A fascinating look at the secret life of bees, all the way from buzzing around the garden to the sticky knife in the honey jar.
Bees make honey; we all know that. But what happens between the bee buzzing around our garden, and the sticky knife in the jar, is a mystery to most of us.
Based on careful observation and years of experience, Michael Weiler here reveals the secret life of bees. He looks at all aspects of a bee's life and work and vividly describes their remarkable world. Did you know that it takes approximately 12,000 bee-hours to make one jar of honey? (At £5.30 per hour, that would mean one jar should cost around £63,600.)
This is a fascinating book for anyone interested in the intricacies of nature and our world.
'The author is not only an experienced beekeeper who looks after fifty colonies but also a committed teacher who possesses a great passion for bees and a deep understanding of their behaviour and nature...The text conveys the reader smoothly through this refreshing insight into the bees' world, the photographs, various biological illustrations, line drawings and tables are all designed to enhance the learning process from this book. On a literary note, there are also two delightful poems...to add to the reader's pleasure...Good value for money at £8.99.'
--Bee Keeping, Dec. 2006
'Michael Weiler is an experienced beekeeper who looks after fifty colonies. He is a teacher with a great passion for bees and deep understanding of their nature. I had already begun to apply organic principles within my own beekeeping and I am now convinced that the biodynamic route is the one I shall take.'
-- Philip Chandler of the Wholesome Food Association, in Star and Furrow Winter 2005, after participating in a day-course on 'The Nature of Bees and Biodynamic Beekeeping' with Michael Weiler organised by the BDAA
'Informed by a Goethean perspective, this fascinating book about the life cycle of a bee tells the reader all they need to know about the subject.'
--Scientific and Medical Network Review
'This delightful and detailed little book takes us on a wonderful journey through the beekeeping year…The outline of the Demeter Beekeeping Guidelines at the back of the book will be especially useful to beekeepers considering how they can best work with their bees.'
-- Sue Peat, The Anthroposophical Society in Great Britain Newsletter, Oct 2006
'If you're an experienced bee-keeper wishing to know your bees better, and more so if you're one that likes to share the art of bee keeping with fellow human beings, then this little book shows how!! The writer, Co-director of the Demeter association in Germany, takes us by the hand on a wonderful journey through the beekeeping year.'
--Star and Furrow, Winter 2006
'From poetic opening lines to a royal jelly finale this wonderful book has been written from the heart-mind of a man who truly loves his bees. Readers may feel themselves transported to stand beside the beekeeper, accompanying him as he tends to his hive. Which is of course the book's defining strength. Well illustrated with excellent photographs and clear diagrams.'
-- Harvests Magazine, August 2007
Michael Weiler has been a beekeeper for twenty-five years and runs courses and conferences on ecological beekeeping in Germany and the UK.