The Buzz On Beekeeping

Winner, 2014 Distinguished Scholarship Award presented by the Animals & Society section of the American Sociological Association Bees are essential for human survival—one-third of all food on American dining tables depends on the labor of bees. Beyond pollination, the very idea of the bee is ubiquitous in our culture: we can feel buzzed; we can create buzz; we have worker bees, drones, and Queen bees; we establish collectives and even have communities that share a hive-mind. In Buzz, authors Lisa Jean Moore and Mary Kosut convincingly argue that the power of bees goes beyond the food cycle, bees are our mascots, our models, and, unlike any other insect, are both feared and revered. In this fascinating account, Moore and Kosut travel into the land of urban beekeeping in New York City, where raising bees has become all the rage. We follow them as they climb up on rooftops, attend beekeeping workshops and honey festivals, and even put on full-body beekeeping suits and open up the hives. In the process, we meet a passionate, dedicated, and eclectic group of urban beekeepers who tend to their brood with an emotional and ecological connection that many find restorative and empowering. Kosut and Moore also interview professional beekeepers and many others who tend to their bees for their all-important production of a food staple: honey. The artisanal food shops that are so popular in Brooklyn are a perfect place to sell not just honey, but all manner of goods: soaps, candles, beeswax, beauty products, and even bee pollen. Buzz also examines media representations of bees, such as children’s books, films, and consumer culture, bringing to light the reciprocal way in which the bee and our idea of the bee inform one another. Partly an ethnographic investigation and partly a meditation on the very nature of human/insect relations, Moore and Kosut argue that how we define, visualize, and interact with bees clearly reflects our changing social and ecological landscape, pointing to how we conceive of and create culture, and how, in essence, we create ourselves.

As seen on PBS's American Spring LIVE, the award-winning author of The Triumph of Seeds and Feathers presents a natural and cultural history of bees: the buzzing wee beasties that make the world go round. Bees are like oxygen: ubiquitous, essential, and, for the most part, unseen. While we might overlook them, they lie at the heart of relationships that bind the human and natural worlds. In Buzz, the beloved Thor Hanson takes us on a journey that begins 125 million years ago, when a wasp first dared to feed pollen to its young. From honeybees and bumbles to lesser-known diggers, miners, leafcutters, and masons, bees have long been central to our harvests, our mythologies, and our very existence. They've given us sweetness and light, the beauty of flowers, and as much as a third of the foodstuffs we eat. And, alarmingly, they are at risk of disappearing. As informative and enchanting as the waggle dance of a honeybee, Buzz shows us why all bees are wonders to celebrate and protect. Read this book and you'll never overlook them again.

All the Buzz for Beekeeping Beginners “The book oozes with bee facts and trivia….Bees do make good pets and this book is a gentle introduction to the world of backyard bee keeping.” —Patsy Bell Hobson, writer and master gardener emeritus #1 New Release in Entomology and Insects & Spiders What happens when a writer sets up a backyard beehive? You get a beekeeping book full of fun and fascinating facts about honey bees and our other favorite pollinators. A nature guide book for beekeeping beginners. Full of trivia, tips, legends, and lore—this quirky bee book swarms with interesting information, so you can have fun, learn stuff, grow your farm, or just relax. Writer and beekeeper Jack Mingo lives with half a million bees, and has picked up a thing or two at his bee farm. In this collection of humorous and often unusual observations, Mingo shows us a glimpse of the mystical and matriarchal world of bees. The save the bees sign you’ve been looking for. How many legs do bees have? Enough not to crowd your bed at night. They don't track mud or bugs into your house, and they won’t bark and whine. They even greet you with raw honey and beeswax. And these are just some of the reasons bees make the best pets of all. Whether you’re a beekeeping beginner, looking to save the bees, or interested in fun nature facts about bugs and insects, there’s something here for every nature lover. Step into Mingo’s hive for tidbits like: Fun and interesting tips and tricks for beekeeping beginners Knowledge about the color, quality, and benefits of local honey The history and legendary stories of bees, like the role they played in the Civil War and the Legend of the Caroling Bees If you liked Beekeeping for Dummies, The Beekeeper’s Handbook, or Beekeeping for Beginners, you’ll love Bees Make the Best Pets.

