The Lives Of Bees - A Natural History Of Our Planet's Bee Life
- by Christina Grozinger and Harland Patch

This fabulous addition to 'The Lives of the Natural World' series from Princeton University Press, explores the amazing world of bees.

It’s packed with stunning photography throughout, that enables the reader to note the subtle iridescence in wings, the delightful uniqueness of each bee face, and provides informative glimpses of bees and their diverse behaviours (a mason bee carrying a twig, a vulture bee sitting on the head of a dead fish and much more).

Aside from extraordinary photography, the book covers the kinds of topics you would expect in a title from this series (an overview of bee families, habitat, foraging, life cycles, mating behaviours, species profiles, glossary and so on). 

But of course, anyone who knows anything about bees will already be aware that those general themes encompass a dazzling range of curious behavioural differences. Grozinger and Patch demonstrate this beautifully throughout.

For example:

• the varying relationships between different bee and orchid species (on the one hand, some orchids trick male bees by mimicking females, on the other, some orchids help males attract females by supplying them with a kind of Eau de cologne); 
• the apparent flexibility of social or solitary nesting behaviour, with some species demonstrating both; 
• and the methods used by bee species to deter predators, which include camouflage, the use of animal faeces, and even creating 'dummy', empty brood cells to trick parasites. 

Indeed, the authors (both esteemed academics in entomological fields from Pennsylvania State University) succeed in demonstrating how bees have triumphed in adapting to their local ecosystems, the seasons and flora. 

All in all, this beautifully crafted, lavishly illustrated, detailed yet highly readable hardback book is one to cherish, and is incredibly good value for money. Don't miss it!

The authors
Dr Christina Grozinger and Dr Harland Patch. Grozinger is Publius Vergilius Marco Professor of Entomology and Director of the centre for Pollinator Research at Pennsylvania State University; whilst Patch is Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Entomology, and Director of Pollinator Programming at the Arboretum, also at Pennsylvania State University.

The Lives of Bees: A Natural History of Our Planet's Bee Life - Princeton University Press 

Christina Grozinger and Harland Patch

Hardcover - ISBN: 9780691247298

288 pages - 7.5 x 9.5 inches (18.75 x 23.75 cm) - 150+ colour illustrations

The Lives of Bees is available from Amazon.

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