The Honey Bee : Understanding the Ultimate Engineer

Beekeeper David Cramp explores the origins and evolution of man's only truly wild, food-producing livestock, the extraordinary complexity of the hive and honey-making process, the mysteries of the life of the queen, workers and drones and their sophisticated language and navigation systems.

We underestimate the intelligence of these amazing insects. Bees know left from right, have a concept of zero, can count up to four, memorise landmarks on an internal brain map, and if they are ill they will go on a health food diet.

The Honey Bee explains how the Queen is formed, why bees swarm, how the hive is built and, how and why bees and flowers developed such an intimate relationship, the amazing way in which flowers attract bees and the importance of pollination.

The Honey Bee is not just a superfluous overview of this incredible engineer, but reveals in superb detail the amazing story of these insects and explains why they play such an important role in the well-being of the planet generally and to the health and life of the plant world and ecosystems in particular.

Featured in the 2 September 2019 New Zealand newsletter.
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