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The Good Bee: A Celebration of Bees – And How to Save Them
Bees are our most loyal ally. These fascinating, enigmatic creatures are a key lynchpin in the working of our planet. Without them the landscape, as well as every aisle in our supermarkets would look radically different. And we’re not just talking about honey bees. There are more than 20,000 species of bee worldwide and only a handful make honey. Some live in colonies and others are solitary. We can all help protect them – and they desperately need protecting – but you can’t save what you don’t love. And you can’t love what you don’t know. The Good Bee is a celebration of this most vital and mysterious of nature’s wizards. Here you’ll discover the complexities of bee behaviour – as well as the bits that still baffle us – the part they play in the natural world, their relationship with us throughout history, how they are coming under threat and what we can all do about it.Beautifully produced, with hand-made illustrations throughout, it is a story for our times and a book to treasure.
193 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 2, 2019
41 people are currently reading
369 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
March 7, 2021
3.5⭐️
March 29, 2020
Solid B(ee)+ I give this book. Felt as a book filled with lots of different bits of information. Interesting bits of information that is, although I missed a certain flow within the book.
Would absolutely recommend for beginner and expert bee-lovers.
Would absolutely recommend for beginner and expert bee-lovers.
May 22, 2019
Bees and almost all other insects are in deep trouble. There has been a catastrophic collapse of insects in the past few years, some species are down 40% and it is not getting any better. They are an essential part of the natural world, almost everything relies on them for food, either to eat or to pollinate plants that then feed us. Supermarket shelves are going to be much more sparse if we were to lose them, especially the bees.
When you mention bees, people generally think of honey bees, the subtle coloured insects that buzz lazily around the flowers in the summer or the huge bumblebees that defy gravity with their tiny wings. In total, all around the world thought there are 20,00 species and they are all pollinators. Some live in colonies but most are solitary, finding little holes to live in. The fact is that a lot of these solitary bees are much better pollinators than the regular honey bee. Most importantly they all need our protection.
In this charming little book, Alison Benjamin & Brian McCallum take us on a journey in the world of the bee. In here you can learn about the body part of the bee, some of the species that you can see around your garden and the wonderful names that they have, like Buff Tailed and Pantaloon. There are details on how they make wax and honey, their lifecycles and some of the history of the partnership we have had with them.
Most importantly, there are details on what you can do to help them, for example, the best plants to fill your garden with and how to make bee hotels for the solitary bees. It is a timely book too, as it is slowly dawning on people that we need to look after the whole eco system because of the interconnected links between everything. There are schemes like this here that are aiming to get as many gardens with the right plants for insects. Get involved and make a difference.
When you mention bees, people generally think of honey bees, the subtle coloured insects that buzz lazily around the flowers in the summer or the huge bumblebees that defy gravity with their tiny wings. In total, all around the world thought there are 20,00 species and they are all pollinators. Some live in colonies but most are solitary, finding little holes to live in. The fact is that a lot of these solitary bees are much better pollinators than the regular honey bee. Most importantly they all need our protection.
In this charming little book, Alison Benjamin & Brian McCallum take us on a journey in the world of the bee. In here you can learn about the body part of the bee, some of the species that you can see around your garden and the wonderful names that they have, like Buff Tailed and Pantaloon. There are details on how they make wax and honey, their lifecycles and some of the history of the partnership we have had with them.
Most importantly, there are details on what you can do to help them, for example, the best plants to fill your garden with and how to make bee hotels for the solitary bees. It is a timely book too, as it is slowly dawning on people that we need to look after the whole eco system because of the interconnected links between everything. There are schemes like this here that are aiming to get as many gardens with the right plants for insects. Get involved and make a difference.
March 28, 2024
4.5 Stars
I adore nature and have a particular love of bees. I have read multiple bee books but saw this and just had to request it from the publisher. I am so glad I did as it was a really great, interesting and informative read and I definitely learnt a lot of new information too!
The Good Bee is split up into 4 chapters. The first is "Bees and Nature" which takes up about half of the book as it goes into all the science, life and behaviour of bees. It also talks about many different types of bees which was really interesting. I learnt a lot in this chapter and it was split up into well thought out sections.
Chapter 2 is "Bees and Us" which talks mainly about beekeeping, honey and how we use bees for pollination (some crazy facts that I had no idea about and really amazed me!). It had some recipes for honey and some interesting case studies too.
