Book Review - The Lives of Bees, The Untold Story of the Honey Bee in the Wild - Princeton University Press

     It gave me a good deal of pleasure a week ago to see a package poking up out of my mailbox which turned out to be the review copy of The Life of Bees by Thomas D. Seeley. My interest of late has been directed towards pollination and pollinators so a new work on bees was especially welcome.

     I have to confess that Seeley was unknown to me, so I first did a little investigation into the author. Thomas Seeley is a distinguished professor at Cornell University, with a lifetime of bee research behind him, and has authored several other books on this taxon, in addition to publishing countless scientific papers.

     I knew I was in good hands.
    As many of you no doubt know, honey bee populations in hives, have been crashing in recent years, for a variety of reasons, but their wild cousins, from whom there is little genetic separation have been doing well. Seeley examines the causes for this phenomenon and offers solutions to common issues such as overcrowding by placing hives too close together, which not only stresses the bees simply by virtue of density, it facilitates the spread of disease and pathogens, especially Verroa destructor mites which can decimate colonies very rapidly. He also makes recommendations as to the size of hives, stressing that most anthropogenic bee houses are too big, and are designed purely for increased production of honey, with little thought as to how a hive might do better were it to more closely resemble a nest cavity in the wild. Even issues as fundamental as the insulative capacity of a natural colony to provide optimum conditions in cold winters, to maintain the narrow temperature range necessary for a successful colony are not replicated in hives. The importance of a small entry hole into a natural cavity is explained and is in stark contrast to the entrance in hives. Beekeepers try to prevent swarming; swarming under natural conditions promotes good health, establishes new communities and facilitates genetic diversity.
     Humans have succeeded in domesticating many animals, and have effectively made certain species, domestic cattle for example, dependent on humans for their very existence. Not so with bees. The honey bee in the hive is still essentially the same as the honey bee in the wild.
     The chapters of the book follow a logical progression of topics, examining different features of the life of bees in the wild, supported by extensive field work and collaboration with other centres of learning.
     It is nicely illustrated with colour photographs to accompany the text.

     Charts and diagrams are effectively used to complement the discussion of various topics.

     The last chapter is titled "Darwinian Beekeeping" and if you are pressed for time and unable to tackle the whole book, this chapter encapsulates much of it for you, and offers a succinct review of what needs to be done for successful beekeeping, by reverting to keeping bees in a fashion more closely allied to nature. Maximum output, hence maximum profit, need not be the only motive for raising honey bees, and bad practices for short term gain are harmful in the long run.  When I read this chapter, I immediately reread it; perhaps you might do the same.

     This is a first class work that should be read by anyone concerned with the alarming decline in pollinators of all taxa, but is especially important for bee keepers and their future as honey producers, and for biologists and landowners anxious to preserve habitat for wild honey bees. I highly recommend it.

The Lives of Bees: The Untold Story of the Honey Bee in the Wild

Thomas D. Seeley

Hardcover - $29.95 - 9780691166766 - 432 pages - 72 colour and 38 black-and-white illustrations - 6 1/8 in. x 9 1/4 in.

Publication date: 21 May 2019