Author Hilary Kearney takes us ‘Inside the Mind of the Honey Bee and the Incredible Life Force of the Colony.’
Few animals symbolize industry like the honeybee, as in the adage, “busy as a bee.” They are alert and willing to defend their homes. Bees fascinate humans.
Kearney has made these flying creatures a focus of her world. She describes herself in her website,
Girl Next Door Honey, “When [Kearney’s] not rescuing bees, teaching about bees, photographing bees or managing one of her fifty colonies … she’s sleeping and dreaming of bees.”
The hive is a home for honeybees, but as Kearney explains, the hive behaves like an organism. It has a body (the honeycomb), skin (propolis, a resinous layer protecting the hive), circulatory and digestive systems (the worker bees), energy supplies (honey substituting for fat), and reproductive organs (the queen and drones). It responds to stimulus. Beekeepers claim each hive has an individual personality.
The author then explores the individual bee groups. She examines different aspects of worker honeybees. Their anatomy is made for what they do, and the abilities this gives them. This includes how bees experience the world and how they communicate with other bees, including their dance language. Bees have a special ability to see ultraviolet light on some flowers that can guide a honeybee to nectar.
Informative diagrams illustrate honeybee anatomy and activities. Honeybees’ lifecycle consists of being hatched from an egg, growing into larva, and finally maturing into an adult. Kearney shows how adult honeybees within the hive, like humans, undergo a fascinating set of career changes. Young workers start out with domestic chores, graduate to guarding the hive in their third week as an adult, then become foragers.
Kearney describes what bees like and why; they have favorite flowers, homes, and resources. The queen and drones have a special role in the mating and reproductive process. The author discusses threats posed to their continued existence, including pollution and predators.
Lavishly illustrated, “Heart of the Hive” is filled with gorgeous full-page photographs illustrating life inside and outside the hive. There are also numerous side excursions through plentiful sidebars.
Although written for adults, “Heart of the Hive” can be read, understood, and enjoyed by a bright 6th grader. A fascinating and informative book, “Heart of the Hive” is a delight to read.
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