Buzz About Bees

Gr 3–5—Opening with a true/false quiz, and including a recipe for a throat gargle, instructions for making a nesting site for orchard mason bees (one a very finished product and another using a tin can and some bamboo), and a list of foods that would be unavailable if bees disappeared, this attractive book will be welcomed by classroom teachers and homeschooling parents alike. Kids will enjoy the crisp color photos and diagrams, and all readers will find the informative text easy to digest. Winters touches on the physical makeup of a typical bee; the lifestyles of social, solitary, and "communal" bees; bee homes; and even "killer" bees. She also includes a warning chapter on the environmental conditions (many man-made) that are stressing bee populations globally, and on the catastrophic CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder) syndrome. For those seeking more projects and related ideas, pair this title with Deborah Hodge's simpler Bees (KidsCan, 2004) for a honey of a unit.—Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY