Dancing with Bees: A Journey Back to Nature THE SUNDAY TIMES BEST NATURE WRITING BOOKS 2020

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And so we can learn much about bees as bee lovers when we read this book as well as a wealth of information about other pollinators, wildlife and wild plants which all contribute to the world of bees and demonstrate the incredible connectedness in nature and how different species support and compliment each other. There are many wonderful observations and stories which you can glean from the enchanting chapter headings such as Bees Behaving Badly, The Cabin by the Stream, To Bee or not to Bee, In Praise of Trees, Time for Tea and Cotton Weavers. Another strong theme of the book is just how much influence these modest insects have on the natural world and, by extension, our own lives. It is only by watching bees and other insects visiting flower after flower, hour after hour, day after day, that you realise the mind-boggling enormity of the task of pollinating the flowers, trees and crops around us. Of course I ‘knew’ they did this, but somehow reading a detailed account of exactly how they did this revealed another stratum of nature which I too had ignored. Brigit Strawbridge Howard is an excellent pollinator of information. Dancing with Bees is a book teeming with love: for bees but also for the natural world as a whole and, by extension, for life itself. Everyone who cares about the future of our planet should read it." Brigit Strawbridge Howard is an excellent pollinator of information. Dancing with Bees is a book teeming with love: for bees but also for the natural world as a whole and, by extension, for life itself. Everyone who cares about the future of our planet should read it.” —Tom Cox, author of 21st-Century Yokel 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.

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 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. A naturalist's passionate dive into the world of bees of all stripes--what she has learned about them, and what we can learn from them. 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. I personally appreciate that Howard talks about her own rented home and how she has made pollinator friendly improvements to it. As a renter, so much of the advice for pollinator friendly gardens is outside my scope and I often feel demotivated instead of motivated by the time I finish the book. So I was very pleased and excited to hear how Howard has turned her small rented spaces into a pollinators paradise and I have now started to research how to turn our own little rented yard into a pollinator friendly environment.A joy-filled voyage of discovery through the wonderful world of bees.” —Dave Goulson, author of Bee Quest and A Sting in the Tale 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."

Dancing with Bees is one of the most important and accessible and entertaining books I've ever read. Brigit has poured meticulous detail and research into her book, which has left me with even more respect for our precious bees than I ever thought possible. What's more, it's a touching, sensitive account of what makes us human and how we connect to the natural world. Everyone should read it." If farm buildings are replaced with residential buildings, some of the lingering marshy land in Sedgehill might be drained and paved over, resulting in reduced habitat for the Yellow Loosestrife bee" I met Brigit at a Triodos conference in Bristol over a decade ago when this book was first brewing, and I have followed her journey with interest ever since.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." Whether Brigit is writing about birds and bees in the Western Isles, on her allotment, or in the Malvern hills, her writing is suffused with her joy and delight in the natural world. You can’t help but be captivated. You will learn a lot, no doubt, but this is not a dry scientific paper, this book is the lived reality of re-discovering nature. Dancing with Bees is one of the most important and accessible and entertaining books I’ve ever read. Brigit has poured meticulous detail and research into her book, which has left me with even more respect for our precious bees than I ever thought possible. What’s more, it’s a touching, sensitive account of what makes us human and how we connect to the natural world. Everyone should read it.” —Kate Bradbury, author of Wildlife Gardening and The Bumblebee Flies Anyway This book is a delightful insight into a hidden world. We are all familiar with bees buzzing around and may know something of their elegant social organisation, but I was amazed by Brigit’s lucid descriptions of the extraordinary diversity of bees, just in this country, of the very different lives they lead, and of the challenges they all face.

This audiobook was beautifully narrated by the author and the joy and excitement about the subject manner is plain to hear. 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."

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Since rediscovering the awe and wonder I felt for the natural world as a child, I have been blessed with the ability to see miracles in everything around me, every single day, no matter what horribleness is happening in my world or the wider world, I feel blessed in the knowledge that I can find solace, refuge strength and joy in an instant, just by stepping outside.” Aber auch die fortschreitende Umweltzerstörung, vor allem durch Bebauung, und die unsäglichen "Steingärten" machen es Bienen schwer zu überleben. Nicht nur, weil sie für Nahrung für sich und das Volk immer weiter fliegen müssen und immer weniger abbekommen, auch der Nestbau an sich wird dadurch erschwert. Ob es die riesige Bienenwabe ist, die niemand im Dach oder der Garage haben will, oder es die nicht vorhandenen Wiesen sind, in denen keine kleinen Bienennester an Grasstängeln hängen, die aus Tonschlamm gebastelt werden - denn schlammige Pfützen möchte man ja auch nicht haben. Und wo es keine passenden Böden mehr gibt, können Hummeln auch keine Erdnester mehr graben. Durch die Klimaerwärmung wachen zudem viele Hummeln und Bienen verfrüht aus ihrem Winterschlaf auf, finden zu wenig Nahrung und verhungern, oder gehen zu Grunde, weil dann eben doch nochmal ein paar kalte Tage kommen. 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.