Heart of the Hive

Greatly enjoyed this book. I was laughing aloud and sharing new bee facts with my spouse left and right. Murder balls? Banana-scented alert pheromones? The gruesome fate of drones after mating? I can see a new Netflix series entitled Game of Drones forming, heh heh.

The pictures were stunning and fascinating. The awe and enthusiasm for the subject of bees was infectious and I enjoyed the lovely mix of both the factual and the mysteriously reverent. The choice of and presentation of sections added whimsy and interest to the book as a whole.

Overall, a great read that took me back to the pleasures of exploration of the natural world in book form. I've been stung twice (once accidental, once with a childish not-recommended-in-retrospect idea to catch a bee) and I feel that both experiences have been zoomed out to a wider context and with a deeper respect for these incredible critters.

Thank you for the ARC!

This book is absolutely fascinating! Whether you have a love or a fear of honey bees, this book will help you gain respect for the incredible roles bees play, not only in our environment, but in their own hive. The organizational skills and proficiency with which bees work, is a tiny societal miracle in the insect world. This book is a definite read not only to educate yourself on the various tasks assigned to each type of bee, but to help you understand these little architects in their hive construction and maintenance, to the care of the queen and her young, and their foraging behaviors. I highly recommend this book!

This book is absolutely gorgeous!! Its FULL of beautiful photographs and soooo much bee info!!! I'm a second year beekeeper and found LOTS of good information about bees. This book is for those new to bees, those that are already invested heavily in bees and those that are just interested. I can't say enough about the photographs!!! They are truly amazing. Thank you to Netgalley and Hilary Kearney for an ARC of Heart of the Hive in exhange for an honest review. I've preordered a hardback copy for our personal library.

I read a lot about animals and lately there seem to be a few new volumes on bees. They’re all fascinating but I can’t say that I was enthralled. Heart of the Hive managed to do precisely that. As much as it includes scientific information, biological details and technical content, this book is about the bees themselves, as individuals and also as part of the living, breathing organism that is a hive. The language is easy to understand and the information is provided in a straightforward, funny, colloquial way. Kearney, a beekeeper herself, knows what she writes not only from study but from personal experience. From relocating hives, watching them swarm and cooperating with them to build successful colonies. She’s seen them dance, she knows the queens, the drones, the workers, the nurses. She shares their life stories. Each similar but also unique. There are also wonderful photographs and simple illustrations that make it easy to understand the more technical aspects of bee physiognomy. I especially enjoyed chapter 7, that would give the most melodramatic soap opera a buzz for its money. I’d give this book six stars, one for each side of the hexagons that compose each cell but, alas, it’ll have to be just the five.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Storey Publishing.

Thanks, Storey Publishing, for the advanced review copy via NetGalley. (Available 3 Sep 24)

Reading builds empathy. It increases our understanding and acceptance of those we wouldn’t otherwise experience, like different cultures, races, gender identities, and religions. Lately, my reading has led to a deeper understanding of other creatures, namely bees (and octopuses, but that’s a whole different post).

As someone who has always been fascinated by bees, I was thrilled to dive into this book. My cousin keeps a couple of hives at my mother’s house in Maine, and there is a colony in the tree by my front door, but that’s as close as I get to them. They’re fascinating and compelling, but I was only learning bits and pieces about them through various memoirs, non-fiction, and fiction (yes, fiction. Check out THE BEES by Laline Paull) and random Google searches. This book, however, provided me with a deeper understanding and a new level of appreciation for these incredible creatures.

Enter the bee textbook. At only 200 pages with glorious full-page photos, Hilary Kearney (@girlnextdoorhoney) gave me a concise, easily understood crash course in all things bees. While only halfway through the ebook advanced review copy, I knew I needed a permanent copy for my shelf. (Hint: If you pre-order a copy via Hilary’s website, she will sign it for you!)

If you are curious about bees and what makes them tick…er, buzz, you will enjoy this gem. Heck, just get it for the stunning photos!

I've enjoyed another book by this author before so I was exited when I got approved for this ARC through Netgalley. Hilary Kearney is really good in explaining everything in an understandable way. I really enjoyed all the information, it was really interesting. There are also beautiful pictures, by Eric Tourneret, which makes the information on the page visual. I've enjoyed 'a little book about bees' by her before and I also enjoyed this one. If you want to learn more about bees, this is a great book to start. I would definitely recommend reading this book!

I want to start off by thanking NetGalley, the author, and publishers for allowing me to read this.

