Bees are a vital part of life on Earth. The UN launched World Bee Day in 2018 to show us just how vital. Without pollinators like bees, “would equal a world without food diversity – no blueberries, coffee, chocolate, cucumbers and so much more.”
We’re celebrating #WorldBeeDay by pointing you toward some of our books that highlight just how important bees are. And we’ll share some organizations that are doing the very important work of keeping our ecosystems buzzing along.
First up is Small Mercies, an award-winning book by Bridget Krone. This middle-grade novel focuses on Mercy, a girl living in modern-day Pietermaritzburg, South Africa with her eccentric foster aunts. When her Aunt Flora’s health starts failing, developers began eyeing their house, and Mercy is accused of stealing money from her school’s raffle, it’s just too much for Mercy to handle. But a lesson from the past, given to her by her kind neighbor, Mr. Singh, may just help her find the strength she needs.
In this excerpt, Mercy and her pet chicken, Lemon, learn some important lessons about bees when a hive is removed from her yard. Download the excerpt here (PDF), and Bridget has also created a fact sheet about bees, which you can download here (PDF).
David Muirhead covers lots of animals in his collection, Cat Among the Pigeons: A Riotous Assembly of Unrespectable African Creatures. This humorous collection of essays explores the history, myth, and science behind some of Africa’s wildlife. If it flies, crawls, slithers, burrows, or walks, there’s a good chance David covered it in his book. Cat Among the Pigeons is the first release from our Powers Squared imprint, our home for books that explore our world with a scientific eye. David has also created a reading list of other books that help readers learn more about African wildlife and what we need to do to protect it.
You can download David’s essay on honeybees here (PDF).
Here are a few other resources to learn more about bees, and be sure to check in your area to see what you can do to protect these important insects!
UN World Bee Day
Honeybee Heroes, a South African organization “with the goal to help conserve the South African Capensis honeybee while supporting small-scale beekeepers and educating South Africans on environmentally friendly food choices.”
The Bee Conservancy, a US-based organization with a mission of “securing environmental and food justice through education, research, habitat creation, and advocacy.”
World Bee Day Toolkit
Act for Bees and other Pollinators, an Australian organization working with “local business and community groups and schools on ways to take action for biodiversity through planting for year round flowering for pollinators for food security and environmental health.”
