I received an arc of this title for an honest review. An excellent book about realizing how important nature is and adding it to your everyday life.

I couldn't actually open the file to read this book. I have seen it recommended in other places, though, and look forward to reading it someday.

Amazing story with a bittersweet edge to it. Perfect for a summer day beach read. Loved it from start to finish.

Sehr ausführliche Schilderungen über alles, was Bienen angeht, was sie ausmachen und wieso sie so wichtig für die Menschheit sind. Der etwas andere Blick auf die kleinen Helfer der Natur.

Any writing that supports behaviour to save bees & their wider environment is good. It's a crucial message. The narrative here isn't as strong as in some other books on similar topics, but it will still have value for the curious.

This is an interesting book. I enjoyed reading about the author’s discovery of the importance of bees. I am an avid gardener and I have come to appreciate bees for the beauty they bring me. I also enjoyed hearing how she met her husband Rob and their adventures with nature. There is a lot of factual information about bees spread throughout the book. I don’t know if I will be able to identify the different bees in my own yard but I will view them from a open perspective. I may even get that bee house that I purchased. Thank you for allowing me to review an advanced copy.

I love naturalist non-fiction when there’s a bit of storytelling to go along with it, but I couldn’t get into this one at all. Too dry for me.

This narrative was more informative/ educational than a typical memoir at the start with journal entries at the end.

For me, the narrative structure just didn’t pull me in. Another memoir that also discusses beekeeping (although more peripherally) but which I enjoyed more is The Honey Bus.

Dancing with Bees is naturalist Brigit Strawbridge Howard's adventure into becoming reacquainted with the outdoors, inspired by the realization that she barely knew anything about bees she'd see on a day to day basis. She attempts to inspire beyond the "we need to save the bees" aphorisms by learning more about them and their importance in our world.

The book starts strongly, reading as part memoir, part nature documentary as Howard describes her major life events coupled with descriptions and facts about the various bee species she encounters in her native England. I enjoyed these early chapters, as I was engrossed in learning of bees what I, like the author, knew very little about previously. Howard takes a strong conservationist stance, preaching education and a reintroduction to nature as the main ways to stop the species and planetary rot. It's a timely message, and one that she isn't afraid to repeat throughout the book.

My interest began to flag around the 60% mark in the book, where the chapters for me began to read a bit more as journal entries. The author takes a trip to Scotland's Outer Hebrides, which occupies multiple chapters of sightseeing and general descriptions of the flora/fauna, before returning and spending the final few chapters describing native plant and tree life, and circling back to bees. I found these chapters a bit less educational, more informal, and a bit repetitive. In spite of this, I would still recommend this book as a good resource to learn more about the importance of our bee friends.

**I was given a copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Chelsea Green Publishing.**

Like most of us, the author was peripherally aware that something terrible was happening to honeybees in North America. And like most of us, her first thought was about the impact to humans. But as she began to research bees and interview the people that study and raise them, she became aware that bees are like our canaries in a mine. When they die, the impact is catastrophic, and not just to humans, but to the entire planet. Readers will learn not just about honeybees (and how terribly we exploit them), but also bumblebees and the myriad other types of bees that do not live in colonies. This book will resound with anyone concerned about the future of our planet and might even convince a few skeptics that our time to right the environmental apple cart is fast running out