it angers me, also, when people talk of 'biodiversity offsetting' as though somehow promising to plant an equal number of trees somewhere else makes it acceptable to destroy old woodlands and the ecosystems that have grown up around and within them." A beautiful book and one that hums with good life. Brigit Strawbridge Howard came late to bees but began noticing them at a time when their going was being widely announced. Her attention has been clear-sighted but also loving. By looking closely at the hummers and the buzzers, she has begun to take in the whole of what Charles Darwin called the 'tangled bank' of life, where there are bees (and Brigit's winning descriptions will help you know them) and there are plants, and there are other pollinators and nectar-seekers, including Homo sapiens. No other insect – surely no other animal – has had such a long and life-giving relationship with humans. Bees may well have shaped our evolution; our continued well-being is certainly dependent on them. Bees have long been part of our consciousness and art, buzzing in parables and fables and ancient and modern poems made out of their industry and their organisation and their marvellous sweet products. All that is in this book: It is ambrosia." As a naturalist I found the material interesting — certainly with its human touch more engaging than the dry scientific papers I try to keep up with. My fear though, is that the level of detail will be a limiting factor in attracting readership. Sales may be enough for the publisher, but I don't see that many delving into the contents. It is only when we realise that we are a part of nature, rather than apart from it, and behave accordingly that real change is likely to happen. When I say 'detailed' I mean the book goes into considerable detail in describing species (especially bee species), their behavior, and ecological aspects. As the journey progresses, the author's perspective broadens to assimilate other eukaryote (plants and animals) life forms.

Brigit Strawbridge Howard ist eine begeisterte Bienenliebhaberin. Mit einem sehr authentischen Stil nimmt sie die Leser dieses Buches mit in ihren Alltag als Laienforscherin. Ähnlich einem Tagebuch beschreibt sie ihre Beobachtungen über die faszinierende Welt der Bienen, die verschiedenen Arten, ihr Aussehen, ihr Verhalten und auf welchen Pflanzen sie sich am liebsten aufhalten. Dies tut sie in ihrem ganz eigenen Stil fast kindlicher Begeisterung. Häufig werden Tiere und Pflanzen dabei auch etwas vermenschlicht. Finally I must mention the clever heath potter wasp which creates a small clay pot and attaches it to the stem of Heather. The female fills it with food for her future young and lays a single egg inside before sealing the jar and then moves on to make another; it was just amazing to read about. Dancing with Bees written by naturalist and wild life gardener, Brigit Strawbridge Howard, is a beautiful book with enchanting watercolour illustrations throughout by John Walters.Ich fand das Buch ansprechend gestaltet. Vor allem das Cover hat mich angelächelt und auch die Illustrationen im Buch waren sehr schön. Ich war anfangs sehr begeistert, da ich viel Neues gelernt habe und das Buch auf jeden Fall zum Nachdenken anregt. Jedoch hat es sich für mich mit der Zeit sehr eintönig angefühlt und dadurch leider langweilig. Dancing with Bees is an antidote to the reality of modern life that’s spent nose down in our smartphones while the wondrous stuff—nature—goes on all around us. Brigit Strawbridge Howard chronicles her own journey of reconnecting with the natural world with heartfelt eloquence. Her descriptions of the creatures, plants, and landscapes that populate her journey are made with the unabashed joy of someone for whom a veil has been lifted, revealing a world to be cherished but also in great need of our protection.” —Matthew Wilson, garden designer; author; panelist, BBC Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time Die enthaltenen Zeichnungen sind sehr schön und auf jeden Fall ein Pluspunkt, jedoch hätte ich es besser gefunden, wenn es auch das eine oder andere Foto gegeben hätte. Nicht nur von den verschiedenen Bienenarten, sondern auch von den beschriebenen Landschaften.

