- 96 pages
- English
- PDF
- Available on iOS & Android
About This Book
The lives of bees are interwoven with our own, but how much do you know about them? Which scents do bees prefer? How do bees transport pollen? How far can bees fly? Do specific colours attract bees? Do bees prefer native flowers? Bees are a delight to see in the garden on warm summer days, buzzing as they flit from flower to flower. They are also vital for the future of the planet and without their dedicated pollinating skills, many crops would eventually fail. Then there is honey – a near-miraculous elixir that in earlier generations was an integral part of life as a sweetener and food preserver. It can be fermented with water and yeast to create mead, a drink that has been enjoyed for thousands of years. The Bee-Kind Garden reveals the many facets of the lives of bees, including their hives, flight patterns and defence. It is filled with helpful information on important topics such as which flowers are best for attracting bees to your garden, beekeeping equipment and guidance for extracting honey as well as the art of talking to bees. It also celebrates the charming proverbs, limericks and verse bees have inspired. This delightfully illustrated book is a homage to bees and to ensuring that they continue to live in harmony with humans in bee-friendly gardens.
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Table of contents
- Front of book jacket
- Contents
- Introduction
- Chapter 1: GETTING TO KNOW BEES
- What are bees?
- Life spans
- A hive's residents
- Colony reproduction
- Searching for nectar
- Collecting pollen
- The bee dance
- Stings & warnings
- Bee look-alikes
- Wasps & hornets
- Predators of bees
- More predators
- Chapter 2: ATTRACTING BEES
- What bees need
- Colour attraction
- Native or cultivated plants?
- Scented attractions
- Scented wild plants
- Bee-garden plants
- Seasonal flowers
- Herbaceous perennials
- Trees & shrubs
- Bees as pollinators
- Chapter 3: WHERE DO BEES LIVE?
- Honey bees in the wild
- Early hives
- Skeps
- Observation hives
- Modern hives
- Country-cottage hives
- Chapter 4: BEE-KEEPING EQUIPMENT
- Hives for today's bees
- Inside hives
- Extracting & storing honey
- Chapter 5: TALKING TO BEES
- Involving the bees
- Claiming a swarm
- Love & marriage
- Bee superstitions
- Chapter 6: HONEY. MEAD & WAX
- Magical honey
- Mead: the drink of inspiration
- The importance of wax
- Chapter 7: PROVERBS, LIMERICKS & VERSE
- Bee proverbs & sayings
- Bee limericks
- Bees in verse
- Index
- Copyright page