Saving bees

The Hive Detectives: Chronicle of a Honey Bee Catastrophe
by Loree Griffin Burns


Honey bees are disappearing, putting our food supply at risk. What is behind colony collapse disorder? This book attempts to find the answer. It profiles the experiments of four American bee scientists as they work on solving this mystery. 

An interesting and enlightening look at bee ecology and its importance.




The Hive Detectives begins and ends with the harvesting of honey. For more information about beekeeping, here are a couple of books:



Hooray for Beekeeping! 

by Bobbie Kalman

A good, simple introduction to bees and beekeeping for ages 4-6. Includes a couple of easy honey treats to make and eat.

A Beekeeper's Year
by Sylvia A. Johnson

Follows a year in the life of Minnesota beekeepers. Text-heavy, this book is suitable for ages 9 and up.

Bee facts

Exploring the World of Bees
by Tracy C. Read


Read's book provides detailed information about bees in a short 24 pages. It covers bee anatomy, bee senses, and bee social lives. Full-colour photographs are scattered throughout.

An attractive, easy-to-read book.

Buzz About Bees
by Kari-Lynn Winters


Winters may have overdone the bee puns a little bit - UnBEE-lievable Body Parts, BEE-ing the Queen, Keeping BUZZ-y - but she provides a lot of information in an entertaining, easy-to-understand manner. Close-up photos and diagrams are clearly labelled and facts are presented in short, kid-friendly paragraphs. Her final chapter discusses the theories behind colony collapse disorder and how we can help.

Well-written and organized, this is a very useful book.

A bee's life

Bee Life


Wonderfully lifelike, dramatic pictures illustrate this informational picture book about a honeybee's life. With a storybook feel, it follows the honeybee as it goes about its work and describes the activity inside the hive.

A lovely book for parents and children to read together.






Flight of the Honey Bee
by Raymond Huber
illustrated by Brian Lovelock



A bee named Scout searches for pollen and nectar in Huber's picture book. Along the way she must contend with rain and predators before distributing her precious cargo to her hive.

Simply told, with nice big pictures, this is an informative and attractive book.






Bee
by Kate Riggs


For a close-up look at bees, check out this excellent book. Spectacular photographs show bees in various stages of development, from egg to adult.

Highly recommended.