"Bees: Heroes of the Garden" has been an enchanting exploration into the realm of these tiny but mighty creatures. As someone not well-versed in the intricate world of bees, I found this book to be a remarkable gateway into their fascinating lives.. This delightful experience compels me to share a resounding five-star review, as this book not only educates but also captures the essence of bees with stunning photography.

Tom Jackson's lens transforms the seemingly mundane into a visual feast, offering an outstanding collection of photographs that unveil the diverse tapestry of bee species. From the industrious honey bees and familiar bumblebees to the less-known mining, dwarf, carpenter, leafcutter, and mason bees, the book showcases over 16,000 species worldwide. Each snapshot feels like a window into their intricate world, a testament to the astounding biodiversity within the bee kingdom.

Bees, often hailed as the royalty of the animal kingdom, play a vital role in sustaining our ecosystems. The book meticulously details their communal lives, highlighting their pivotal role in pollination, which nurtures the crops, plants, and flowers we depend on. As I delved into the pages, I couldn't help but marvel at the complex web of relationships bees forge in their colonies.

The symbiotic dance between bees and humans takes center stage, from the millennia-old exploitation of honey production to the contemporary beekeeping practices. Jackson masterfully captures the essence of the bees' life cycle, illuminating how they contribute not only honey but also beeswax, pollen, and royal jelly. The fact that a typical bee produces a mere teaspoon of honey in her lifetime resonates as a testament to the precious nature of their contributions.

What sets "Bees" apart is its ability to demystify the communication methods of bees, from the intricate wing and body movements to the renowned 'waggle dance.' The book weaves together scientific insight with stunning visuals, creating an engaging narrative that transcends the pages.

In my humble acknowledgment of the paramount importance of bees for our planet, this book has been a beacon of enlightenment. It beautifully bridges the knowledge gap for novices like me while offering a profound celebration for seasoned enthusiasts. "Bees: Heroes of the Garden" is not just a book; it's a heartfelt ode to these essential pollinators, a celebration of their beauty, diversity, and unwavering contribution to the tapestry of life.

I'm always trying to read more non-fiction outside of my studies, and I find it hard to go wrong with anything to do with animals or nature. Bees are fascinating creatures, and I was really excited to read this book. I can tell you, I was not disappointed!

The book is mostly comprised of photographs, all of which were absolutely stunning. (Some more so than others; I absolutely adored some of the photos. They were incredible!) I'd not hesitate to buy a copy of this for no other purpose than to look at the pictures. But even better is the information alongside the pictures, details on different species of bees, their habits and behaviours. It was wonderful to learn about so many different kinds of bees - not just bumblebees and honeybees.

My only real complaint is that there wasn't actually *enough* information; I would have liked more text throughout the book, with perhaps more depth in some areas. Many pieces were more like simple captions than actual blocks of text/information. That said, I understand that many readers may prefer this style and find it more accessible. 4 stars!

Bees by Tom Jackson is a great photograph collection. I loved all the photos and learned interesting facts about bees. I definitely recommend Bees to anyone that wants to learn more about bees.

Thank you Amber Books for Bees.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* what an awesome book! Totally would buy!! Love everything about this!

Beautiful pictures (mostly awesome mascros) and interesting facts about bees.
Very fascinating..
I didn't like the cover so much but the content of the book is great

What a great and informative book this is, full of amazing colour close-up photographs of all things bees. The book is divided in the sections such as The Social bee, The Solitary bee, Bee anatomy, Hives and lastly Bees and Flowers.
The explanations are good and easily understood, a great book for adults and children alike. I did not know there was so much to learn about bees and so many species.

Powered by pollen and nectar, bees are the source of one of the worlds most beloved foods.
These workaholic insects are some of the most organized communities of the animal kingdom. They live in highly organized colonies where the queen is the only reproductive female and the rest of the colony are her infertile daughters known as the workers.
Honeybees, mason bees, and solitary bees are all different types of bees that share some characteristics with one another and have their own special traits.

This books is about the heroic insects that have been part of life on earth for thousands of years.
Supplied with beautiful photographs, this book provides interesting information about different types of bees, bee anatomy and hives.

What I liked about the book:
The book had very interesting information presented in an accessible way.

What I didn't like about the book:
Some of the parts felt a little bit dry.

Thanks to Netgalley and Amber Books for providing this review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I am very impressed with this book. I have wanted to try my hand at bee-keeping for a while. Luckily soon after reading this book I got my first swarm. A great read. Recommended.

