What a Bee Knows: Exploring the Thoughts, Memories, and Personalities of Bees

"Fascinating trivia abounds, and the eye-opening material on bees' interior lives complicates conventional wisdom about which animals are capable of emotions and consciousness.... Readers fearful of bees may well gain a new perspective, while those who are already fans will find more to celebrate."

Publishers Weekly

"Bee books tend to be full of intriguing facts and tantalizing possibilities. This rigorous but delightful work by pollination ecologist Stephen Buchmann, who has studied the insects for half a century, is no exception." 

Nature

"Bees use a wide range of senses to navigate through the world, sometimes in ways we can scarcely imagine. As a pollination ecologist with decades of research experience, Buchmann is an ideal guide to this world, at once both familiar and alien, in our own backyards."
 

An Outside Chance

"In his fascinating new book called What a Bee Knows, entomologist Stephen Buchmann explores a bee's way of seeing the world and introduces the scientists who make the journey possible."

Psychology Today

"You may pick up the book for... facts about our buzzy pollinator friends, but you'll want to keep reading for the fascinating way Buchmann challenges our core ideas about a bee's place in the world."

Civil Eats

"Stephen Buchmann is a renowned and talented writer for natural history and especially for the biology of bees and flowers. This book exemplifies his eloquence as well as his astonishing insights, depth, and breadth of knowledge . This fascinating book provides food for thought for anyone who is curious not just about bees and other insects, but about the workings of natural history."
 

Bulletin of the Entomological Society of Canada

"[It] reads well and takes the reader into the world of bees and how they might perceive the world in a very different way to us. He engages with the huge diversity of bees and explores many themes, often alluding to other creatures from jellyfish to elephants for useful comparisons and contrasts.... a thought-provoking read that I expect to return to over time to put new research and even my own observations into context."

BeeCraft

"No single scientist has ever done so much to broaden our understanding of bees' remarkable capacities. No single conservationist has ever done more to conserve bees and other pollinators. Steve Buchmann is not only insightful and eloquent, but he is a national treasure."

Gary Paul Nabhan, contemplative ecologist; author of "Where Our Food Comes From" and "Food from the Radical Center"; coauthor of "Agave Spirits"

"Stephen Buchman is renowned as one of the most eloquent writers on bees and flowers. In What a Bee Knows, he brings his breadth of understanding to the abilities and sensory capacities of these essential insects. Buchmann teaches us about the world according to bees-and about ourselves."

Laurence Packer, melittologist and author of "Bees of the World" and "Keeping the Bees"

"It is a treat to see Steve Buchmann bring his knowledge and love of bees to the intricacies of how they experience the world. Buchman is a wonderful guide through the well-studied and newest research that is changing our understanding of these fascinating creatures."

Gretchen LeBuhn, professor, San Francisco State University and Director of The Great Sunflower Project

"Steve Buchmann invites us to see, taste, and smell the world as bees do. Along the way, we discover their formidable mental capacities, learning that bees feel pain, solve puzzles, and use tools. Are bees sentient, do they think, and perhaps even dream? Come find out!"

Mark W. Moffett, author of "The Human Swarm" and "Adventures Among Ants"