Chapter 3 is about "Threats facing Bees" which is the shortest chapter but still interesting and informative. It discusses pesticides, climate change, loss of habitat and more. I would have liked even more information in this chapter which is why I can't quite give the book 5 stars.
Finally, chapter 4 is about "Bees and how we can help them" which had some really great pointers on how to help different species of bees. I loved that it gave real practical advice and some easy steps to follow.
This book is very well written. It is very interesting and held my attention. Nature writing can sometimes get a little dry but for me this wasn't the case with this book.
Overall, a brilliant starter book if you are interested in bees. It isn't dense and holds a lot of really interesting facts. I couldn't recommend it more if you are interested in nature.
Please note that I was given this book in exchange for an honest review.
I adore nature and have a particular love of bees. I have read multiple bee books but saw this and just had to request it from the publisher. I am so glad I did as it was a really great, interesting and informative read and I definitely learnt a lot of new information too!
The Good Bee is split up into 4 chapters. The first is "Bees and Nature" which takes up about half of the book as it goes into all the science, life and behaviour of bees. It also talks about many different types of bees which was really interesting. I learnt a lot in this chapter and it was split up into well thought out sections.
Chapter 2 is "Bees and Us" which talks mainly about beekeeping, honey and how we use bees for pollination (some crazy facts that I had no idea about and really amazed me!). It had some recipes for honey and some interesting case studies too.
Chapter 3 is about "Threats facing Bees" which is the shortest chapter but still interesting and informative. It discusses pesticides, climate change, loss of habitat and more. I would have liked even more information in this chapter which is why I can't quite give the book 5 stars.
Finally, chapter 4 is about "Bees and how we can help them" which had some really great pointers on how to help different species of bees. I loved that it gave real practical advice and some easy steps to follow.
This book is very well written. It is very interesting and held my attention. Nature writing can sometimes get a little dry but for me this wasn't the case with this book.
Overall, a brilliant starter book if you are interested in bees. It isn't dense and holds a lot of really interesting facts. I couldn't recommend it more if you are interested in nature.
Please note that I was given this book in exchange for an honest review.
February 24, 2022
This was interesting although a little dry. There’s a big section about each kind of bee which is probably best served as a reference. The best part of the book imo was explaining in more detail how bees live year round (beyond: find flower / make honey) and how humans can help. Here’s how: 1) have flowers as close to year-round as you can. It’s much easier for bees to find nectar in the summer with everything is in bloom, but the future Queen bees need nectar in the spring and are too weak to fly far looking for it 2) Advocate for more wild places and less pesticides.
Names of good spring flowers for bees: hellebores, cyclamens, and crocuses. As well as cherry trees, pussy Willow, and mahonia bushes. For autumn: heleniums and African daisies.
Names of good spring flowers for bees: hellebores, cyclamens, and crocuses. As well as cherry trees, pussy Willow, and mahonia bushes. For autumn: heleniums and African daisies.
May 28, 2020
Nice beginners intro to the world of bees and beekeeping, although i hadn't thought about beeswax as much since reading this.
With some neat illustrations and simple guides and tips through, it's at the cofffee table end of the market rather than an depth scientific epic, but that's no bad thing. After all, not everything has to be a Dave Goulson mind-bending epic.
With some neat illustrations and simple guides and tips through, it's at the cofffee table end of the market rather than an depth scientific epic, but that's no bad thing. After all, not everything has to be a Dave Goulson mind-bending epic.
July 28, 2025
Everyone should read this book.
I didn’t know anything about bees before picking this book up but now I want to know more. I’ve learnt so much and have a new appreciation for bees and everything they do. The illustrations were beautiful and the way the book was written was so digestible and easy to understand.
I didn’t know anything about bees before picking this book up but now I want to know more. I’ve learnt so much and have a new appreciation for bees and everything they do. The illustrations were beautiful and the way the book was written was so digestible and easy to understand.
December 23, 2020
Very informative book without getting boring. I appreciated the fact they expanded on all bees and not just honey bees. The bumble bees and different solitary bees are discussed just as much. Some good tips and lovely drawings are added aswell.
May 12, 2019
A great little introductory book on all things bee related. The main focus is on European bees (particularly British ones) but it does cover the other bees of the continents of the world too. It has wonderful illustrations, which I believe are hand drawn especially for this book. It has a lot of information about bees - their subspecies, what the different ones do, how to help them and why they're declining. I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants a brief introduction to all things bee: their past, the present, and the future.