Title: Bees
Author:Tom Jackson
Genre: Art & Photography
Pages: 224

In over 150 full color pictures, Bees shows many sides of the humble bee species. The detailed captions are informative and educational. I learned so much about bees. For example, did you know that only a small portion of bees live in colonies? Most species are solitary. Also, bees come in just about every color of the rainbow.

Three words to describe this book: Vibrant. Gorgeous. Educational.

Cover: This is the only thing I didn’t like about this book. It has 150 beautiful photos and they used a drawing on the cover? I really wish they had used one of the gorgeous prints.

Verdict: This book is perfect for individuals who want a beautiful visual journey with a lot of good information about bees. This would be an excellent coffee table type book or for younger science minded readers.

ARC provided to me by Amber Books, in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely amazing photography! This book is beautiful to read and packed full of information. The full life cycle of bees are covered across a variety of species and in a lovely variety of photography. The anatomy closeups are fascinating. The home and community photos add depth to the story. Both experienced bee enthusiasts and those with no background knowledge will enjoy "Bees."

I think "Bees" would be best appreciated in print. And a note: the cover is gorgeous, but not a great representation of the contents. It is all photography.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Bees! I’ll admit I never gave too much thought about them until four years ago or so, when I had the chance to visit a honeybee farm. I was accompanying a bunch of rambunctious kids back then, my own included, so I had to spend half the time babysitting XD the other half though, I was able to listen to what the beekeepers were saying. It was fascinating – and yummy, since they let us taste the honey they produced.

Honey-themed fairs are also popular in my neck of the woods: plenty of friendly keepers selling their goods and willing to talk about bees until it’s time to go home.

Asking for Bees: Heroes of the Garden on Netgalley was a no-brainer. Thank you to Tom Jackson for writing such a nice book!


**

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.

224 pages
Nature, photography
Amber Books LTD.
Goodreads

**

Cover: A drawing instead of a picture, that’s an interesting choice. I like it!

Yay!

- Did you know that ‘bee’ is a very generic term, encompassing 20k different species? Did you know that social bees are just a small fraction of a broader group of insects? Did you know that their only source of food is nectar and pollen? There are many misconceptions regarding bees, and this book helps setting them straight. Informative without being overly so – nobody likes to get beaten over the head with facts – it offers a great overview of the world of Apis (mellifera et non).

- Good structure. There are 5 sections, introduction and credits aside, each of them focusing on a different aspect: from social to solitary bees, from their anatomy to the hives, Tom paints a rich, well-detailed picture.

- The visual part is incredible. Magnified photographs can capture every detail, no matter how tiny. I really appreciated the ones featuring flowers, as they made me feel as if I was out in the fields too, looking through the viewfinder and following the flight of a bee.

- I need to point this out as a general praise: there isn’t a typo or a grammar mistake throughout the whole book. That’s professionalism, and it makes me so happy.

Special mention:

- Natural beehives. The one shaped as a half-moon, dangling from a tree branch is marvelous.
- Cuckoo Bee. Mean? Yes. Parasitic behavior? Yes. It’s blue rather than yellow and black? Also yes.
- Bumblebees! They’re cute, okay.
- The lilac bee on page 126. Aesthetic.
- The honeypots made by stingless bees.

Nay!

- Sometimes it gets a little repetitive. Nothing too grating, it’s just a detail I couldn’t help but notice.

TL;DR

4 stars on GR. Well done, Tom!

Bees: Heroes of the Garden is a gorgeous book, filled with breathtaking photos of these important insects and information about the many different species of bees. Thanks to the detailed close ups and interesting captions, I learned so much about the hierarchy of the hive and the life cycle of these fascinating little creatures. This would be a great coffee table book for anyone interested in bees, pollinators, nature, gardening, or just beautiful photography.

I am extremely grateful to Netgalley and Amber Books for the opportunity to read and review Bees: Heroes of the Garden.

Bees! Who doesn’t love bees? This is a book for anyone who wants to learn more about these tiny pollinators.
Bees are everywhere. Did you know that not all bees are black and yellow? There are so many more types of bees out there in nature! There are bumble bees, honeybees, mining bees and solitary bees, and more!

If you’ve ever been curious about them, pick up this book and pore over the fantastic images of bees. I’ve never seen a nicer collection of images of these amazing insects. The close-ups are awe-inspiring. I love the detail that the photographers captured. You can see individual grains of pollen in some images! You can see the infinite details of a bee’s eye!

Not all bees live in hives. Some are not even colonial. Some bees are solitary. Some dig holes in the ground. Some make their nests out of pieces of leaves and mud. You will learn all about these fascinating insects in this book. The reading is easy, and the photos will hold your attention.

The science of bees is way more complicated than I thought. Bees make honey, but they also serve a vital purpose in the ecosystem. Where would we be without bees? Read this book to find out even more about the fascinating lives of our neighbors, the bees.

