Exploring the World of Bees

by Tracy C. Read

Overview

We watch bees buzzing from plant to plant in our gardens, yet apart from worrying about being stung, many of us don't give them another thought. But who are these flying insects, and what exactly are they doing in our backyards?

Exploring the World of Bees covers the differences in the social lives of bees and how they organize their families, their homes and their work. Young readers can learn that different bees have developed special physical adaptations — from a body size so small they can't be seen in flight and keen vision to extra-long nectar-lapping tongues and convenient leg packs for carrying pollen. They'll also discover more about the many ways in which humans depend on bees, even while our activities increasingly put these precious pollinators at risk.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781554078820
Publisher:	Firefly Books, Limited
Publication date:	11/03/2011
Series:	Exploring the World of
Pages:	24
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Tracy C. Read is an editor and writer who has a special interest in nature and the environment. She lives in Kingston, Ontario.

Editorial Reviews

Highly recommended.

Canadian Review of Materials - Trevor Lockhart

This superbly illustrated volume ... plunges the reader into the world of a group of insects whose diversity and behaviors is an eloquent testimony to the precision of natural selection

Entomology Association of Spain - Gustavo Sancher Romero

I will never be able to look at a bee the same again! What an amazing book with 240 pages that draw the reader in! This oversize book (the better to see the photos) is a wealth of information concerning bees and their contribution to our world... Way too

NSTA Recommends - Diana Wiig

Chris O'Toole, in conjunction with Tony Raw, wrote Bees of the World, which has become a seminal volume: this new book will rightfully take its place beside it on the bookshelf. ... It is (O'Toole's) writing style that makes him stand out. As an internation

Bee World International - Richard Jones

Understanding bee-plant relationships helps us provide food for the world. This beautifully-illustrated, appreciative tribute will be valuable to bee professionals, students, and naturalists.

American Bee Journal

O'Toole, an entomologist and bee expert, introduces readers to a sample of the world's 20,000 bee species in this beautiful new book... The strength of the book is in its introduction of the rest of the kinds of bees. We learn of mason bees, euglossine bees, carpenter bees, and sweat bees. The lifestyle of the solitary bees, in which a female provides food for her developing offspring but does not directly care for them, is contrasted with the various stages of sociality in different species. The important role bees play in pollinating flowers—estimates are that one-third of human food depends on bee pollination—is illustrated both in the text and the accompanying photographs. The illustrations alone sell the book, with marvelous close-ups of a bee's compound eyes and pollen-covered bees in flowers. The many appendixes and a large bibliography make this an informative introduction.

Booklist - Nancy Bent

It is only correct to comment on the extraordinarily high quality of the photographs throughout and the great skill employed by the many photographers... This book will appeal to general naturalists and wildlife photographers as well as bee specialists and all-round entomologists too. It is a very worthy successor to Bees of the World by the same author. Its arrival on the bookshelves in time for Christmas is clearly no accident, and I am sure many people will want this colourful and informative introductory book in their Christmas stockings.

Bees, Wasps and Ants Society - Stuart Roberts