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A Short History of the Honey Bee: Humans, Flowers, and Bees in the Eternal Chase for Honey
There are around 16,000 species of bee. Only seven of these are responsible for creating the world's sweetest treat—honey. Combining Ilona's gorgeous photography and E. Readicker-Henderson's engaging text, A Short History of the Honey Bee follows the journey from flower to hive to honey throughout history.
A Short History of the Honey Bee starts with the story of the honey bee—why it is named Apis mellifera , how it has evolved from a solitary creature to one that travels in groups, why it stings, and how pollination really works. Readicker-Henderson then moves on to the honey, detailing its history from a wild food foraged for on cliffs to the many varieties available for purchase today.
But it is the everyday importance of the bee that remains the central message. Forty percent of the world's food supply—including apples, tomatoes, and strawberries—is dependent on pollination by honeybees. Colony collapse, when the worker bees suddenly disappear and leave behind the queen and the hive, is an ecological and agricultural crisis. For this reason alone we need to be more aware of the significance of bees.
A Short History of the Honey Bee starts with the story of the honey bee—why it is named Apis mellifera , how it has evolved from a solitary creature to one that travels in groups, why it stings, and how pollination really works. Readicker-Henderson then moves on to the honey, detailing its history from a wild food foraged for on cliffs to the many varieties available for purchase today.
But it is the everyday importance of the bee that remains the central message. Forty percent of the world's food supply—including apples, tomatoes, and strawberries—is dependent on pollination by honeybees. Colony collapse, when the worker bees suddenly disappear and leave behind the queen and the hive, is an ecological and agricultural crisis. For this reason alone we need to be more aware of the significance of bees.
163 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
August 17, 2024
“Honey is the culmination of what the entire earth —rock, soil, water, plant, animal-can do when everything works together, catching a delicate scent that floats on a summer breeze and turning it into clean flavor.”
what a beauuutiful lil introduction on everything bees! the most relaxing little read 💛
what a beauuutiful lil introduction on everything bees! the most relaxing little read 💛
October 1, 2009
I grabbed this on my way out of the library and when I got home realized it's more of a mini-coffee table book than an actual non-fiction book. It had some interesting info and nice pictures. But the pictures were pretty much all the same and the author consistently would write things like (this isn't an actual quote. I'm too lazy to go get the book and find one. This is an approximation.), "Interestingly, people are only allergic to the stuff that is .01% of the bee venom. Over here, in this corner..." Okay, so, um, what's it called and why's it only .01%?? It got a little irritating.
That said, it's a pretty little book and would probably make a nice hostess gift in a basket with a jar of local honey for someone you don't know very well. Maybe throw in a beeswax candle to complete the kit.
That said, it's a pretty little book and would probably make a nice hostess gift in a basket with a jar of local honey for someone you don't know very well. Maybe throw in a beeswax candle to complete the kit.
August 4, 2014
A brief but beautiful journey into the world of bees and honey. The text is enhanced with the incredible close-up photographs of bees, flowers, and honeycombs. "A Short History of the Honey Bee" is not as informative as other books I have read on the subject (and I don't think it was intended to be) but it does instill a deep sense of respect for these remarkable animals in the reader, as well as for the "liquid gold" they produce. Topics covered include honey production, hive design, and current threats facing honey bees. A percentage of the profits from the book go towards a non-profit organization called "The Foundation for the Preservation of Honey Bees".
June 22, 2010
Good little overview of the history of bees and people. Lot's of information on bee biology and bee products. And some references at the back that look like great in-depth reading to try out if you want to read something with more meat in it. There's a ton of kick-ass full colour photography throughout the book too.
March 12, 2016
This book was given to me a few years ago as a gift and I never read it. It's a short book with some really beautiful photographs. I've done a lot of extensive bee research, so this book didn't really teach me many new things.
It would be great for someone who is just learning about bees.
It would be great for someone who is just learning about bees.
July 23, 2018
I am glad I don't do book reviews for a living. I can never think of what to write. There was so much to like in this book. I liked learning about uses for propolis, beeswax, pollen, and honey. I learned about a few diseases that can infect a hive. Learning about bees is exciting. What else can I saw about the book. Its a fun and short read.
March 3, 2020
Definitely fed my interest. The book had a nice mix of science, history, and personal experience. The one consistent message and the message I took hook line and sinker was that local honey will transform the way you see the landscape. You will be looking for the flavors you taste, in flowers, blooms, grasses and whatever the honey bees are lighting on.
October 6, 2023
How can you say HoneyBee and not feel an immediate sense of calm? I liked this book but thought that it got a little too technical. I also now want to know more about other types of bees, like bumble bees. I appreciated the history but I am yearning to know more.
