Following The Wild Bees: The Craft And Science Of Bee Hunting

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Following the Wild Bees is a delightful foray into the pastime of bee hunting, an exhilarating outdoor activity that used to be practiced widely but which few people know about today. Thomas Seeley, a world authority on honey bees, vividly describes the history and science behind this lost pastime and how anyone can do it. Following the Wild Bees is both a unique meditation on the pleasures of the natural world and a guide to the ingenious methods that compose the craft of the bee hunter.Seeley explains how one finds a patch of flowers humming with honey bees, captures and sumptuously feeds the bees, and then releases and follows them, step-by-step in whatever direction they fly, back to their secret residence in a hollow tree, old building, or abandoned hive. The bee hunter's reward is a thrilling encounter with nature that challenges mind and body while also giving new insights into the remarkable behavior of honey bees living in the wild.Drawing on decades of experience as a bee hunter and bee biologist, Seeley weaves informative discussions of the biology of wild honey bees with colorful historical anecdotes, personal insights, and beautiful photos. Whether you're a bee enthusiast or just curious about the natural world, Following the Wild Bees is the ideal companion for newcomers to bee hunting and a rare treat for armchair naturalists.

Hardcover: 184 pages

Publisher: Princeton University Press (May 3, 2016)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0691170266

ISBN-13: 978-0691170268

Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 0.9 x 8.6 inches

Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #111,910 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #38 in Books > Science & Math > Biological Sciences > Biology > Entomology #49 in Books > Science & Math > Biological Sciences > Animals > Insects & Spiders #97 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Natural History

I already had George H Edgell's book, "The Bee Hunter" and had read it several times. Both books cover the art of Bee Hunting. The same equipment and strategies are described in each book. Tom Seeley offers a slightly simpler and easier to make Bee Box and has a few improvements in the supporting equipment. Seeley's book is thicker because it not only presents the HOW, but also explains the WHY behind the craft. The WHY is fascinating. There are plenty of pictures in Seeley's book so you get an idea of what you are looking for.The major difference between the two books is what you do after you locate the bees. Edgell briefly explains what equipment you will need to "take" the bees. Seeley claims that the thrill of the hunt and spending time in nature is adequate compensation. If you are simply trying to locate bee colonies, either book will be adequate, but if you are interested in the science as well, Seeley's book will not disappoint.

Review in the American Bee Journal (May 2016 issue):Tom Seeley’s new book revives the ancient art of bee lining — finding bee nests in the wild, in the city, or wherever bees are present. It expands the range of skills and pleasures accessible to every beekeeper, and opens a new path for introducing the world of bees to any person.A practical guide to bee hunting, Following the Wild Bees will equip you with the simple tools and techniques to successfully locate a bee tree in a vast forest, or even find bees’ secret abodes in an urban jungle. Using a special small box you catch a few bees in a flower patch and feed them some good food. As they are ready to depart, you mark each bee with a dot of paint and note the direction of her flight and how long it takes her to come back for more food. You then start following the bee line, gradually zooming in on the bees’ home.Comprehensive and detailed, Following the Wild Bees presents easy-to-follow bee hunting methods as well as insightful scientific explanations of why these methods work — offering numerous fascinating facts from honeybee biology and a glimpse of the bee hunt as seen through the bee’s eyes. Even a well-read bee enthusiast will find in these pages a wealth of new ideas and fresh information not seen anywhere else.Almost unknown to us today, bee hunting is a human-bee relationship that predates beekeeping by many millennia. After participating in a bee hunt led by Tom Seeley, I feel that everyone should experience that! It has the raw primordial quality of a real hunt, and at the same time you get a fascinating new look at the ways of the bees. Historically bee hunting was a means of robbing wild colonies of honey, but in its modern form it can serve as an introduction to the bees — a more enticing introduction than a visit to an apiary. No protective gear or smoker required; you interact with a small number of bees without any danger of being stung, and observe them in a natural setting while searching for the bee nest as a hidden treasure.Great books often evoke contradictory emotions, and Following the Wild Bees does not disappoint in this respect either. I was reading it with a growing sense of alarm, concerned that some readers will use its methods to seek out and destroy bee trees — making cutouts for transfer to their managed apiaries. But just as in his previous books, Tom Seeley’s passion for the bees shines through the pages of this new volume, and I remain hopeful that his plea to not “take up” the feral bees’ nests will be heard. To those interested in obtaining survivor stock from the wild, Seeley offers his expert advice on using bait hives to attract feral swarms.Tom Seeley’s excellent prose and clear explanations come inside beautiful “packaging” — a hardcover with fifty full-color photographs.

Great book. Easy to read. Would like to have seen more info on creating a bee box. Definitely going to be beelining. There's a Youtube video by Megan Denver with Dr. Seeley, describing the process.

Eloquent and witty book by a top-notch scientist! I was immediately inspired to follow wild bees myself. Tom Seeley is the rare scientist who can communicate complex ideas with nuance and clarity. If you are interested in honeybees, you must read this book (and his previous book, Honeybee Democracy, as well).

Great book! Anyone who is a beekeeper needs to read this book. It gives a good idea of how bees fly and communicate in the wild. It's all based on experience and study, from a Harvard professor.

This is a fun book to read. Lots of information and a good introduction to an activity most people aren't aware of. I'm looking forward to doing lots of bee hunting this summer.

My husband is a beekeeper and is always looking for books to expand his knowledge base. This is reading material for the winter months when our apiary has us not quite as busy!

Great book. It covers all sorts of techniques and information only someone with experience would know. I really enjoyed it and learned a lot.

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