Bill Fitzmaurice – författare

Bees pollinate plants, produce honey, and create marvellous social colonies. They also need our help. There is nothing quite like a bee, and nothing quite like The Bee Book. This essential guide to all things apiary takes you into the hive and reveals the remarkable lives of these essential pollinators, from their incredible influence on the evolution of flowers to the role of an individual worker bee within her colony. Bee species have existed for millions of years - but, as a result of pesticides and the climate crisis, their numbers are now threatened like never before.Discover how you can support bee populations where you live, with advice on creating bee hotels and nectar-rich wild gardens, or take the next step and try your hand at beekeeping. The Bee Book contains all the essential information you need to set up your own hive, establish your own colony, and care for your bees. It even includes ideas for making the most of the honey, beeswax, and propolis your hive will produce, including a honey and clay face mask, soothing cough drops, and luxurious body butter. Whether you're interested in bees, beekeeping, or simply wish to support local biodiversity, The Bee Book contains everything you need to know and more.

Find out how you can help save the bees in lots of practical ways and discover the incredible science behind honey bees, beekeeping, and bees in the wild - from the carpenter solitary bee to the stingless sugarbag. The Bee Book is an intensely visual exploration of the big questions in bee science and ecology: why are bees such great pollinators? how do they make honey? is a swarm dangerous? how does a bumblebee fly? what is killing bees across the world and how can we stop it? The book is also a practical guide to adapting your outdoor space - no matter how small - to provide food and habitats for bees, with step-by-step projects for making bee homes and hotels, and a directory of the most bee-friendly plants to grow, with accompanying planting plans for pots and borders. And if you're looking to take a love of bees to the next level, the book also features a comprehensive beginner's guide to beekeeping with all the information and step-by-step techniques you'll need to set up and manage a hive and collect its honey - with an array of recipes for making the best use of hive products.