September 20, 2025
Wanted more intricate details on bees but nice intro to bees
March 10, 2021
I very much appreciate the intent with which this little book was written and it certainly holds some fascinating information and helpful tips. At the same time, the text does not flow too well and reminds one more of a textbook rather than something that would truly inspire one to take up bee-keeping. I suppose I just wanted something else out of it than what it gave.
June 8, 2019
The title for this book is a little weird, suggesting as it does that there is such a thing as a 'bad' bee (maybe hanging out with Danny and Kenickie, combing itself down with its proboscis and pretending not to care). The tone of the book isn't particularly celebratory, either. It's very factual, in a basic and almost simplistic way that could almost have been aimed at children (except lacking some of the requisite silliness for that). Still, I found it immensely useful, and it's not even for me - it's a Father's Day present, which of course I had to screen for quality.
Facts of key interest:
1. Bees pollinate one in three mouthfuls we eat
2. Bee moms decide if their eggs will be female or male
3. Bumblebees all share the Latin name 'Bombus', which means buzzing, AND IS THE GREATEST FACT OF ALL TIME
4. A bumblebee is only ever forty minutes from starvation, so if you see a little tired one, give it a drop of sugar water
5. Bumblebees love foxgloves
6. Bees in a hive communicate by holding on to the hive and vibrating
7. Vulture bees make honey from CARRION
8. Some bees made blue honey from the spoils of an M&M factory
9. Biophilia is an innate genetically determined affinity for nature, a concept coined by EO Wilson. Richard Louv coined the term 'nature deficiency disorder'
10. Bee flowers: hellebores, cylamens, crocuses, heleniums, African daisies, cherry trees, pussy willows, mahonia bushes, geraniums, sweet peas, vetches, sunflowers, lupins, dahlias, anise hyssop, catmint, rosemary, thyme, mint, chives, marjoram, lungwort, bugle, cranesbill, Japanese anemone, comfrey, forgetmenots, yellow dandelions, alkanet, viper's bugloss, Macedonian scabious (I literally could not pick these out of a lineup ... yet)
11. Plant them in clumps
12. DON'T MOW! Let dandelion or clover grow, or plant yellow rattle.
Facts of key interest:
1. Bees pollinate one in three mouthfuls we eat
2. Bee moms decide if their eggs will be female or male
3. Bumblebees all share the Latin name 'Bombus', which means buzzing, AND IS THE GREATEST FACT OF ALL TIME
4. A bumblebee is only ever forty minutes from starvation, so if you see a little tired one, give it a drop of sugar water
5. Bumblebees love foxgloves
6. Bees in a hive communicate by holding on to the hive and vibrating
7. Vulture bees make honey from CARRION
8. Some bees made blue honey from the spoils of an M&M factory
9. Biophilia is an innate genetically determined affinity for nature, a concept coined by EO Wilson. Richard Louv coined the term 'nature deficiency disorder'
10. Bee flowers: hellebores, cylamens, crocuses, heleniums, African daisies, cherry trees, pussy willows, mahonia bushes, geraniums, sweet peas, vetches, sunflowers, lupins, dahlias, anise hyssop, catmint, rosemary, thyme, mint, chives, marjoram, lungwort, bugle, cranesbill, Japanese anemone, comfrey, forgetmenots, yellow dandelions, alkanet, viper's bugloss, Macedonian scabious (I literally could not pick these out of a lineup ... yet)
11. Plant them in clumps
12. DON'T MOW! Let dandelion or clover grow, or plant yellow rattle.
September 12, 2020
What a beguiling little book!
I didn’t know much about bees before perusing this adorable little paperback, but in the last couple of days I’ve grown from being clueless about bees, to asking my mother if our spacious garden has room for one little beehive.
It’s written very accessibly, and it’s incredibly endearing to see the personality injected into the narrative by the two authors. It’s obvious from the first couple of pages that they really do love bees, and the mixture of factual information and autobiographical account is charming and engaging.
This book has everything from a detailed biographical examination of the bee, to beautiful and illuminating illustrations, to information on how anyone and everyone can help save the bee population, to wonderfully simple recipes containing bee-made produce and a list of all the historical uses of beeswax and honey (in case you couldn’t tell from the hint at plenty in the rest of the review, there are numerous).
