Keeping the Bees - Laurence Packer - Part 1

Keeping the Bees - Laurence Packer

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 62

  March 3, 2017 

Book 18 - Keeping the Bees
by Laurence Packer (2010)
 Part 1 - pages 1-62
Reading Time - 70 minutes

This is another interlude book - one that I picked off of the "recommended reading" shelf at the library. A friend of mine is a beekeeper and, given the stress that bees are under today, I thought this was a timely read. For sure, it's an easier read than the last book!! Maybe I'm just more interested in bees than in conversations?

I've already learned quite a lot about bees... like there are over 19,000 species of bees out there! That's almost the same number of species as mammals, insects and amphibians combined. That's a lot of different bees. And the little domesticated honey bee that we love so much is only one type of bee.

I also learned that only about 5% of bee species make honey. And that a lot of bees don't live in colonies, but live down in the ground as solitary bees tending their brood of babies.

Also learned that it's really hard to tell bees from non-bees sometimes. I have this image in my mind of what a bee looks like: black and yellow, furry (hairy) with wings. But some bees are green... or blue... or red. Other bees are hairless. Some bees have long mandibles. I think most of them do have wings though. You do get a lot of bee look-alikes out there... like the hover fly (see photo at left). Even some experts have trouble telling a bee from a non-bee. One relatively sure-fire method is to see if the little critter has pollen pouches on its hind legs or belly.

I'm sure most people know that bees are in trouble... at least the domesticated honey bee, for sure. Disease, parasites, colony collapse disorder are all wreaking havoc on bee hives. The author notes, however, that we don't do very well by our bees. For example, in the US, bee keepers move their hives around the country chasing the latest crop that needs pollination. For example, millions of hives are needed in California every year to pollinate the almond trees. When that is done, the bee keepers move the hives to the next crops (apples or whatever). That's gotta be stressy for the bees, don't you think? And not very smart.

I'm hoping this book is going to share ways in which we can help the bees... cause there are a lot more bees out there, wild bees, than just the little honey bee. Oh... and if bees were to die off, we'd have a heck of a time feeding ourselves anything other than wheat and rice (which are wind pollinated). Keep the Bees!