QueenSpotting: Meet the Remarkable Queen Bee and Discover the Drama at the Heart of the Hive; Includes 48 Queenspotting Challenges

by Hilary Kearney

Overview

At the heart of every bee hive is a queen bee. Since her well-being is linked to the well-being of the entire colony, the ability to find her among the residents of the hive is an essential beekeeping skill. In QueenSpotting, experienced beekeeper and professional “swarm catcher” Hilary Kearney challenges readers to “spot the queen” with 48 fold-out visual puzzles — vivid up-close photos of the queen hidden among her many subjects.

QueenSpotting celebrates the unique, fascinating life of the queen bee and chronicles royal hive happenings such as The Virgin Death Match, The Nuptual Flight — when the queen mates with a cloud of male drones high in the air — and the dramatic Exodus of the Swarm from the hive. Readers will thrill at Kearney’s adventures in capturing these swarms from the strange places they settle, including a Jet Ski, a couch, a speed boat, and an owl’s nesting box. Fascinating, fun, and instructive, backyard beekeepers and nature lovers alike will find reason to return to the pages again and again.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781635860375
Publisher:	Storey Publishing, LLC
Publication date:	04/30/2019
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	374,442
Product dimensions:	7.10(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Hilary Kearney is the author of QueenSpotting and the creator of Girl Next Door Honey, a beekeeping business that offers educational opportunities to hundreds of new beekeepers each year. She maintains the blog Beekeeping Like A Girl and her writing on bees has appeared in Modern Farmer and Grit magazines. Her work has been the subject of features in Huffington Post, Vogue, Mother Earth News, and other outlets. She rescues wild bee colonies and manages around 90 hives in her hometown of San Diego, California.
 

Table of Contents

Preface: Flash of Splendor
How to Use This Book
Why Find the Queen?

Inside a Honey Bee Colony
Queenspotting Puzzles: Easy
Queenspotting Puzzles: Intermediate

The Life of a Queen Bee
Queenspotting Puzzles: Intermediate
Queenspotting Puzzles: Advanced

How to Spot the Queen
Queenspotted! (Answer Key)

Glossary
Index
Metric Conversion Chart














 

Editorial Reviews

Few will be able to resist beekeeper Kearney’s master class in beekeeping, a delightful mixture of how-to tips, popular science trivia, and interactive challenges... [A] spellbinding study of one of the world’s most important insects, and one with appeal for kids as well as adults.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) 
 
“A unique contribution to the vast sea of books on bees and beekeeping, and super useful for beekeepers hoping to hone their queen-finding skills. A brilliant little book!"  — Thomas D. Seeley, author of The Lives of Hives, Honeybee Democracy, and The Wisdom of the Hive 

"Entertaining and educational. A great read for bee lovers and new-bees alike!" — Melissa Hayes, MinuteEarth

“What a trip! Delightfully written and technically accurate, Queenspotting peeks into the queen’s domain. With fresh prose and charming stories from the field, Kearney leads you through the intricacies of hive life and royal behavior. But more than that, the book is just plain fun. I couldn’t rest until I spotted every wily monarch!” — Rusty Burlew, HoneyBeeSuite.com

“Hilary Kearney writes lyrically, specifically, and succinctly, in a way that communicates her fascination and wonder while being factually accurate. Anyone interested in bees will enjoy this book.” — Michael Bush, author of The Practical Beekeeper

"It is rare that a single book can appeal to such a variety of readers: curious non-beekeepers who will appreciate the good science writing and enjoy the puzzles; beginning beekeepers who want to increase their knowledge and queen-spotting skills; and experienced beekeepers will find their sense of wonder about bees rekindled and be able to congratulate themselves on having developed really good 'queen eyes.'"— Better Bee
 

From the Publisher