*4.5 stars*

Beautiful photos…

I was blown away by the pictures in the first few pages. From life-size to many magnifications, a variety of bees are shown in their natural world as well as in the hives created for them by modern beekeepers. With insightful snippets of information and history attached to each photo and category, the life and meaning of bees were brought to life…

Bees and their vital place in the world has been increasingly covered in the mainstream media. Humans, climate change, loss of habitat – so many things threaten bees and their life-giving work. As I found out here they are also busy – incredibly so. Each bee has a role in the hive and when that role ends, another begins. From birth to death, a bee’s life is targeted in focus and incredibly beautiful. It is nature, in all its inherent simplicity and complexity. And beautifully documented here…

If you are a fan of biology, photography, science and especially bees, you will find this an informative as well as visually appealing book.

An avid bee lover, I snapped this title up to delve a little deeper into the fascinating and constantly busy world inhabited by these little fellows.

Worth a mention is the magnificent photography, a beautifully portrayed, intimate depiction of the bee's lives as they scurry about, hover, pollinate, work and generally be fabulous, as bees do. The book is descriptive, informative, and wonderfully presented, and would make the perfect gift for any nature enthusiast.

Bees: Heroes of the Garden is a beautifully illustrated and neatly written nonfiction book about bees by science and nature writer Tom Jackson. Due out 6th July 2021 from Amber Books, it's 224 pages and will be available in hardcover format.

The photography, much of it macro, is crystal clear and breathtaking. There are photos which show the incredible diversity of different species of bees and varying anatomy. The graphics and layout are concise and easy to understand.

The book's chapters are arranged logically: social bees, solitary bees, anatomy (with some of the most spectacular macro photography I've ever seen - impressively clear and in colour), inside the hives, and bees' interactions with flowers. The photography is mostly stock images (credited in the back of the book), but very very high quality. There was no index provided in the early eARC I received for review purposes.

Five stars. Gorgeous coffee table book on bees. This would provide many many hours of learning for youngsters as well, especially with an older reader/adult to read the captions and any questions which arise.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

A big thank-you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for giving me a copy of this book for an unbiased review.

2/5 - It was okay.

Looking at the other reviews, I recognize that mine is an unpopular opinion. And I understand why others loved this book - it is filled with gorgeous photographs of various kinds of bees, as well as bite-sized but well delivered facts about these fascinating creatures.

However, I was left wanting so much more in terms of content and would have happily sacrificed the pictures for more information on bees. How did bee colonies develop? Why are some bees eusocial while others are not? How is honey farmed in different cultures, especially those that are less westernized? How do bees interact with ecosystems in their environment? What is endangering our bees? How can we protect them? What are the consequences of potential bee extinction? I did not feel that any of these questions were adequately answered, for a book which is entirely about bees.

I also felt that the photographic style of the book lent itself to a disjointed narrative - the pictures did not always seem to correspond to the sections they were in. This made it difficult for me to track the information. For example, there was a photo following mining bees that said that bees emerge from winter hibernation when the temperature is above 20C. I was confused - all bees? Or just mining bees? The photo format could be jumpy, which does not aid comprehension.

That being said, I love any book about bees and still felt that I learned a decent amount. I discovered that orchid bees exist and will now eagerly look out for them. I learned about bee anatomy. I learned that not all bees are social. I learned how hives split off and spread. Although I would have liked to learn even more, I still appreciated this book for what it was and am glad I had the chance to read it.

I never thought a book about bees could be so fascinating.
Amazing pictures and informative text.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Bees: Heroes of the Garden by Tom Jackson
Publisher: Amber Books Ltd
Genre: Arts & Photography | Home & Garden | Science
Publication Date: May 14, 2021

Bees: Heroes of the Garden by Tom Jackson is a great resource of all things bees.

I really enjoyed reading this book. My husband and I have been discussing whether we want our own hives for awhile now. We find them to be fascinating. Reading this book has really solidified my vote!

This book is well laid out and is filled with great information! I definitely recommend it to anyone who is curious about bees.

I'm so grateful to Tom Jackson, Amber Books Ltd, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Absolutely amazing! Wether you are a bee keeper, photographer, artist, nature lover, curious child or appreciative adult you should read this book.
The photographs are simply astonishing.
The descriptions that go along with the pictures are informative and written in a non scientific way that anyone can follow.
This reader is not into non fiction books but I could not put this one down once I opened it.
Bees are an integral part of the natural cycle of life on earth. Everyone could and should learn more about these wonderful creatures. This is an outstanding book to start with. Highly recommended..