Book
The hive : the story of the honeybee and us / Bee Wilson.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780312342616
- Physical Description: x, 308 p. : ill ; 22 cm.
- Edition: 1st U.S. ed.
- Publisher: New York : Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press, 2006.
Content descriptions
| General Note: | Originally published: London : John Murray, c2004. |
| Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references (p. 286-296) and index. |
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Honeybee. Bee culture. Animals and civilization. |
Other Formats and Editions
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2006 May #2
In this engaging tribute, Wilson points out that without honeybees our ancestors would not have had artificial light from wax, alcohol from mead, and energy from honey--a medicine as well as a food whose sweetness in a culture without sugar must have seemed wondrous. Bee colonies supplied humans not just with some of life's luxuries but also with food for the imagination. Our ancestors decided that bees--despite their stings--were the "most mysterious and therefore magical creatures, a little society in miniature." Wilson's book is about the human relationship with honeybees--human attempts to master them, and human attempts to understand and copy them. Wilson offers chapters on politics in the beehive and life and death as it relates to honey. She also discusses food and drinks made from honey and the history of beekeeping. With 60 black-and-white photographs and drawings, this book will change our view of these remarkable insects. ((Reviewed May 15, 2006)) Copyright 2006 Booklist Reviews. - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2006 April #1
British food journalist Wilson investigates humans' relationship with the honeybee.Honey is one of life's luxuries and, for the author, one of the great natural foods: "as varied and splendid as olive oil, as consoling as chocolate, as flavorsome as garlic, as health-giving as fruit, as wholesome as bread." It also provides Wilson, a research fellow in the history of ideas at Cambridge University, with much food for thought. She muses about our prehistoric run-ins with honey, imagining what it was like when Paleolithic humans first supplemented their severely simple fare with wild honeycombs. She especially likes to trace the emblematic connections between humans and bees through history. From ancient times, bees were admired for being wise, social, pious and industrious. Feudal apologists could point to workers admiring their king, even if they got the monarch's gender wrong. The Renaissance took the bee to heart for its selfless industry, particularly useful for driving home the message that social order came from harmonious, uncomplaining labor. Republicans liked social unity in the state as well, so the beehive symbolism worked for them, too. In addition to her intelligent survey of political iconography, Wilson presents much excellent history both social (the special significance of the hive for Freemasons, who prided themselves as builders) and religious (the Christian view that the flame of a beeswax candle represented Christ, the light of the world). She tenders gobs of goodies regarding honey's link to the mysteries of sex and, while she claims the book is no entomological work, also offers a wealth of natural science in these handsomely illustrated pages.Precise, quick-witted and poetic. Copyright Kirkus 2006 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2006 March #4
Food writer and Sunday Telegraph columnist Bee Wilson, who says she acquired her name long before her fascination with the insect Apis mellifera, takes an entertaining look at the extraordinary notions humans have had through the ages about honeybees. She shows how people, lacking until recently any scientific knowledge of how bees live, communicate and produce honey, have projected onto the bee human values and morals. The organization of the hive, for example, is seen as a model of the perfect society; worker bees symbolize selfless industry and the joy of productivity. The bee has been a symbol of virtue, chastity, Christianity, the human soul, good and bad politics, and sex--even though, with the exception of the queen and a few drones, most bees have no sex life at all. After discussing these and other strange ideas, tempering the myths with the facts of modern science, Wilson delves into the evolution of bee-keeping and the history of honey's uses in medicines, beauty products and food, and she even includes a few recipes. There's too much information in too few pages, but Wilson treats her subject lucidly and humorously, and her book is fascinating. 60 b&w photos. (June 5)
[Page 66]. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information. - School Library Journal Reviews : SLJ Reviews 2006 July
Adult/High School -In this thorough study that is divided into such chapters as work, sex, and politics, Wilson traces the fascination with and misunderstanding of bees throughout history. Early cultures revered the insects for both their social structure and the sweet rewards of their labors. The geometric form of the hive is evidenced in the architectural designs of Gaudí and Le Corbusier. The wax provided light both literally and spiritually in the medieval Christian church. The hive has long been a symbol of social unity, and the happy worker bee is a model for labor. Honey is celebrated for its flavor, aroma, and medicinal qualities. It was even used as an embalming fluid by the ancient Babylonians and later by the Greeks. The "birds and the bees," "honey I'm home," and "honeyed words" are all referenced here. Black-and-white historical illustrations appear throughout, and a few recipes are included. Although this may be too much honey for some teen readers, it supplies solid information for popular-science enthusiasts.-Brigeen Radoicich, Fresno County Office of Education, CA
[Page 135]. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
