As seen on PBS's American Spring LIVE, the award-winning author of The Triumph of Seeds and Feathers presents a natural and cultural history of bees: 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. Read this book and you'll never overlook them again.

BEE IN BALANCE: HEALING THE WHOLE PERSON WITH HONEYBEES, ORIENTAL MEDICINE, & COMMON SENSE, is more than just another self-help guide. Inspired by the recovery of many MS, Arthritis & chronically ill patients, BEE IN BALANCE offers its readers a unique synthesis of Bee Venom Therapy, acupuncture and psychotherapy. The book is divided into three parts: Part I focuses on Bee Venom Therapy: common questions & answers, warnings, reactions, & instructions. Part 2 looks at Oriental Medicine & its relationship to Bee Venom Therapy. A workbook format allows the reader to experience the Five Elements of Chinese Medicine & create a uniquely individualized treatment plan. Bee stings are based on acupuncture points. This section includes many detailed illustrations of the major acupuncture meridians. Part 3 discusses other important steps useful in the healing process. There is also an extensive bibliography & appendix. This approach to healing is unlike anything you've ever seen before. The author is a pioneer in a whole new field of medicine. BEE IN BALANCE is the first self-help guide ever published on Bee Venom Therapy. It is bound to become a classic. Order now from: Starpoint Enterprises, LTD., 5419 Roosevelt St., Bethesda, MD 20817, (301) 530-0472.

After saving the sacred snakes of Narcisse, Wil Wychwood and his cousin Sophie Isidor are hailed as the new heroes of MiddleGate. Yet their journey is far from over. Wil knows the black medallion he inherited once belonged to an ancient secret society, the Serpent’s Chain. But no one seems to know the story behind the medallion. The meaning of the black medallion with its silver arrow and five-pointed star isn’t the only mystery to be solved. The Serpent’s Chain is hardly finished with Wil, and they’ve returned with another nefarious scheme. Now, they’re after a magical honey from MiddleGate’s precious bees. Can Sophie and Wil stop their conspiracy and save the bees? Will they uncover the medallion’s true meaning, or will its secrets be lost to history?

The Poinars are world leaders in the study of amber fossils and have spent years examining the uniquely rich supply that has survived from the ancient forests of the Dominican Republic. They draw on their research here to reconstruct in words, drawings, and spectacular color photographs the ecosystem that existed on the island of Hispaniola between fifteen and forty-five million years ago. The Poinars present richly detailed drawings of how the forests once appeared. They discuss how and when life colonized Hispaniola and what caused some forms to become extinct. Along the way, they describe how amber is formed, how and where it has been preserved, and how it is mined, sold, and occasionally forged for profit today.

With full captions explaining how bees live, function communally, communicate, feed, and reproduce, Bees is an insightful examination in 150 outstanding color photographs of mankind's favorite insect. Honey bees, bumblebees, mining bees, dwarf bees, carpenter, leafcutter, and mason bees: bees come in many different types, with more than 16,000 species worldwide. The bees we are most familiar with, bumblebees and honey bees, live in colonies and play a major role in pollinating the crops, plants, and flowers around us. And bees produce honey, reputedly the food of the gods--a function of bees' lifecycle, which humans have exploited for millennia. Many bees today are domesticated, and beekeepers collect honey, beeswax, pollen, and royal jelly from hives for human use. A typical bee produces a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime. Bees can communicate many ways through the movement of their wings and bodies, most famously with the "waggle dance," where they make figure-eight circles to let other bees know the direction and distance of nectar. Bees is an outstanding collection of photographs showing these fascinating insects in their natural habitat.

A narrative portrait of the America's national spelling bee competition offers insight into its subculture of young wordsmiths, competitive parents, and spectator tension, sharing the stories of five top contestants to offer insight into their ambitions and winning strategies. 40,000 first printing.

Listen to tiny tales from Buzzwing the hardworking honeybee. Combining nonfiction with a splash of fantasy, The Secret Life of Bees is a book to get lost in, time and again.

Today is Christmas Eve. Today is my birthday. Today I am fifteen. Today I buried my parents in the backyard. Neither of them were beloved. Marnie and her little sister, Nelly, are on their own now. Only they know what happened to their parents, Izzy and Gene, and they aren't telling. While life in Glasgow's Maryhill housing estate isn't grand, the girls do have each other. Besides, it's only a year until Marnie will be considered an adult and can legally take care of them both. As the New Year comes and goes, Lennie, the old man next door, realizes that his young neighbors are alone and need his help. Or does he need theirs? Lennie takes them in—feeds them, clothes them, protects them—and something like a family forms. But soon enough, the sisters' friends, their teachers, and the authorities start asking tougher questions. As one lie leads to another, dark secrets about the girls' family surface, creating complications that threaten to tear them apart. Written with fierce sympathy and beautiful precision, told in alternating voices, The Death of Bees is an enchanting, grimly comic tale of three lost souls who, unable to answer for themselves, can answer only for one another.