Plan Bee: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about the Hardest-Working Creatures on the Planet Book

Introduction: The Birds and the Bees xi

Part 1 The Buzz About Bees

1 On Being a Bee 3

Honeybee Impostors 3

The Bee Family Tree 6

Oops... 9

2 Who's Who in the Hive 13

Girl Power 13

The Lazy, Yawning Drones 21

Cue the Barry White 23

Honeybee Destinies 26

They Are What They Eat 27

3 The Bee's Knees (and Other Bee Parts) 32

Bees by the Numbers 32

Just a Teaspoon for Me, Please... 35

What Honey Is and Is Not 35

Waxing Philosophical 36

What Makes a Bee a Bee 40

The Head 41

The Thorax 44

The Stickiest Stuff on Earth 45

The Abdomen 46

Gland Central Station 48

The Sting 48

Dang It! 52

4 Bees and the Bigger Picture 55

Bee Souls, Legends, and Lore 55

The Letters Bee 62

Bee Movies, Bee Beards, and Bee-kinis 64

5 Honeybee Perils 69

Why Bees Matter 69

Pests and Pestilence 71

Small but Mite-y 72

Stressed-Out Bees 74

The Biggest Threat Yet 75

Part 2 A Beekeeper's Life

6 A (Brief) History of Beekeeping 81

Death and Taxes 82

Other Early Beekeepers 86

America's Honeybee Patriots 88

Putting the "Bee" in B-52 95

7 Got Bees? 98

Building a Better Bee 101

A Beekeeper's Honey-Do List 104

Bees in the Trees 107

If You See a Swarm 110

To Bee or Not to Bee 110

8 Pleasing the Bees 117

Other Guests You'll Meet 120

Water, Water, Everywhere 128

The Honeybee Calendar 130

9 The Sweet Life 133

Honey Extraction 101 136

More Tools of the Trade 137

Tortured Honey Versus Tasty Honey 138

"Mad" Honey 141

Honey and the "Halo Effect" 143

Caveat Emptor 145

Yummy Honey Recipes 146

Minding Your Beeswax 150

Other Bee Goods 164

For the Good of Bees 167

Final Note 171

Who Needs Chickens Anyway? 171

Afterword 174

Further Reading and Resources 177

Permissions 179

Index 181