Customer Reviews

Bees

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When I read this book I was astonished that he wrote with such empathy for the bees. He also explains why the bees are disappearing and predicted there decline over a hundred years ago. He explained the benifits of formic acid and the connection of the bees, wasps and ants to our lives and the life of plants. He considers these animals as emotional and feeling and writes for all of them as such.

I agree with both 5 star and the 1 star reviewer: If you are looking for a book with practical information on non-industrial or organic beekeeping, Ross Conrad's "Natural Beekeeping" is your book, not this one. Steiner is a fascinating character and this book is basically a transcription of some chalkboard lectures he gave on bee ecology. Some of it seems pretty stream-of-consciousness and out there; I felt like I was reading the remarks of a "wild man" who'd come down off the mountain to describe some of his trippy insights into bees. For example, he discusses a sort of astrological connection between worker bees and the Sun, whose 21-day larval gestation correlates with the 21-day rotational period of the sun. However, the queen bee is supposedly fertile due to sun influence, although she gestates for only 16 days, and drones, who gestate over 22-24 days, are fertile due to earth influence. I don't really follow the logic here at all. It's mystical, and that's fine, but it's not really biology or science and for those of us who use a scientific framework (at least some of the time) that's a bit of a stumbling block. Steiner's critique of industrial beekeeping techniques leading eventually to population declines turned out to be spot-on and very accurate 100 years in advance, so he was right, although I can't tell from his reasoning how he knew. So, the book has merit, but NOT as a practical handbook on organic beekeeping.

Yes, this book is about bees. Yes, this book is more than just bees. If you are looking for detailed instructions on how to keep bees, perhaps another book would be more helpful. If you want to UNDERSTAND bees, read this book!

You can read this book online for free at the web address [...]
It is a somewhat difficult but very sweet book.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in bees or is considering beekeeping!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If what you are looking for is an esoteric and, at times, biological/ecological insight into the realm of Bees, this book is perhaps the most comprehensive. I am aware of other books that also cover some of this material, although the authors are reiterating the late Steiner's work in their own words. One example, which I have not read, is Wisdom of the Bees. "Bees" by Rudolf Steiner may be the only book of its kind. At least it is the only one I am aware of in English.

It may be helpful to note that Steiner is not one to stick to a single train of thought or specialisation in his lectures. Exploring the subject of bees takes him and you, the reader, into a wide range of subjects pertaining to nature, insects, and human beings (mostly from an esoteric perspective). Reading this book you will be learning about far more than only bees.

I would describe the information in this book as high level info, rather than being pragmatic and instructional. As a few other reviewers have pointed out, if you are looking for instruction into natural or alternative methods of bee keeping this book will not be directly useful. You may like to check out Natural Beekeeping: Organic Approaches to Modern Apiculture. If you simply want instruction on bee keeping in general (not necessarily "natural" approaches) The Backyard Beekeeper: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Keeping Bees in Your Yard and Garden and Beekeeping For Dummies may be more useful to you.

Of course for the esoterically inclined who wish to glean a deeper insight into the world of bees this book will most certainly provide a great deal of insight for further self-exploration into bees, nature, and the art of keeping bees.

You may like to know most of Steiner's lectures are freely available on the Rudolf Steiner archive site (rsarchive.org). You'll find the bee lectures from this book right here: [...]
In those archives you will also find plenty of other lectures that make reference to bees. Just do a keyword search for "bees". I see many of the lectures are now available for download as ebooks, so you can read them on your Kindle (or any other ebook reader), for instance.

>>> My recommendation? <<<
If you have an interest in spirituality and escoteric exploration, please read Bees by Steiner. Even if you hadn't given much consideration to bees before, I am sure you'll be happy you did. They are a very mysterious and significant creature. You may also enjoy reading The Shamanic Way of the Bee: Ancient Wisdom and Healing Practices of the Bee Masters. A book I greatly enjoyed.
If you want instruction on natural and/or conventional bee keeping, take a look at the relevant books mentioned above.

- Jonathan Evatt
International lecturer, spiritual mentor, natural health coach, and award-winning author of Peace, Power, and Presence: A guide to Self Empowerment, Inner Peace, and Spiritual Enlightenment (available on Amazon.com, ASIN: 1877492019)

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occasional mention of something "bee-related". I purchased this book with the intent on learning about his views on bees and beekeeping and this book was not at all about these topics. The writing is piecemeal and choppy and is all "over the place". Nothing that I could sink my teeth into regarding bees and a proper way to care for them. Steiner has probably contributed much to the world but this collection of talks is way off of the mark.