Bees: A Honeyed History

Gr 4–6—Comical and informative, this oversize, weighty compendium from Poland introduces an impressive array of bee and human history. Two-page topical entries are dominated by large, detailed illustrations with text running along the lower half of the pages. Bee bodies and behavior; hive building; social roles; the work of pollinating and honey production; the relationship between bees and prehistoric people, ancient Greeks, and Egyptians; and many, many other topics race along here. Illustrations of enlarged bees and humorous, stylized people are fun but also suggest that the work is meant to entertain more than inform. Some topics and explanations are sophisticated (biometrics, the Emperor Nero's wife Poppaea Sabina), and some are sketchy (how does pollen actually produce beets and cabbages?). Animal threats to bees are described, and the collapse of bee colonies in the United States in recent years is also mentioned. There's plentiful coverage of beekeeping throughout history and in today's world. Many topics nicely augment and complement other books on this familiar insect. However, the lack of typical nonfiction text features (table of contents, index, etc.) does limit the title's usefulness.