“Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera”
By Candace Fleming, illustrated by Eric Rohmann.
Holiday House, New York, 2020, 40 pages, K-3.
Winter is usually a tough time for people. The weather is cold and we must wear heavy clothes to stay warm. As spring makes its way into the calendar, things begin to change. Flowers begin blooming, the days lengthen and birds return to the north.
As well, honeybees begin flying through the warming air. These industrious and fascinating creatures have long been the subject of poems, stories and even biblical passages. But how does a bee colony operate?
Famed children’s writer, Candace Fleming, tells us the intricate, compelling story of the lives of honeybees. She is joined by the brilliant artist, Eric Rohmann, in this masterful book entitled, “Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera.”
The story begins inside the hive as a baby bee chews her way through the wax surrounding her bee cell. The newly born bee, Apis Mellifera in Latin, or simply Apis for short, emerges into a dark and throbbing world of activity.
In her first days, Apis constantly eats pollen to gain strength. She is given the simplest task in the highly ordered hive, carrying away wax scraps next to the birth cells. Then, Apis is assigned the job of feeding the newly forming larvae.
There is so much to learn, but most of all it is important to know that all the bees in the hive serve the queen bee. Without the queen bee, the hive will simply die off. So, Apis and all the other bees serve the queen bee on her tasks of laying eggs in the hundreds of birth cells in the hive.
The queen can lay up to 2,000 eggs a day. To keep up, all the bees are literally busy as bees. Apis continues to learn new tasks such as guarding the entrance to the hive and receiving nectar from the returning forager bees.
Finally, on the 25th day of her life, she is ready to fly. She soars into the air, eager to find flowers containing nectar, the sweet sugars found inside flowers. Ten days later, her wings are worn out from flying over 500 miles and extracting nectar from about 30,000 flowers. She gently falls to the ground.
But her life has been a great success and Apis has done everything she was born to do. But meanwhile, back in the hive something else is happening. What is it?
This is an award-winning book with an outstanding story and gorgeous pictures. When Apis takes flight, Candace Fleming and Eric Rohmann give us a four-page spread of this glorious event. It is breathtaking.
This book would be very effective in the K-3 setting in units dedicated to the seasons and nature. It is also a book that could be beneficially shared between an adult and a child. Youngsters will be captivated by the fascinating drawings of the inside of the bee hive and the many activities of the colony.
Apis herself is a figure children will identify with and her dying after a life of hard work may sadden them. This would open up an opportunity to talk about the meaning of life and why Apis has led such an industrious and virtuous life. This book could spark children’s interest in becoming beekeepers. Then they, like Apis, will find the sweetness and beauty of honey.
You just can’t go wrong with this book. I hope that you go to the library and check out this title. I loved it and think you will as well.
