Bees and Honey - From Flower to Jar

Informed by a Goethean perspective, this fascinating book about the life cycle of a bee tells the reader all they need to know about the subject. The text is illustrated with detailed black-and-white photos and a few poems. The special qualities of honey and royal jelly are described, as is the extraordinary amount of labour involved in producing honey. The author calculates that it takes approximately 12,000 bee hours, a paltry hourly rate when translated into the cost of the product! On a good day, he reckons, 10,000 foraging bees on 100,000 foraging flights will visit between 20 and 30 million flowers and in doing so bring in about 5 kg of nectar, producing 1.5 kg of honey.