Top-Bar Beekeeping is an offering designed to encourage beekeepers around the world to keep bees naturally by providing beekeeping basics, hive management and the utilization of top-bar hives. In recent years, beekeepers have had to face tremendous challenges, from pests, such as varroa and tracheal mites, to the mysterious but even more devastating phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Yet in backyards and on rooftops all over the world, bees are being raised successfully, even without antibiotics, miticides, or other chemical inputs. More and more organically-minded beekeepers are now using top-bar hives, in which the shape of the interior resembles a hollow log. Long lasting and completely biodegradable, a top-bar hive made of untreated wood allows bees to build comb naturally rather than simply filling prefabricated foundation frames in a typical box hive with added supers. Top-bar hives yield slightly less honey but produce more beeswax than a typical Langstroth box hive. Regular hive inspection and the removal of old combs helps to keep bees healthier and naturally disease-free. Top-Bar Beekeeping provides complete information on hive management and other aspects of using these innovative hives. All home and hobbyist beekeepers who have the time and interest in keeping bees intensively should consider the natural, low-stress methods outlined in this book. It will also appeal to home orchardists, gardeners, and permaculture practitioners who look to bees for pollination as well as honey or beeswax.

Buzz! Quack! Lift the flap to find the animals that are making all the noise! With humorous illustrations by Caldecott honoree Rachel Isadora. “After the buzz comes the . . . “ Lift the flap to find the bee! “After the quack comes the . . . “ Lift the flap to find the duck! Lift the four-inch, heavy cardstock flaps to reveal boldly colored animals in this charming gift book. A group of adorable and diverse kids follow the hoot-hoot through the woods to find an owl under a bright moon. Hearing oink-oink, a little boy finds a messy piglet hiding behind a veggie trough. A pair of friends find a panda climbing a vibrant bamboo grove, saying ar-ar-ar. An interactive guessing game in a large format picture book with 10 fun flaps. Toddlers will delight in the funny sounds and finding animals, familiar and unusual, while learning pre-reading skills at the same time. Caldecott honor winning co-author and illustrator Rachel Isadora and innovative co-author Robie Rogge, who launched the groundbreaking bestseller Fun with Hieroglyphs, have come together to create a gift book that is perfect for baby showers, birthdays, and holidays.

Tis book, already translated into ten languages, may at frst sight appear to be just about honeybees and their biology. It c- tains, however, a number of deeper messages related to some of the most basic and important principles of modern biology. Te bees are merely the actors that take us into the realm of phys- ology, genetics, reproduction, biophysics and learning, and that introduce us to the principles of natural selection underlying the evolution of simple to complex life forms. Te book destroys the cute notion of bees as anthropomorphic icons of busy self-sacr -i fcing individuals and presents us with the reality of the colony as an integrated and independent being—a “superorganism”—with its own, almost eerie, emergent group intelligence. We are s- prised to learn that no single bee, from queen through drone to sterile worker, has the oversight or control over the colony. - stead, through a network of integrated control systems and fee- backs, and communication between individuals, the colony - rives at consensus decisions from the bottom up through a type of “swarm intelligence”. Indeed, there are remarkable parallels between the functional organization of a swarming honeybee colony and vertebrate brains.

This simple retelling of the new CGI-animated feature film from DreamWorks, in theaters on November 2, is ideal for young readers who are too old for beginning readers but not quite ready for the longer junior novel.

Beekeeping, also known as apiculture, is the practice of raising and managing honey bees for the purpose of producing honey, beeswax, royal jelly, pollen, and other bee products. Beekeeping is an ancient art and has been practiced for thousands of years, with evidence of beekeeping dating back to ancient Egypt and Greece. Beekeeping typically involves housing a colony of bees in a hive, which can be made from various materials, such as wood or plastic. The hive consists of several components, including a bottom board, hive bodies, frames, and a lid. The hive provides a safe and stable environment for the bees to live and work, and the frames allow beekeepers to inspect the hive and manipulate the bees. The bees are managed by a beekeeper, who is responsible for ensuring that the colony is healthy and productive. This involves monitoring the health of the bees, controlling pests and diseases, providing food and water, and managing the hive to encourage honey production. Beekeepers must also take care to avoid disturbing the bees too much, as this can cause stress and reduce the productivity of the colony. One of the primary products of beekeeping is honey, which is produced by the bees from nectar collected from flowers. Honey is harvested by removing frames of honeycomb from the hive, and then extracting the honey using a honey extractor or by crushing the comb and straining out the honey. Beeswax, another valuable product of beekeeping, is produced by the bees to build the honeycomb, and can be used to make candles, cosmetics, and other products. Beekeeping is an important activity for both commercial and hobbyist beekeepers, as bees play a vital role in pollinating crops and plants, and the production of honey and other bee products supports local economies and provides valuable nutrition. However, beekeeping also requires a significant amount of knowledge, skill, and commitment to ensure the health and productivity of the bees.