February 19, 2019
This is a short, simple book. It's got pictures. It's got bees. Good primer for anyone who knows absolutely nothing about bees.
November 9, 2019
A shallow book on a narrow point of view. And not much data over the Wikipedia pages, sometimes even less.
March 21, 2011
This book sets a standard for itself and meets it: "A Short History of the Honeybee" is, indeed, short, historical, and about honeybees.
Editing 30,000 years (and more) of history down into 159 pages is no mean feat; the issue perhaps is that the bibliography contains all of 28 sources, including the "Plan Your Visit" brochure from the US Park service.
Told in often over-written prose ("I was destined to spend the rest of my life chasing honey" … "The rewards are endless" … "The work goes endlessly on" … "Let's say the bees flies past a beautiful woman…in the woman's hand, a small jar, full of liquid the color of a landscape after a storm… in her hand is something as miraculous as her smile itself…) alas, the book could have lost a few more pages.
If one hasn't read elsewhere about bees, this book will prove adequate. The facts it provides are mostly true, and the author does cover a decent amount of ground, from cultural to scientific.
One glaring error (in a photo caption on p. 83, picturing honeycomb) says that bees "came quite naturally to the octagonal shape, the most efficient use of space...in the hive." Of course the author meant to say "hexagonal shape." More illuminating however to the faults of this book is the comment "quite naturally." It's a casual and sloppy reference to millennia of evolution, and the development of the comb-building bee from its non-comb-building ancestors. Less reflection about the "magic" of bees and more hard research could have served the author.
Published in 2009, after a spate of recent books on the topic, "A Short History" does not offer any new insight. The thing (besides its brevity and slim source material) that really distinguishes this book from other books covering the same ground is its glossiness.
Each page is thick and shiny, and nearly every page has one or more photos. If the photos offered more than one could find on nearly any bee blog, or in your own backyard with a macro lens, it would elevate the book. Like the prose, however, the photos are workmanlike: informative but not exceptional.
The idea is nice: a concise, small, pretty overview of bees. On that scale, it succeeds.
*
WHY I READ THIS BOOK: ongoing bee research.
Editing 30,000 years (and more) of history down into 159 pages is no mean feat; the issue perhaps is that the bibliography contains all of 28 sources, including the "Plan Your Visit" brochure from the US Park service.
Told in often over-written prose ("I was destined to spend the rest of my life chasing honey" … "The rewards are endless" … "The work goes endlessly on" … "Let's say the bees flies past a beautiful woman…in the woman's hand, a small jar, full of liquid the color of a landscape after a storm… in her hand is something as miraculous as her smile itself…) alas, the book could have lost a few more pages.
If one hasn't read elsewhere about bees, this book will prove adequate. The facts it provides are mostly true, and the author does cover a decent amount of ground, from cultural to scientific.
One glaring error (in a photo caption on p. 83, picturing honeycomb) says that bees "came quite naturally to the octagonal shape, the most efficient use of space...in the hive." Of course the author meant to say "hexagonal shape." More illuminating however to the faults of this book is the comment "quite naturally." It's a casual and sloppy reference to millennia of evolution, and the development of the comb-building bee from its non-comb-building ancestors. Less reflection about the "magic" of bees and more hard research could have served the author.
Published in 2009, after a spate of recent books on the topic, "A Short History" does not offer any new insight. The thing (besides its brevity and slim source material) that really distinguishes this book from other books covering the same ground is its glossiness.
Each page is thick and shiny, and nearly every page has one or more photos. If the photos offered more than one could find on nearly any bee blog, or in your own backyard with a macro lens, it would elevate the book. Like the prose, however, the photos are workmanlike: informative but not exceptional.
The idea is nice: a concise, small, pretty overview of bees. On that scale, it succeeds.
*
WHY I READ THIS BOOK: ongoing bee research.
October 28, 2009
With chapters like The Magic, Dancing with Bees, and The Fragrant Work, this book shares a love for bees and their products. The text reads like a love poem and the photographs are artistic and beautiful. It is full of facts as well as rhapsodies about Apis mellifera, and there is a fine bibliography at the end of the book. Included are chapters on beekeeping, how hives work, turning nectar into honey, and why the honey bee’s well-being is vital to us all.
In closing, the author describes a jar of honey. “In her hand is something as miraculous as her smile itself: the taste of a pure and flawless moment in the world. In her hand is a jar of thick honey, a light held still and liquid, the tangible fossil of fields of flowers in days of sunshine, afternoons of a heat that feels like a comfort, and the first fat drops of a summer rainstorm; the record of soil and chemical and color and growing season, of the slant of the moon and the shadow of a perching bird. In her hand is a record of the world.”
