Customer Reviews

The Buzz about Bees: Biology of a Superorganism

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Last year I was fortunate enough to read Juergen Tautz' book, '"The Buzz about Bees"'. It was hard to put the book down, once I started reading it. Finally it has been published in English and I am delighted that I can share this book with all my friends here in the US. '"The Buzz about Bees"' is a fascinating and groundbreaking book! Tautz and his team have done an excellent job presenting their research and studies, also the photographs are of very high quality and are quite beautiful. Tautz's approach to understanding the life of the bees is very innovative and inspiring. Many new and mesmerizing facts about bees are presented such as the mammal-like qualities of the bees. The journey through the book continues from '"the bee colony - a mammal in many bodies"' and moves to the '"super-organism"', which describes the honeybee colony as an undividable entity and as '"an organic interpretation of an individual"'. The captivating facts put forth by the author are many. Tautz explains '"propagated immortality"' which is the unique way in which bees proliferate, and the flower wisdom of the bees illustrated with impressive details (ex. bees can gather and carry the amount of nectar of almost half their body weight). Tautz goes on to reveal more aspects of pollination, such as how the flowering world and the bees coevolved on earth, to the extent to which we depend on them '- critical in this time where many pollinators are endangered species! He introduces the concept of the ' "comb-wide-web"' to describe the important relationship between wax comb and communication capacities of bees. The talent of the author is evident in his ability to combine excellent scientific work within a wider philosophic framework. As a gifted communicator, he launches this charming and intriguing journey into the beautiful world of the bees and enables us to understand the life of bees on a new and deeper level. In this book you may find, why bees have held humans in their thrall since millennia. All together, '"The Buzz about Bees"' is a fascinating book, with numerous facts and detailed photographs, compelling for readers of different ages and backgrounds. Educational, impressive, entertaining till the last page, this is a book for anyone who is interested in bees, nature, and the miracle of life.

I'm just a regular person who's interested in the world around her--not a beekeeper, scientist, or teacher--and I found this book absolutely fascinating. It is filled with remarkable, and sometimes groundbreaking, information about honey bees and bee hives. It's written at a level that is suitable for scientists and bee professionals but is also understandable for lay people. The images are sharp and absolutely stunning. I think about this book every time I see a bee-like insect or a group of plants being visited by pollinators. It's a wonderful addition to any nature library.

I have been teaching beekeeping for the last 8 eight years. I search and search for reliable material to put into the class. I have found numerous books over the years that have been written by good beekeepers and professors but none write about the inside of the hive. This book is about the hive, the bees in the hive and how they interact with each other. The German's are renouned for their accuracy and research. I believe that they have outdone themselves this time. If you want to understand what happens in the hive this is the book for you. It is written clearly with lots of related pictures. I thank Juergen Tautz for his time and effort in writting this book.

This book has nothing about How to Keep Bees. But after you read it you will know how to keep bees better, it is about the bees themselves. Seriously, after you read this book, you will know more about the bee it's self then most experienced beekeepers. I know, I am an experienced beekeeper and learned more about the creature it's self in this book then I learned from years of keeping bees. A must read even if you don't keep bees.

I could not put this book down. I found the approach to not only be refreshing but it makes sense. I will never look at a beehive in the same way again. I planned on raising bees next year, now the honey will be the secondary reason, learning and observing will take precedence.

It was a little more money than I'd normally spend on a book that I was just buying for pleasure. I bought it for my husband. He keeps bees and has read every book he can get his hands on. He knew a lot of the things in the book already, but there were some interesting new things he learned, too. I learned a lot and especially enjoyed all the superorganism stuff.
Beautiful photos and just really fascinating info.

As a hobbyist beekeeper I've got lots of bee books and regularly read beekeeping periodicals, but haven't seen anything like The Buzz about Bees. While this isn't a beekeeping manual, there is much in here that has helped me better understand exactly what my bees are up to, how they experience me and my intrusions into their nests, and how I can help them thrive. Up-to-the-minute studies of bee cognition and behavior, vision, sense of smell, and communication are presented clearly, and the translation from the German is good. The photography is as outstanding and unusual as the text. This book isn't inexpensive, but you won't regret having purchased it.

I have just read four books about bees (we have two hives now) and this was by far the best. It is not about bee keeping but about bees in general and I learned so much. The photos were fantastic. I first bought it on the kindle which I can not recommend since you can not really see the wonderful photos. So I ordered it again in hard copy.

This is a great book. Dr. Tautz is an excellent writer and uses fine examples to demonstrate his points, such as pictoral representations of what bees see. The pictures are some of the finest I have seen of bees, and would probably be worth the purchase just because of them. If you're looking for some deeper information beyond basic beekeeping or basic physiology and behavior, this is an excellent addition to your library. It certainly is to mine.

The Buzz about Bees: Biology of a Superorganism

I found this book to be extremely well written and easy to understand. The detail provided in all the information in this book really gives excellent insight into the structure of the hive and the behavior of the bees without getting bogged down in incomprehensible jargon. Additionally, the plentiful photographs are incredible. Anyone who is interested in honeybees should read this book.