I’ve always had a deep appreciation for bees of all kinds and their cute fuzzy faces but I feel like from reading this I’ve grown an even deeper love and appreciation for them.

The author I feel radiates her passion and love for them throughout the entire book which for me felt like I was sitting in my science class with my favorite science teacher. The one that radiates how exciting science truly is but with bees. The entire time I was deeply engaged and enjoyed consuming the information. I even found myself sharing what I was reading with my friends and family.

The photos, by Eric Tourneret, were so beautiful and such a cool up close look at the bees and the hive.

I truly enjoy this read and I can’t wait to add a physical copy to my nonfiction shelf. This for sure is a favorite read for me for this year!

Final Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book is a natural history on the honey bee by a beekeeper and popular beekeeping blogger. It may start a bit grade school science pageant, but by about the midpoint the author has gotten through the preliminaries on what a bee is, and start talking about how it is, more interesting aspects of bee behavior, life cycle, and the sort of narrative that is a hive. And here it takes off, hitting a good balance between the descriptive and the scientific, still in coffee table mode but with detail on recent research to give it heft.

The photography is arresting, intense, close nature photography, which put me off at first. On further consideration, it works. The book, particularly the back 2/3rds, is more science-focused and discussing different research and ideas about bees, and as such the ultra-detailed pictures are part of that, a scholarly investigation of the honey bee as pictorial accompaniment.

While I appreciated the science, of equal highlight is the author's stories and asides about her beekeeping. These are fun. I like that they both include the more anecdotal, but also the author's interpretation of the other material, the way that her experience informs whatever theoretical idea. And in a thread that may be one of the more unusual that I have brought into a review, the book's dedication to the author's son is about his finding a passion equal to the author's, operates as a sort of sub-theme to the book: the world is full of things that have endless depth to them, and what is best in life is to find what that thing with endless depth is for you.

And when the book ends on the author telling about her love of bees becoming a respect for non-charismatic insect species, and a hope that others might find this too, it made this awwneverter smile.

My thanks to the author, Hilary Kearney, for writing the book, and to the publisher, Storey Publishing, for making the ARC available to me.

Heart of the hive is a most interesting book, the photography is spectacular and brings minute detail into focus a wonderful treat for me personally, as my husband and I recently took the plunge of booking ourselves on a one year course and joined the British beekeeping association, (bbka), after a few years of contemplating, if this was something we should do, I think we would have done it a bit sooner if we had had this book. We have other books that discuss equipment and step by step guides of keeping bees but the knowledge in this book offers a different perspective that would appeal to more than potential beekeepers. We have recently bought a couple hives and we’re both fascinated with the activity of our bees, this book is going to complement our study perfectly it goes into so much more detail about the biological activity and technical processes in the wonderful world of bees. This book is a joyful experience that I would definitely recommend to anyone, written with humour and extensive knowledge of the heart of the hive

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this! This was a fun and informative read. As an animal lover I enjoy learning how animal communities live and thrive, and I think this was a great example of a work that presents that information in an entertaining and visually-appealing way.

Thank you so much for the opportunity in reading this ARC, the views are my own and have not been influenced by others.
What a lovely book this had me buzzing with excitement I knew a few tings about bees but this book blew me away with the amount of amazing facts, who new what little work a holics they are. Gems of knowledge on every page, I wont bee ignoring them any more and since reading this book have been observing them in a new light. A treasure of interesting facts and knowledge, I wonder what bees would make of us..

I immensely enjoyed reading this. It was a great view into the lives of bees. The photographs were great and I loved learning even more about such a great topic.

As the daughter of a beekeeper, I'm always learning new things about bees so this book was definitely a treat for both her and me. It's a must-have for bee enthusiasts, as it's well-thought out, incredibly informative, and includes some stunning photography!

You can tell Heart of the Hive was a true labor of love, and it's a great exploration into the incredible lives of these endlessly fascinating creatures.

(Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.)

What a lovely book about bees! The insects that have been shaping our earth and us for millions of years. The insects on which we depend on so much for our survival and yet cause extreme harm without a second thought.
I learnt a lot of interesting things and fun facts about bees, and I really enjoyed the photos included.

Splendid photos and info-rich text bring the world of bees to buzzing life. A must-read for young and old readers!

Fascinating, intricate, and thorough explanation of honey bee society, beautifully illustrated with photos. The author and photographer are both experts in the field and it shows. Recommended.