The only reason I am giving the book 4 stars instead of 5 is because I sorely missed having more pictures. Brigit singles out a distinguishing feature for each bee – a moustache or a marking – and gives each one character. It would have been useful to have this reflected in a colour guide to the bees mentioned. I did refer to my Collins handbook of insects, but was soon overwhelmed. The book starts strongly, reading as part memoir, part nature documentary as Howard describes her major life events coupled with descriptions and facts about the various bee species she encounters in her native England. I enjoyed these early chapters, as I was engrossed in learning of bees what I, like the author, knew very little about previously. Howard takes a strong conservationist stance, preaching education and a reintroduction to nature as the main ways to stop the species and planetary rot. It's a timely message, and one that she isn't afraid to repeat throughout the book.Reading this wonderful book, I’m left with one very large regret: that Brigit Strawbridge Howard lives and writes about nature in Britain rather than in North America. That is, the vast majority of the insects and plants whose stories she tells so compellingly do not exist anywhere near where I live. This was first brought home most starkly by her account of a queen bumblebee on the wing in February! In my part of the world, one is unlikely to spot a flying bumblebee before May. It was frustrating to find myself unable to be present on her treks around the Hebrides, Devon, Malvern and other spots, watching the mating dance of bees and butterflies, potter wasps building their elegant nests, walking past hedgerows, hosts of wildflowers, dozens of bee species unknown hereabouts; and then, the flight song of skylarks, for heaven’s sake! Recent research, based on the observation of evening primroses, shows that these plants themselves respond to the sound of bees buzzing. Within just minutes of sensing the sound of a nearby bee, the concentration of sugar in the nectar produced by the plants increases by an average of 20 percent. Incredibly, the flowers even seem to be able to filter out irrelevant noises, such as the wind. She shares with us both her own discoveries and lore that she gathers through her extensive research into what others have written. Some of the most fascinating revelations have to do with the ways in which plants and insects interrelate: A] fascinating and wide-ranging exploration of nature [...] This satisfying memoir of a woman's reawakening to the importance of nature in her life will appeal to fans of natural history memoirs, bees, the natural world, or ecology."

Dancing with Bees is an antidote to the reality of modern life that's spent nose down in our smartphones while the wondrous stuff – nature – goes on all around us. Brigit Strawbridge Howard chronicles her own journey of reconnecting with the natural world with heartfelt eloquence. Her descriptions of the creatures, plants, and landscapes that populate her journey are made with the unabashed joy of someone for whom a veil has been lifted, revealing a world to be cherished but also in great need of our protection." A] fascinating and wide-ranging exploration of nature. . .This satisfying memoir of a woman’s reawakening to the importance of nature in her life will appeal to fans of natural history memoirs, bees, the natural world, or ecology." Dancing with Bees is naturalist Brigit Strawbridge Howard's adventure into becoming reacquainted with the outdoors, inspired by the realization that she barely knew anything about bees she'd see on a day to day basis. She attempts to inspire beyond the "we need to save the bees" aphorisms by learning more about them and their importance in our world.

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A beautiful book and one that hums with good life. Brigit Strawbridge Howard came late to bees but began noticing them at a time when their going was being widely announced. Her attention has been clear-sighted but also loving. By looking closely at the hummers and the buzzers, she has begun to take in the whole of what Charles Darwin called the ‘tangled bank’ of life, where there are bees (and Brigit’s winning descriptions will help you know them) and there are plants, and there are other pollinators and nectar-seekers, including Homo sapiens. No other insect—surely no other animal—has had such a long and life-giving relationship with humans. Bees may well have shaped our evolution; our continued well-being is certainly dependent on them. Bees have long been part of our consciousness and art, buzzing in parables and fables and ancient and modern poems made out of their industry and their organisation and their marvellous sweet products. All that is in this book: It is ambrosia.” —Tim Dee, author of Landfill The largest part of Brigit’s book is taken up with her study of bumblebees and solitary bees with a few interesting characters thrown into the mix. From her allotment and her walks mainly around the Shaftsbury area of Dorset, she talks about the habitats and flowers which each species like, followed by wonderful descriptions about the bees that she spots. There’s also information about their mating and breeding habits.