Plan Bee : Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about the Hardest-Working Creatures on the Planet

by Brackney, Susan

• ISBN13: 9780399535987
• ISBN10: 0399535985
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-05-04
• Publisher: Perigee Trade

Summary

Honeybees get their due in this delightfully illustrated, fact-filled work that offers a guided tour through the history, folklore, and function of the hardest-working creatures on the planet.

Author Biography

Susan Brackney is a beekeeper in Bloomington, Indiana. A nature writer whose articles have appeared in the New York Times, Plenty, Organic Gardening, and elsewhere, she is also an avid gardener, an expert on sustainability, and the author of The Insatiable Gardener's Guide, The Lost Soul Companion, and The Not-So-Lost Soul Companion. Visit her website at www.planbeebook.com.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Birds and the Bees	p. xi
The Buzz About Bees
On Being a Bee	p. 3
Honeybee Impostors	p. 3
The Bee Family Tree	p. 6
Oops...	p. 9
Who's Who in the Hive	p. 13
Girl Power	p. 13
The Lazy, Yawning Drones	p. 21
Cue the Barry White	p. 23
Honeybee Destinies	p. 26
They Are What They Eat	p. 27
The Bee's Knees (and Other Bee Parts)	p. 32
Bees by the Numbers	p. 32
Just a Teaspoon for Me, Please...	p. 35
What Honey Is and Is Not	p. 35
Waxing Philosophical	p. 36
What Makes a Bee a Bee	p. 40
The Head	p. 41
The Thorax	p. 44
The Stickiest Stuff on Earth	p. 45
The Abdomen	p. 46
Gland Central Station	p. 48
The Sting	p. 48
Dang It!	p. 52
Bees and the Bigger Picture	p. 55
Bee Souls, Legends, and Lore	p. 55
The Letters Bee	p. 62
Bee Movies, Bee Beards, and Bee-kinis	p. 64
Honeybee Perils	p. 69
Why Bees Matter	p. 69
Pests and Pestilence	p. 71
Small but Mite-y	p. 72
Stressed-Out Bees	p. 74
The Biggest Threat Yet	p. 75
A Beekeeper's Life
A (Brief) History of Beekeeping	p. 81
Death and Taxes	p. 82
Other Early Beekeepers	p. 86
America's Honeybee Patriots	p. 88
Putting the "Bee" in B-52	p. 95
Got Bees?	p. 98
Building a Better Bee	p. 101
A Beekeeper's Honey-Do List	p. 104
Bees in the Trees	p. 107
If You See a Swarm	p. 110
To Bee or Not to Bee	p. 110
Pleasing the Bees	p. 117
Other Guests You'll Meet	p. 120
Water, Water, Everywhere	p. 128
The Honeybee Calendar	p. 130
The Sweet Life	p. 133
Honey Extraction 101	p. 136
More Tools of the Trade	p. 137
Tortured Honey Versus Tasty Honey	p. 138
"Mad" Honey	p. 141
Honey and the "Halo Effect"	p. 143
Caveat Emptor	p. 145
Yummy Honey Recipes	p. 146
Minding Your Beeswax	p. 150
Other Bee Goods	p. 164
For the Good of Bees	p. 167
Final Note	p. 171
Who Needs Chickens Anyway?	p. 171
Afterword	p. 174
Further Reading and Resources	p. 177
Permissions	p. 179
Index	p. 181
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.