Some of the photographs look like product ads and one picture, mostly of cells full of pollen, some honey, and a little capped brood was labeled “brood cells in the hive” but otherwise the text and photos are accurate and informative. It is, indeed, a short history, only 163 pages in a smallish format.
In closing, the author describes a jar of honey. “In her hand is something as miraculous as her smile itself: the taste of a pure and flawless moment in the world. In her hand is a jar of thick honey, a light held still and liquid, the tangible fossil of fields of flowers in days of sunshine, afternoons of a heat that feels like a comfort, and the first fat drops of a summer rainstorm; the record of soil and chemical and color and growing season, of the slant of the moon and the shadow of a perching bird. In her hand is a record of the world.”
Some of the photographs look like product ads and one picture, mostly of cells full of pollen, some honey, and a little capped brood was labeled “brood cells in the hive” but otherwise the text and photos are accurate and informative. It is, indeed, a short history, only 163 pages in a smallish format.
June 22, 2009
An informative, entertainingly written history of beekeeping. Historical anecdotes abound, filling the pages with the sense of history that accompanies an old tradition like beekeeping. What prevents this book from being great, however, is the authors' propensity for phrases like "honey is memory, the landscape's own memory, as measured as a tree ring, as detailed as the pinfeathers on a just-fledged bird." Granted, that is from the introduction, but phrases relating the smell of honey to a "beautiful woman" creep up several times, as well as other over-the-top phrases (ahem) waxing poetic for the sake of waxing poetic. To offset this, however, the book is also chock full of passages from ancient to recent texts, all describing some aspect of honey and the creation and gathering thereof, including some insights into just how much the ancients knew of bees. The book is also filled with gorgeous photographs of honey, bees and flowers, up close and detailed.
October 31, 2009
This was one of those books that I went through in a single sitting. The greatest impression I got from this read was the clear "voice" of the author. His delight in bees and the wonders that comes from them came through every sentence. I found many passages verging on the poetic, as they evoked all of the senses and transported me to the part of the world (or the hive) he was describing.
"A Short History..." is in essence a look into the miracle that is the bee, and how they impact the lives of us all. Going beyond honey, the book examines the life of the bees, their interaction with various flowers, uses and views of honey over time and place, and current issues in keeping bees safe in the face of a commercial industry that transports them thousands of miles to get all the profit possible from them. An interesting side aspect of this book is its implicit focus on one's local environs and the uniqueness that comes from that area, as expressed through the taste of honey.
"A Short History..." is in essence a look into the miracle that is the bee, and how they impact the lives of us all. Going beyond honey, the book examines the life of the bees, their interaction with various flowers, uses and views of honey over time and place, and current issues in keeping bees safe in the face of a commercial industry that transports them thousands of miles to get all the profit possible from them. An interesting side aspect of this book is its implicit focus on one's local environs and the uniqueness that comes from that area, as expressed through the taste of honey.
March 27, 2010
If you like bees, even just a little bit, you’ll enjoy this book. The fascinating history and interesting facts contained in these pages will have you sharing random bee lore with everyone you encounter. For instance, did you know that one worker bee produces the equivalent of only 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime, and then she dies because her wings wear out from the friction of the air? This book covers topics such as the bee dance, killer bees (which were created by humans), the historical, current, and potential uses for bee products such as honey, beeswax, propolis, and royal jelly, and explores possible reasons for Colony Collapse Disorder and the impact this will have on a large number of crops humans depend on for food.
Almost every ancient human civilization with a native species of honey bee regarded these creatures as being either magical or divine. You will probably agree after reading this.
Almost every ancient human civilization with a native species of honey bee regarded these creatures as being either magical or divine. You will probably agree after reading this.
April 24, 2012
Plucked from a library display.
JRN gifted me a tour of a backyard apiary. :) When I saw this book, I thought it would be a good primer for my upcoming outing.
+ I learned some good, basic stuff: I had no idea how many bees there are that don't make honey; I thought honey-making differentiated bees from wasps, hornets, and other unpleasant stingered things. I didn't know what killer bees really are.
+ Ilona's glossies are lovely.
- The writing, though, waxes saccharine, and then repetitive repetitive. We're reminded several times how grateful we ought to be to bees, how patient they are, how they owe us nothing, how we'd die without them.
- I wish that some of the claims (particularly wrt bees' role in crop pollination) had been cited more directly, and that the biological wonders had been less anthropomorphized or mysticized.
