave them good camouflage, would have been favored by evolution.

- Sue Hubbell

Through, Been, Hunters, Twig

It wasn't that there weren't menfolk in my grandmother's stories. There were lots of them but they died young or were drifters and dreamers who disappeared or turned to drink or succumbed to melancholia or slow mortal diseases. The women, on the other hand, lived a long time and were full of spit and vinegar until the end.

- Sue Hubbell

Young, Other, Turned, Vinegar

My maternal grandmother, Annie Sparks, lived with our family during the while I was growing up. When I came home from school, after having made a detour to the kitchen to pour a glass of milk and fix a thick peanut butter sandwich on easy-to-tear white bread, I would go up to her sitting room.

- Sue Hubbell

Thick, While, Our, Annie

Greer is Missouri's second-largest spring. It is a place of pounding, frothing waters and of greeny-cool moss-covered rock, a place of fern and cliffy splendor.

- Sue Hubbell

Missouri, Splendor, Waters, Pounding

I am beekeeper, but I am also a writer, and some years ago, I sat down at a typewriter to experiment with words, to try to tease out of the amorphous, chaotic and wordless part of myself the reason why I was staying on this hilltop in the Ozarks after my first husband, with whom I had started a beekeeping business, and I had divorced.

- Sue Hubbell

Reason, Some, Part, Tease

Spring starts in January in the Ozarks, lurches on in a complicated way, with spurts and setbacks, until May. Then, early in May, there is a cold spell known as blackberry winter because it comes when blackberries bloom. It is a worrisome week for anyone who farms.

- Sue Hubbell

Winter, Week, Cold, Blackberry

We humans are a minority of giants stumbling around in a world of little things.

- Sue Hubbell

Little Things, World, Giants

I married a university professor, raised a son, and worked as an academic librarian. My husband and I moved to the Ozarks, bought a farm, and started a commercial beekeeping business. And divorced.

- Sue Hubbell

Business, Commercial, Bought, Divorced

Our human calendars take little notice of such dates, but nighthawk migrations tell of shortening days and a season's end.

- Sue Hubbell

Tell, Dates, Our, Migration

Great Wass Island Preserve is a 1,579-acre Nature Conservancy jewel, a place of spectacular botanical interest, and Jonesport is situated on a postcard-pretty harbor. Tourism is not serious business in those parts - boat building and fishing are - and there are no signs telling how to get to Great Wass. But I know.

- Sue Hubbell

Harbor, Jewel, Telling, Boat

Sometimes, I wonder where we older women fit into the social scheme of things once nest-building has lost its charm.

- Sue Hubbell

Sometimes, Social, Scheme, I Wonder

We live in a world in which there are many live things other than human beings, and many of these things can seem beautiful and amusing and interesting to us if they can catch our attention and if we can step back from our crabbed and limiting and lonely anthropocentricity to consider them.

- Sue Hubbell

Back, Other, Our, Amusing

I started collecting crickets to study them. Now I expect they will be my companions for many years to come.

- Sue Hubbell

Study, Will, Started, Companions

Beekeeping is farming for intellectuals.

- Sue Hubbell

Farming, Intellectuals

You have to take springtime on its own terms in the Ozarks: there is no other way. It can't be predicted. It is unsteady, full of promise, promise that is sometimes broken. It is also bawdy, irrepressible, excessive, fecund, willful.

- Sue Hubbell

Broken, Other, Springtime, Excessive

Precision, directness, and quickness are what human beings are good at. What we have never been good at - in our past, at least - is figuring out the impact, the consequences, of what our skills have allowed us to do.

- Sue Hubbell

Past, Been, Allowed, Figuring

Strictly speaking, one never 'keeps' bees - one comes to terms with their wild nature.

- Sue Hubbell

Never, Strictly Speaking, Strictly

My bees cover one thousand square miles of land that I do not own in their foraging flights, flying from flower to flower for which I pay no rent, stealing nectar but pollinating plants in return.

- Sue Hubbell

Own, Rent, Miles, Flower

Maine is a movable music festival in the summertime.

- Sue Hubbell

Music, Maine, Festival, Movable

The Ozarks are old and worn mountains from the geological past.

- Sue Hubbell

Mountains, Old, Worn, Geological

It gets cold here in the Ozarks in the winter. There are often warm winter days, but there are also weeks when the temperature never climbs above freezing.

- Sue Hubbell

Winter, Here, Weeks, Freezing

Our family was like no one else's. My schoolfriends had fathers and grandfathers and uncles who did things, but in my family, women had been the doers.

- Sue Hubbell

Like, Been, Fathers, Doers

A rule about portages: the longer and harder they are, the fewer people will make them.

- Sue Hubbell

Will, Longer, About, Harder

Nothing gives a person more confidence... than to be zipped snugly inside a bee suit.

- Sue Hubbell

Bee, Person, More, Gives

Crickets are immaculately clean, harmless animals.

- Sue Hubbell

Clean, Animals, Harmless

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