The Life of the Bee, by Maurice Maeterlinc

[RogerC]

This is available for free download from Project Gutenberg at:-
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/4511

[eivindm]

Hello Roger, and welcome to this forum!

Thanks for pointing to this book!  The link was a bit short (pointed to project gutenbergs main page), so I fixed it so it now points directly to the book.  I will have a look at the book when I get some time :-)

eivindm

[Lone]

Hello,

I was given the pocket edition of this book a little while ago, and have just finished reading it.  It was translated from French by Alfred Sutro, and I'm sure in the original Maeterlinck's writing would have been "flowery" and philosophical.  Despite disagreeing with a couple of conclusions of his, mostly his observations have given me an even better appreciation and awe of the bee and its society.  It's not meant to be a beekeeper's guide, and maybe some of it is outdated, but I've still learnt a lot about the workings of the "city".  He delves a little into such things as intelligence and instinct, into the ways individuals sacrifice themselves for "the future", how swarms build comb so perfectly, and my favourite part, what drones do.  He includes some experiments he tried with marked bees, and also examines some kinds of bees other than Apis mellifera.

The way he wrote gave me a view right into the hive.

It seems that the book is available to read at that link above.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Lone