Buzz : the nature and necessity of bees
(Book)

"July 2018"--Title page verso.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

"Bees are like oxygen: ubiquitous, essential, and, for the most part, unseen. Everyone knows they exist, but few people stop to think about them--that is, until they start disappearing. In Buzz, biologist 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 have enabled medical advancement and agricultural revolution; they've given us sweetness and light and the beauty of flowers; and to this day, they are responsible for as much as a third of the foodstuffs we eat. To know the bee isn't just to understand a fascinating and beautiful insect: it is to glimpse a profound web of relationships, great and small, that binds together the human and the natural worlds. Weaving these threads of culture, science, and history, Hanson sets the stage for understanding the modern plight of bees, from pesticides and colony collapse to climate change. Only by knowing where bees came from and all they provide can we truly appreciate what is at risk, and also find reason for hope. Because at its heart, Buzz is not a book of crisis--it is a book of curiosity, joy, and wonder, and the irresistible urge to get outside, find a bee on a flower, and settle down to watch."--Dust jacket.

Text in English.