Bookshelf

The Dark Side of the Hive – the evolution of the imperfect honey bee

Robin Moritz and Robin Crewe

2018 186 pages Hardcover

The authors have researched together over many years, and in this new text present details about the life history of honey bees, from the perspective of individual honey bees, rather than the honey bee colony as a whole superorganism. They discuss the ‘careers’ of individual female and male workers and their role in a colony’s organisation.

Each honey bee colony is made up with genetics derived from a number of male drones, leading to the colony’s genetic diversity, which affects many aspects of the colony’s organisation and disease resistance. Interesting closing chapters discuss ‘Apiculture and long-suffering bees’, the ‘Dark sides of honey bee science’ and ‘A silver lining for the future of bees’.

Beeswax Alchemy

Petra Ahnert

2015 136 pages Softcover

Petra Ahnert is a beekeeper and entrepreneur in Wisconsin, USA who through this book guides you to make your own balms, candles, home décor, salves and soap using beeswax. This is an excellent introduction to the form and function of wax, and how to transform it into useful products for health and home, with recipes and instructions to get your craftwork started.

Bee Journal

Sean Borodale

2016 reissue 150 pages Softcover £9.99

Available for purchase from our shop in Monmouth or at: www.shop.beesfd.org

This is a beautiful poem-journal that follows the life of the honey bee colony over a year and the beekeeper’s reactions to what is observed.

The book was shortlisted for the 2012 T S Eliot Poetry Prize

Bees vs People – a collection of poems about bees and the people who keep them

Chris Slade

2019 48 pages Softcover £5

Available for purchase from our shop in Monmouth or at: www.shop.beesfd.org

Chris Slade has been a beekeeper for 40 years and is currently a member of Cattistock Poets. Chris’s poems are about the people he has met as a beekeeper and particularly while attending the Federation of Irish Beekeepers Association’s Summer School at Gormanston College every summer.