Since ‘We’ completely ruined my perception of the time it takes to read a book as per page count, I decided not to kick myself for taking my time with this one, however I enjoyed it enough to still get through it pretty quickly. I’ve taken one star taken off for the tiniest amount of repetition in places - occasionally the book gives separate detailed accounts of species of bee or their processes which may differ only minutely from one another, and are perhaps verging on being of specialist interest.
A homely homage to bees that everyone should read, I’m already coming up with ways to trick my memory into remembering every piece of information included! Very glad I picked this up!
I didn’t know much about bees before perusing this adorable little paperback, but in the last couple of days I’ve grown from being clueless about bees, to asking my mother if our spacious garden has room for one little beehive.
It’s written very accessibly, and it’s incredibly endearing to see the personality injected into the narrative by the two authors. It’s obvious from the first couple of pages that they really do love bees, and the mixture of factual information and autobiographical account is charming and engaging.
This book has everything from a detailed biographical examination of the bee, to beautiful and illuminating illustrations, to information on how anyone and everyone can help save the bee population, to wonderfully simple recipes containing bee-made produce and a list of all the historical uses of beeswax and honey (in case you couldn’t tell from the hint at plenty in the rest of the review, there are numerous).
Since ‘We’ completely ruined my perception of the time it takes to read a book as per page count, I decided not to kick myself for taking my time with this one, however I enjoyed it enough to still get through it pretty quickly. I’ve taken one star taken off for the tiniest amount of repetition in places - occasionally the book gives separate detailed accounts of species of bee or their processes which may differ only minutely from one another, and are perhaps verging on being of specialist interest.
A homely homage to bees that everyone should read, I’m already coming up with ways to trick my memory into remembering every piece of information included! Very glad I picked this up!
March 4, 2021
A lovely, informative book that kept me interested until the very end. You can tell the authors have a real affection for bees, which is refreshing against the many "I know a lot about this particular subject but don't really care about it" type of books out there. I also found myself reaching for my phone to search for the different bees they talked about. My favourite was the pantaloon Bee. I would read this again.
September 20, 2022
I liked this book. Was gifted it by a friend after helping her with her beehives. It's full of information about honeybees and native bees and how we can help them all have healthier lives. If you like nature/bees/insects/plants you'll like this book!
Full review available here: The Good Bee book review
Full review available here: The Good Bee book review
March 31, 2020
This is a beautiful book and I expected to give it five stars, but.... I've read a few books about bees and I found it a bit basic and the writing very simple and repetitive and almost like it was aimed at children, particularly in the first chapter. It got better later, but missed the mark a bit for me.
June 5, 2021
Excellent book about (wait for it!) bees!
In fact the book could also be viewed as a case study of the riches and diversity of the natural world, and how humans interact and impact on this diversity.
The book is full of remarkable snippets of information, but also saddening tales of decline and absence.
Recommended.
In fact the book could also be viewed as a case study of the riches and diversity of the natural world, and how humans interact and impact on this diversity.
The book is full of remarkable snippets of information, but also saddening tales of decline and absence.
Recommended.
September 3, 2021
A solid general overview of bees. Is a good refresher for those who are already familiar with the topic, and there are sure to be some new details you hadn't known before. There were definitely some facts I wish they dived deeper into rather than stating and moving on, but the nature of the book is a broad overview, written in a straightforward, digestible manner.
August 6, 2019
Cute book. Well written, fun, but starts from the very (and I mean very) basics. For example, I think most people with a primary school education are aware that not all bees make honey, including the bumble bee. This book assumes that they are not.
September 9, 2019
Absolutely wonderful book, beautifully written and really engaging. I learned so much.
September 28, 2019
Excellent book, very informative and eye opening. There is so much we can do and need to do to save the bees!
October 10, 2019
Loved this book. It was so interesting to learn about all of the different types of bees, and it gave great suggestions of ways to help them.
February 23, 2020
Loved it. Incredibly informative, definitely deepened my appreciation of the busiest insect and learned how to care for then better in an urban setting.
February 26, 2020
A good read. This is a single issue book, but with lots of new information about bees, week presented, and get another call to arms to save all our lives on this planet.
May 29, 2020
Save the bees :) <3
February 21, 2021
I learned most bees do not make honey and most bees don't sting. If you want to learn more about bees read this book.
September 19, 2021
readable and interesting
September 3, 2022
Contains everything you could possibly want to know about bees. Smooth read, spread out into topic sections. Includes helpful visuals. You don't have to be a scientist to understand it.
Read
August 20, 2023A quick read about Bees - cute book
June 4, 2024
An illuminating read about bees!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews