The Hive: The Story of the Honeybee and Us
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Ever since men first hunted for honeycomb in rocks and daubed pictures of it on cave walls, the honeybee has been seen as one of the wonders of nature: social, industrious, beautiful, terrifying. No other creature has inspired in humans an identification so passionate, persistent, or fantastical.
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The Hive recounts the astonishing tale of all the weird and wonderful things that humans believed about bees and their "society" over the ages. It ranges from the honey delta of ancient Egypt to the Tupelo forests of modern Florida, taking in a cast of characters including Alexander the Great and Napoleon, Sherlock Holmes and Muhammed Ali.
The history of humans and honeybees is also a history of ideas, taking us through the evolution of science, religion, and politics, and a social history that explores the bee's impact on food and human ritual.
In this beautifully illustrated book, Bee Wilson shows how humans will always view the hive as a miniature universe with order and purpose, and look to it to make sense of their own.
Liked The Hive: The Story of the Honeybee and Us? Here’s where I’d start.
These suit anyone who liked The Hive: The Story of the Honeybee and Us. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.
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Sweetness and Light: The Mysterious History of the Honeybee Shares nonfiction, science, bees -
Robbing the Bees: A Biography of Honey--The Sweet Liquid Gold that Seduced the World Shares nonfiction, bees, beekeeping -
Letters from the Hive: An Intimate History of Bees, Honey, and Humankind Shares nonfiction, beekeeping, bees -
Bees in America: How the Honey Bee Shaped a Nation Shares nonfiction, beekeeping, bees
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