Kate’s 2¢: “Our native bees: North America’s endangered pollinators and the fight to save them” by Paige Embry

Kate’s 2¢: “Our native bees: North America’s endangered pollinators and the fight to save them” by Paige Embry

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   I have learned to not swat whatever is buzzing around my head. Although totally blind, I can hear the difference from a big fly, to a mosquito, to a bee. There is no way I can identify one female bee who will sting me, from a male bee  who can’t, so, I stand/sit very still until the little critter realizes I’m no nectar supply  station.

   I enjoyed learning a lot of information from this book, which is written with a sense of humor, knowledge, and urgency. Let’s give the bees a better chance to enhance our food crops.

From her website:

Our Native Bees

America’s four thousand species of native bees flit about the countryside in the shadow of their charismatic cousin, the honey bee, a colonial-era European import. In my book, I turn the light on our myriad native bees and show people how varied, fascinating, and useful they are.

This book isn’t a guide to bees, although it does have many beautiful photos (almost none of which are mine). This book is the story of a long-time gardener’s discovery and exploration of America’s bees. When I learned a few years ago that honey bees can’t pollinate tomatoes but some our our native bees can, I took the first step into a previously hidden world outside my door. This book is about that world. I seek out the country’s best bee stories and meet the people involved. I visit farms, fields, labs, and even golf courses. I attend classes and hunt wild bees with scientists, and through it all, I work to evolve my tiny city garden into a haven for bees.

Bees matter. The earth looks the way it does, and we eat what we eat because of bees, yet no one seems to know it. I plan to change that. I hope to start a revolution where people throw out their weed-n-feed and start planting flowers in the lawn for the bees.

Our Native Bees is one of the finalists for the 2019 Washington State Book Award!

PRAISE FOR OUR NATIVE BEES

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Our native bees: North America’s endangered pollinators and the fight to save them DB90453

Embry, Paige. Reading time: 7 hours, 56 minutes.

Read by Kerry Dukin. A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress.

Animals and Wildlife

Nature and the Environment

Geologist who encountered bee culture through her passion for gardening examines the benefits of native bee populations on agriculture and the challenges the bees face. Distinguishes species of bees, looks at the impact of crop choices and pesticides, discusses citizen science efforts to promote bees, and more. 2018.