What's the Buzz?

What's the Buzz?

Picture book
Has anyone ever said that you're as busy as a bee? Consider
that quite the compliment. These industrious denizens of the insect
world are fascinating. Did you know that this world has more species
of bees than of birds and mammals? Did you know that bees dance to
communicate flower location to their foraging friends?
It might be a good time to buzz on over to your local library or
book store and snap up a copy of Merrie-Ellen Wilcox's What's The
Buzz?: Keeping Bees In Flight.
Wilcox obtained her first hives and started a hands on learning
process. Lucky for us this piqued a young neighbor's curiosity. This
deceptively slim volume is the result of real life questions.
Wilcox enlightens readers about the life cycle of bees, their
social organization, and the very important work they do. She also
warns us about the precariousness of their existence and the many
dangers they face. Fortunately she ends the book with a list of fun
ways people can help these insect friends to survive.
The photographs are the bee's knees. The ones of young bee
keepers could very well inspire kids to take up this fascinating
hobby. My favorite, though, is the one of the young man with the bee
beard.
On a personal note, here in Penobscot County, Maine, a drawn out
winter is reluctantly taking its leave. Every day there are more
signs of spring. The daffodils in my front yard are coming up quite
nicely. I am feeling such a need to get down to work at the Orono
Community Garden where I am sure to have lovely close encounters of
the pollinator kind.
A great big shout out goes out to my fellow community gardeners and
our peers around the world.
Jules Hathaway


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