Good Books: Dancing with Bees

Dancing with Bees by Brigit Strawbridge Howard

I love a book that motivates me to get out in nature and explore and that’s just what Dancing with Bees did for me.

Part memoir, part bee education, this book provides a wonderful introduction to the vast and varied world of bees. Many of us think of honeybees or bumblebees and get no further, but those two types of bees make up only about 258 of the 20,000 species in the seven bee families.

Howard takes us on a mind-expanding journey of discovery, beginning in her own English garden, helping us get to know some of the intriguing types of bees we might encounter ourselves. First we learn about the hive and nest habits of bees: some are eusocial and live in giant hives where everyone has a job, others are solitary nesters and never even meet the next generation of bees, leaving their eggs to hatch on their own.

As the book goes on, Howard tells some of the very specific behaviors of certain bees. Leaf-cutter bees cut little pieces of leaves and fly them back to their nest to create the special cells necessary for eggs to pupate. Cuckoo bees lay their eggs in other bee species’ nests so they don’t have to do the work of raising the young themselves! What I really want to see are the Potter bees that create little pots of clay to lay their eggs in. One would think a fairy left the pot, not a bee!

Throughout the book, as Howard weaves in some of her own personal experiences, and tells about her garden and travels, a feeling of discovery and adventure is developed. It’s this feeling that has motivated me to want to investigate more of the bee life that must be happening under my very nose in my own garden. As we head into fall, many bees are either dying or going into winter hibernation, but there are still plenty visiting my flowers. And I already hope to use my anticipation for bee sightings to get me through some of the last dreary weeks of next winter.

This book is 254 pages long. I think the first time I read it was via audio book. This last time through I wanted to underline so I could really digest and come back to some of the bee information. Either way, if you are interested in bees, I believe you will find this book to be both helpful and enjoyable.