You Wouldn't Want to Live Without Bees!

 

Shirley J.              Juvenile Non-Fiction                     Everything you ever wanted to know about bees

You Wouldn't Want to Live Without Bees! by Alex Woolf     40 pages

Everything you ever want to know about bees and honey can be found right here in this book.  Very enlightening and very entertaining.   The illustrations are great, with cute, comical captions.  However, the information found here is astounding!  There is so much information included here in its 40 pages I can liken it to a crash course on bees.   From descriptions and illustrations of all the parts of a bee's body and exoskeleton, to the explanation of the life of a bee stating exactly what they are doing at each of the stages of their short lives and let me tell you that is plenty from birth to death.  Fascinating, I had no idea bees were that busy (cleaning, babysitting/feeding, hunting, gathering, not to mention doing fancy dances to explain to the rest of the hive where the best pollen can be found.   I did not know that there are over 20,000 different species of bees.  Some as big as the palm of your hand and some so small they are nearly microscopic.   Killer bees were bread in Brazil by mating African and European bees which produces offspring that are REALLY aggressive and not fans of humans especially with a lot of movement.  The Killer Bees surround their Queen in the center of their swarm to protect her as they attack whatever perceived threat and when like 10,000 bees in a swarm attack, whatever they go after, is done.   The author discusses how bees help the earth and other species in so many ways that it really is amazing - ways one wouldn't normally think of.   And the process of making the honey (not for the squeamish) and all the medicinal uses of it - this is such a good book and well worth the read for everyone on the planet.  You will never consider bees in the same light again.   I recommend this to kindergarteners on up!  Everyone will learn a lot from this book.