I'm really fascinated by bees and their behaviors so I initially was really interested in this book and found it very surprising in a lot of ways. However, as the book went on, I started to find myself getting bored because there was way too many statistics and numbers in this and less stories and conclusions for the reader. It seemed like a lot of this was the scientific process taken to come to these conclusions, which I think I could have skipped over as a reader because I really only cared about what the conclusion was and not how I came to get there specifically step by step. I think much of this book could have been cut down if that were the case. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The audiobook was engaging and interesting. My attention was held the whole way through, and I really loved learning about all of the aspects of bees that I’ve never heard of before!

I also particularly loved the author’s appreciation and respect for other scientists and researchers in the bee field. It was so clear in his writing how much love he has for all of his fellow bee enthusiasts, past and present, and it was very endearing in a book where I wasn’t expecting to have any emotional reaction.

My ONLY qualm is that I wish the audiobook narrator had been older to really drive home the years of research and dedication Seeley has put into the subject. I often felt a disconnect between the dates being given and the narrator’s voice. Despite that, I do feel the narrator did an amazing job and brought a lot of personality to a book that could’ve easily lacked it.

Overall I’d recommend this book to anyone, scientific interest or not - bee interest or not. Everyone should experience the engaging, fascinating details of bee life.

Piping Hot Bees & Boisterous Buzz-Runners by Thomas D Seeley is my jam (or rather, honey in this instance) If you have seen any of my reviews, you will see that the natural world is right up there and as such, this was a real delight of an audiobook to liosten to

Are you a person that prefers to follow dogs and cats on social media over people? I certainly am and another account I adore that is focussed on our fuzzy wuzzy lil buzzies is Texas Beeworks and if you love her, you will ADORE this audiobook

I had a pretty extensive knowledge about honeybees but what really brings this audiobook to the fore is that it is personable and relatable, with enjoyable anecdotes and stories that really humanise the author a highlights the information they are imparting. You can immediately tell this book is written from a place of extensive knowledge, experience and a deep respect for these fascinating creatures

Daniel Henning is a very engaging and interesting narrator whose cadence and enthusiasm for this subject is infectious, making it a really enjoyable listen

I would highly recommend this audiobook about these essential creatures

Thank you to Netgalley, Tantor Audio ,the author Thomas D. Seeley and fantastic narrator Daniel Henning for this delightful ALC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

Most people know that bees are wonderful, but it’s hard to imagine just how much. Thomas Seeley has been studying them all his life, and it shows. He discovered many of their habits, and some of his interpretations of this behavior are now common knowledge. You’d think that the content would work better as a printed copy, because it includes a lot of material to illustrate many of its points, but Daniel Henning’s narration really makes up for it. He makes the experiments sound dynamic and suspenseful. And the content? It is fascinating. I knew about the waggle dance, but I didn’t know how they keep their hives cool, how they drink water or how they groom themselves. Seeley’s style is easily understandable and, even if there is some hard science and some experiments get a little complicated, I was fascinated by this book.
I chose to listen to this audiobook and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Tantor Audio.

This was a very interesting book that I am so glad that I got to listen to. It gave many facts about bees as the title indicates but the personal stories kept me reading. I could not imaging bringing home a swarm of bees home to study but Seeley made me think hmmm this would be a great way to watch behaviors. I really like how he shares his process throughout his career. Honeybees are very canny and I really enjoyed learning about the behaviors of scouts, worker bees, mother queens & daughter queens. The dances of the bees are not just for fun but how they make decisions for the swarms as scouts. I am super impressed by the way that he studied swarms - tedious work but giving him so much information that was not known. I love the word waggle and think we should do a tik tok or two in honor of the scout bees. cue the music...

If you like honeybees and who doesn't like honey you need to listen to this super fun book about honey bees with history of how the science has grown over the years. I hope you will scout this book out and find your queen a home soon with your waggle dance.

Thank you Tantor Audio and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC in return for my honest review.

This was so interesting! I grew up with my dad having a hive of honey bees, so this may be where my interest stems from. I found this a good balance between the facts/observations and the personal tales from the author, who is a very experienced researcher. I love informational books on a specific subject by someone who is very informed/researched, and that is exactly what this is. I would recommend it to anyone interested in honey bees.

Audiobook was easy for me to follow, and I listen at 2x speed.