Alternate title: Gilded Honey Bee Facts
JRN gifted me a tour of a backyard apiary. :) When I saw this book, I thought it would be a good primer for my upcoming outing.
+ I learned some good, basic stuff: I had no idea how many bees there are that don't make honey; I thought honey-making differentiated bees from wasps, hornets, and other unpleasant stingered things. I didn't know what killer bees really are.
+ Ilona's glossies are lovely.
- The writing, though, waxes saccharine, and then repetitive repetitive. We're reminded several times how grateful we ought to be to bees, how patient they are, how they owe us nothing, how we'd die without them.
- I wish that some of the claims (particularly wrt bees' role in crop pollination) had been cited more directly, and that the biological wonders had been less anthropomorphized or mysticized.
Alternate title: Gilded Honey Bee Facts
May 8, 2012
I got this book as a gift from my mom who loved it. I think this is a good book for anyone who knows nothing about bees and wants to learn more but not a very good book for someone who already keeps bees. The writer was a little too passionate and agenda driven which I found distracting. His writing was like he was trying to hard to play with words. I mean really its a book about bees not a novel up for the pulitzer prize. The pictures are really amazing and the book might be worth having just to have the pictures.
August 4, 2009
Overall, it was a fair discussion of bees and the history of beekeeping. I gained a greater understanding of the importance of bees. It was worth the read just to learn that tupelo honey never crystallizes, which is why it is so highly valued. The pictures were exquisite, but the text overexaggerated in its many passages that described honey, praising local honey as a taste of the land and flowers where you live, a way to know your neighborhood.
April 11, 2010
This was an interesting little book and a very quick read. It's informative, but by no means could serve as a guide for bee keeping. The author is a very good writer, but the one thing that really irritated me was his repeated references to "beautiful, smiling women" who trailed behind them a "delicate fragrance". That sort of insipid sexism (as though all beautiful women naturally smell good and the ugly ones don't) is played out! But the bee information was interesting.
October 14, 2014
This was a sweet book. I enjoyed that it was an overview rather than an exhaustive text. I am intrigued enough to not only read more on the subject but I actually want to get into beekeeping. Great for a starter on all things bee and still very rich in information on and passion for a fascinating subject. The photos are informative, illustrative, and beautiful as well.
May 7, 2016
Although I already knew much of the information presented in this book, I found the author's writing style delightful and endearing. I paused on more than on occasion to consider the honeybee's life through the lens of Edward's description - and loved it!
Overall, the book is a fairly quick read, and the photography beautiful. Well done!
Overall, the book is a fairly quick read, and the photography beautiful. Well done!
November 1, 2021
This is a great book to get people excited about bees, and to realize what the world would be without them if they became extinct. It has enchanting prose like, "a jar of honey is a voyage of discovery, a promise of risk and reward." The author writes facts and also writes how his journey through life with bees happened. A great read if not looking for textbook material.
July 19, 2010
July - This book was incredibly informative! The information was very accessible - I learned a lot about honey bees that I never knew! Quick read if you're ever interested in the huge impact that honey bees have on our lives.
December 20, 2011
OK, the pictures are good, and the text is fairly engaging and all, but there are some weird errors in this book, which have been pointed out by a lot of other people reviewing it. Still, it was charming enough, if kind of a shallow overview of the subject.
March 4, 2015
This was super-interesting! I am fascinated by honey bees anyway, and learning about the history and some of the challenges honey bees are facing in today's agricultural climate was really awesome! I can't wait to have bees...
October 30, 2013
Beautifully written. I love how the author loves bees and honey. This book makes me want to run out and buy a jar of local honey to see if it really tastes like home. I read this while researching bees for the novel I am writing, and it was a huge help.
August 18, 2014
This is a very sweet book. The author covers a wide range of topics about the honey bee, from history to harvesting honey. His descriptions and information are well written, but very short, succinct and to the point. This is a short, quick read with amazing photographs!
January 29, 2024
This was a fun, informational, and quick read. I enjoyed the beautiful images and the way the life of bees was shared. I learned a few good factoids about the role of bees through history. The writing itself was fluid and easy to digest. Good read for someone interested in the topic.
June 8, 2019
My wife picked this up from a library display and it ended up being a read aloud since my son saw it and became obsessed over the bee on the cover. Factual though overly repetitive and flowery. It definitely should be approached as a 'coffee table' book rather than a natural history book.
March 9, 2013
Fast read full of superlatives and hyperbole. Most interesting when focused on the science and history of keeping bees. Gets tiring hearing about how much the author loved honey.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews