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Dancing with Bees  By  cover art

Dancing with Bees

By: Brigit Strawbridge Howard
Narrated by: Brigit Strawbridge Howard
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Publisher's summary

AudioFile Earphones Award Winner!

Shortlisted for the 2020 Wainwright Prize

The Sunday Times Best Nature Writing Books 2020

A naturalist’s passionate dive into the lives of bees (of all stripes) — and the natural world in her own backyard

Brigit Strawbridge Howard was shocked the day she realized she knew more about the French Revolution than she did about her native trees. And birds. And wildflowers. And bees. The thought stopped her — quite literally — in her tracks. But that day was also the start of a journey, one filled with silver birches and hairy-footed flower bees, skylarks, and rosebay willow herb, and the joy that comes with deepening one’s relationship with place.

Dancing with Bees is Strawbridge Howard’s charming and eloquent account of a return to noticing, to rediscovering a perspective on the world that had somehow been lost to her for decades and to reconnecting with the natural world. With special care and attention to the plight of pollinators, including honeybees, bumblebees, and solitary bees, and what we can do to help them, Strawbridge Howard shares fascinating details of the lives of flora and fauna that have filled her days with ever-increasing wonder and delight.

©2019 Brigit Strawbridge Howard (P)2019 Chelsea Green Publishing

Critic reviews

"Listeners will quickly discern that this is a love story that begins with bees in the backyard and spreads to a wide array of native fauna and flora. One does not have to be a trained naturalist to appreciate the author's point about the critical need for preserving native species, especially pollinators, which are at the heart of our ecosystem. Her lyrical prose translates well to audio and comes across as more of a freestyle tone poem than a chronicle of her growing awareness of the natural world around her." (AudioFile)

"[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." (Library Journal)

"[An] engaging, richly descriptive tale of natural discovery." (Booklist, Starred Review)

What listeners say about Dancing with Bees

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Brigit's delight with bees shines through

I found this to be delightful. Brigit offers a look at bees and a wider area of nature with an almost childlike awe; and I mean childlike as a postive! She expresses how she feels in a way that really appeals to me -- there is wonder, there is a desire to learn more, there is connecting with others over this shared interest, there is a sorrow at the damage that is being done, there is her effort to educate. There is more heartfelt joy in nature in this book than in so many others. The joy I got from this book is in the shared joy of experiencing and delighting in nature.

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delightful tales that made me love bees

I've been a honey bee guardian for years, and found this book timely as I considered creating an apiary on my land after a wildfire. Howard has convinced me that any strategy must include the feeding and care of all the bees, not just the ones I bring to the property. especially the native bees. I'd never thought of them before. I'm grateful.

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