Bee Lore: 7 Classic Books on the World of Bees

Classic Writings on Honeybee Natural History, Hive Management, and the Art of BeekeepingBy Dana Brackenridge Casteel, François Huber, William Edward Shuckard, Tickner Edwardes, Everett Franklin Phillips, Geo. S. Demuth, Burton N. Gates

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Bee Lore gathers seven classic studies of the bee world, moving between natural history, practical apiculture, folklore, and scientific observation. Its range is itself a record of how bees have been understood: as intricate social organisms, agricultural partners, objects of wonder, and bearers of symbolic meaning. Close accounts of hive behavior and bee anatomy stand beside discussions of beekeeping practice and cultural lore, making the volume a rich archive of premodern and modern bee knowledge. The contributors represent several generations of naturalists, entomologists, beekeepers, and popular scientific writers. François Huber's influential observational tradition intersects here with later British and American voices concerned with classification, husbandry, and the economic significance of pollinators. Together, these writers illuminate the development of entomology alongside the nineteenth- and early twentieth-century expansion of scientific agriculture and public natural-history writing. Their differing methods—patient experiment, taxonomic description, practical instruction, and reflective anecdote—show how knowledge of bees has been produced across disciplinary and national boundaries. This collection is especially recommended for readers of environmental history, animal studies, scientific prose, and apicultural literature. It offers the unusual opportunity to compare multiple styles and assumptions within one volume, tracing dialogues between observation, utility, and imagination. Bee Lore rewards both serious study and curious browsing, while clarifying why bees have remained central to scientific inquiry and cultural thought.

Audiobook details

GenreScience and Nature, Literary Classics

Length28 hrs 32 mins

Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices

FormateBook with Audio

Publish dateMar 4, 2025

LanguageEnglish

1New observations on the natural history of bees

2New observations on the natural history of bees

3TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE

4LETTER II. SEQUEL OF OBSERVATIONS ON THE IMPREGNATION OF THE QUEEN BEE.

5LETTER V. EXPERIMENTS PROVING THAT THERE ARE SOMETIMES COMMON BEES WHICH LAY FERTILE EGGS.

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6LETTER VIII. IS THE QUEEN OVIPAROUS? WHAT INFLUENCE HAS THE SIZE OF THE CELLS, WHERE THE EGGS ARE DEPOSITED, ON THE BEES PRODUCED?—RESEARCHES ON THE MODE OF SPINNING THE COCCOONS.

7LETTER XI. THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.

8APPENDIX.

9The Behavior of the Honey Bee in Pollen Collection

10The Behavior of the Honey Bee in Pollen Collection

11INTRODUCTION.

12POLLEN MOISTENING.

13British Bees

14PREFACE.

15CHAPTER I PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS,

16CHAPTER II GENERAL HISTORY OF BEES.

17CHAPTER III SKETCH OF THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE GENERA OF BRITISH BEES.

18CHAPTER IV NOTICE OF THE MORE CONSPICUOUS FOREIGN GENERA OF BEES.

19CHAPTER V PARASITES OF BEES AND THEIR ENEMIES.

20CHAPTER VI GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF SCIENTIFIC ARRANGEMENT.

21CHAPTER VII BRIEF NOTICE OF THE SCIENTIFIC CULTIVATION OF BRITISH BEES.

22CHAPTER VIII. A NEW ARRANGEMENT OF BRITISH BEES, WITH ITS RATIONALE, AND AN INTRODUCTION TO THE FAMILY, SUBFAMILIES, SECTIONS, AND SUBSECTIONS.

23CHAPTER IX. A TABLE, EXHIBITING A METHOD OF DETERMINING THE GENERA OF BRITISH BEES WITH FACILITY.

24CHAPTER X. THE SCIENTIFIC ARRANGEMENT AND DESCRIPTION OF THE GENERA, WITH LISTS OF OUR NATIVE SPECIES AND AN ACCOUNT OF THE HABITS AND ECONOMY OF THE INSECTS, WITH INCIDENTAL OBSERVATIONS SUGGESTED BY THE SUBJECT. (pt. 1)

25CHAPTER X. THE SCIENTIFIC ARRANGEMENT AND DESCRIPTION OF THE GENERA, WITH LISTS OF OUR NATIVE SPECIES AND AN ACCOUNT OF THE HABITS AND ECONOMY OF THE INSECTS, WITH INCIDENTAL OBSERVATIONS SUGGESTED BY THE SUBJECT. (pt. 2)

26CHAPTER X. THE SCIENTIFIC ARRANGEMENT AND DESCRIPTION OF THE GENERA, WITH LISTS OF OUR NATIVE SPECIES AND AN ACCOUNT OF THE HABITS AND ECONOMY OF THE INSECTS, WITH INCIDENTAL OBSERVATIONS SUGGESTED BY THE SUBJECT. (pt. 3)

27GENERAL AND GLOSSARIAL INDEX.

28The Lore of the Honey-Bee

29The Lore of the Honey-Bee

30CHAPTER I THE ANCIENTS AND THE HONEY-BEE

31CHAPTER III BEE-MASTERS IN THE MIDDLE AGES

32CHAPTER VI EARLY WORK IN THE BEE-CITY

33CHAPTER IX THE SOVEREIGN WORKER-BEE

34CHAPTER XI THE MYSTERY OF THE SWARM

35CHAPTER XIII WHERE THE BEE SUCKS

36CHAPTER XVI THE MODERN BEE-FARM

37Footnote

38The Preparation of Bees for Outdoor Wintering