Recent books on bees

Beeconomy: What Women and Bees Can Teach Us about Local Trade and the Global Market 
by Tammy Horn

> Queen bee. Worker bees. Busy as a bee. These phrases have shaped perceptions of women for centuries, but how did these stereotypes begin? Who are the women who keep bees and what can we learn from them? Beeconomy examines the fascinating evolution of the relationship between women and bees around the world. From Africa to Australia to Asia, women have participated in the pragmatic aspects of honey hunting and in the more advanced skills associated with beekeeping as hive technology has advanced through the centuries.

> Synthesizing the various aspects of hive-related products, such as beewax and cosmetics, as well as the more specialized skills of queen production and knowledge-based economies of research and science, noted bee expert Tammy Horn documents how and why women should consider being beekeepers. The women profiled in the book suggest ways of managing careers, gender discrimination, motherhood, marriage, and single-parenting -- all while enjoying the community created by women who work with honey bees. Horn finds in beekeeping an opportunity for a new sustainable economy, one that takes into consideration environment, children, and family needs.  Beeconomy not only explores globalization, food history, gender studies, and politics; it is a collective call to action.

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Bee 
by Rose-Lynn Fisher and Verlyn Klinkenborg

> Of the ten million or so different species of insects on our planet, none is more fascinating than the honeybee. Magnified hundreds to thousands of times with a high resolution scanning electron microscope, honeybees become architectural masterpieces an elegant fusion of form and function. Now available in paperback, Bee presents sixty astonishing photographs of honeybee anatomy in magnifications ranging from 10x to 5000x. Rendered in stunning detail, these photographs uncover the strange beauty of the honeybee's pattern, form, and structure. Comprising 6,900 hexagonal lenses, their eyes resemble the structure of a honeycomb. The bee's six-legged exoskeleton is fuzzy with hairs that build up a static charge as it flies in order to electrically attract pollen. Wings clasp together with tiny hooks, and a double-edged stinger resembles a serrated hypodermic needle. These visual discoveries, made otherworldly through photographer Rose-Lynn Fisher's lens, expand the boundaries of our thinking about the natural world and stimulate our imaginations.

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Attracting Native Pollinators: The Xerces Society Guide, Protecting North America's Bees and Butterflies [Paperback]
The Xerces Society 

> Attracting Native Pollinators is a comprehensive guidebook for gardeners, small farmers, orchardists, beekeepers, naturalists, environmentalists, and public land managers on how to protect and encourage the activity of the native pollinators of North America. Written by staff of the Xerces Society, an international nonprofit organization that is leading the way in pollinator conservation, this book presents a thorough overview of the problem along with positive solutions for how to provide bountiful harvests on farms and gardens, maintain healthy plant communinities in wildlands, provide food for wildlife, and beautify the landscape with flowers. Full-color photographs introduce readers to more than 80 species of native pollinators -- including bees, flies, butterflies, wasps, and moths -- noting each one's range and habits. 

Reviews from Amazon

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