A how-to book on an exhilarating outdoor activity and a unique meditation on the pleasures of the natural world
Following the Wild Bees is a delightful foray into the pastime of bee hunting, an exhilarating outdoor activity that used to be practiced widely but which few people know about today. Weaving informative discussions of bee biology with colorful anecdotes, personal insights, and beautiful photos, Thomas Seeley describes the history and science behind this lost pastime and how anyone can do it. The bee hunter's reward is a thrilling encounter with nature that challenges mind and body while also giving insights into the remarkable behavior of honey bees living in the wild. Whether you're a bee enthusiast or just curious about the natural world, this book is the ideal companion for newcomers to bee hunting and a rare treat for armchair naturalists.
Table of Contents:
Preface ix
1. Introduction 1
2. The Bee Box and Other Tools 30
3. Bee-Hunting Season 44
4. Establishing a Beeline 57
5. Timing Bees to Estimate Distance to Home 79
6. Making Moves Down the Beeline 99
7. Finding the Bee Tree 118
8. On Not "Taking Up" the Bee Tree 138
Notes 151
References 157
Illustration Credits 161
Index 163
"As charming a book as I've read in ages, Following the Wild Bees engages with the natural world in precisely the same way that dozens of generations of bee hunters have done before. My advice would be, make a beeline for the bookstore."--Bill McKibben, author of Oil and Honey
"Great adventure, true science, lost art. Bee hunting is older even than beekeeping, yet has never been described in such careful detail. Seeley draws from his whole life of honey bee study to simply and eloquently describe the bee hunter's craft, and the honey bee's foraging behavior. He fully shares the skills you'll need--capturing, baiting, releasing, marking, timing, and moving a company of bees--to pursue the fascinating outdoor sport of finding the secret homes of wild honey bee colonies."--Kim Flottum, editor of Bee Culture magazine
"This unique book is about using the art of bee lining to find honey bee colonies living in hollow trees, something the author has done for forty years. It is also about honey bees, the pleasure of connecting with nature, the sport given by hunting, and how a hunt need not end in a kill to be exhilarating. The chase is enough."--Francis L. W. Ratnieks, University of Sussex
"This inspiring, elegantly written book is much more than a riveting set of instructions for finding wild honey bee colonies nesting in tree cavities. It is a prescription for what ails us. Seely leads us on a hunt for sanity, and the best part is that the hunt ends in reverence rather than destruction. This book is a gift to humanity and a homage to bees."--Marla Spivak, University of Minnesota
"A special delight. There is no better guide to bee hunting than Seeley. Here, he draws on his extensive groundbreaking research into bee behavior, both in the lab and in the field. Following wild honey bees is Seeley's passion, and also his scientific reward--and it shows on every page of this wonderful book."--Bernd Heinrich, author of The Homing Instinct: Meaning and Mystery in Animal Migration
"Like Thoreau, Seeley advises us to slow down, take our time, and enjoy the natural world through a calm and contemplative approach. This is a lovely book, beautifully written and filled with Seeley's usual clarity and enthusiasm for bees."--Mark L. Winston, author of Bee Time: Lessons from the Hive
Thomas D. Seeley is the Horace White Professor in Biology at Cornell University. His books include The Lives of Bees, Honeybee Democracy, and Honeybee Ecology (all Princeton).
Princeton University Press
Pub Date: March 12, 2019
0.7" H x 8.4" L x 5.5" W
184 pages
paperback