Buzz

The Nature and Necessity of Bees

By: Thor Hanson

Narrated by: Brant Pope

Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's Summary

From the award-winning author of The Triumph of Seeds and Feathers, a natural and cultural history of the buzzing wee beasties that make the world go round. 

Bees are like oxygen: ubiquitous, essential, and, for the most part, unseen. While we might overlook them, they lie at the heart of relationships that bind the human and natural worlds. In Buzz, the beloved Thor Hanson takes us on a journey that begins 125 million years ago, when a wasp first dared to feed pollen to its young. From honeybees and bumbles to lesser-known diggers, miners, leafcutters, and masons, bees have long been central to our harvests, our mythologies, and our very existence. They've given us sweetness and light, the beauty of flowers, and as much as a third of the foodstuffs we eat. And, alarmingly, they are at risk of disappearing. 

As informative and enchanting as the waggle dance of a honeybee, Buzz shows us why all bees are wonders to celebrate and protect. Listen to this book and you'll never overlook them again.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2018 Thor Hanson (P)2018 Audible, Inc.

Not just honeybees!

I have really appreciated the previous two books by Thor Hanson. He has a great knack for finding the overarching story and interesting personal experiences with his topic. In this book, he takes a look at Bees and does a great job again. My previous knowledge of bees was mostly focused around honey bees. While these are covered, he also takes a look at a lot of other bees, such as the Alkaline bee, on which I had no previous knowledge. If you are interested in a narrative that switches between large overarching themes like colony loss and personal experiments like identifying huge colonies of bees by his house and capturing bees in fields, I recommend this book. It is a great blend of scientific concepts and natural history descriptions. It is also reads well and is both interesting and informative.

Charming and information rich

A wonderfully vivid account of the quiet might and growing peril of our beloved bees.

For anyone with a healthy curiosity about bees, agriculture, flowering plants, and food-I highly recommend this book.

Just finished listening and I am ready to read again with a little more attention to detail. Written in language
easy to understand but full of fascinating facts and stories that makes you want to learn more about these amazing creatures upon which so much of our way of life depends.

Great Listen for All

Really great book, covers interesting things about all kinds of bees. I learned a lot. Plus Brant is hands down the absolute best narrator on Audible I've heard so far. Thanks!

Messengers of the gods.

I remember the sweet smelling meadows, the constant background buzzing of bees. It was magical then and would be even more so to encounter today.
Thor Hanson's book helps: it is a journey looking at the beginnings of the bee, thousands of millions of years before man came on the scene, and he describes more closely the lifestyle of one of the many species of solitary bees: the mason bee and it's companions. The honey bee is important to man, but so too are the numerous bumbles, and this book celebrates all of the bee species not just the one 'domesticated' by man. Hanson's text is a joy and a pleasure to experience, just like my remembrance of meadows from times past

Narration is by Brant Pope and his calm, mellow presentation fits well with the subject matter covered. It is a voice of wonder, discovery and hope. In the words of the author's son, 'The world could do without us but it couldn't do without bees.'
A stunning cover, simple but effective, and a wonderful book, fully recommended