Product Description

We all know that bees make honey. They mystery for most of us is what happens between the time when those bees are buzzing around our garden and when we stick our knife in the jar. Based on careful observation and years of experience, Michael Weiler 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, for example, that it takes approximately 12,000 bee hours to produce a single jar of honey? If bees earned minimum wages, one jar would cost almost $100,000 (plus retail markup).

Here is a fascinating book for anyone interested in the intricacies of nature and the life of these fascinating insects.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #59532 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 120 pages

About the Author
Michael Weiler has lived in Kassel since 1985 and is the father of five. In 1982, he began beekeeping while studying agriculture. After working as an agricultural consultant, he attended the teacher training at the free Rudolf Steiner School in Kassel and taught at the Jean Paul School until 1996. He currently does research in biodynamics. He is editor of the magazine Lebendige Erde. Since 1992, he has helped to develop guidelines for approaches to ecological beekeeping and leads seminars on the life of bees and healthy beekeeping.

Customer Reviews

Best recommendation for an understanding of bees
New to beekeeping, I have found bees interesting since I was a kid sitting in front of an observation hive at the county fair.

Though I've read this book through several times already, I keep coming back to it. It's a fascinating read, entertaining and lively. Most of the other beginner beekeeping books focus on manipulating the hive, treating diseases and harvesting honey. They usually fill out the last two chapters with candlemaking and recipes for muffins using honey instead of sugar that would be better suited to a cookbook than a beekeeping book.

Michiel Weiler's book instead explains the activities and life stages of both individual bees and the bee colony as a whole organism.

The book was originally written in German and titled 'Der Mensch und die Bienen-Betrachtungen zu den Lebensäußerungen des Bien'. For those who find the German language challenging, it translates 'The Man and the Bees-Reflections on the Living Manifestations of the Bien', which describes it much better. In German, 'Bien' (pronounced bee-en) can describe the individual bee and/or the bee colony as a whole.

A great reference book for anyone interested in bees and beekeeping, much of the book is written as if by a third person watching a visitor and a master beekeeper as they together observe and inspect the bees and hive. The bees' actions and the observations are carefully and thoroughly described and explained.

There are many line drawings and a profusion of black-and-white pictures.

The observer is taken through the different stages in the colony's development as the seasons change and the colony adapts. Queen development has it's own chapter, as does the parasitic Varroa mite. The book also has a chapter on the honey harvest and ends with analysis of honey and it's properties.

An appendix written by Günther Friedmann explains the German Demeter certification as it applies to apiculture, very interesting for anyone exploring an organic or biodynamic approach to beekeeping.

This book would be the first one I recommend to anyone interested in bees or beekeeping, without hesitiation.

Billiantly translated by David Heaf, who also translated 'L'Apiculture por Tous' by Abbé Emile Warré from the French. Incidentally, Mr. Heaf has made his translation of 'L'Apiculture por Tous' available at no cost, titled 'Beekeeping for All'. It is no replacement for this book, but mentioned here as a courtesy for anyone seriously interested in a better understanding of bees.