The Seduction of the Honey Bee

This stunning new book from local internationally award-winning publisher Blackwell & Ruth offers a comprehensive look into the amazing science of bees with a mesmerizing collection of UVIVF (ultravioletinduced visible fluorescence) photography of flowers and nature by photographer Craig P. Burrows.  As beautiful as flowers appear to the human eye, their sensual display is designed to seduce pollinators,  the majority of which are bees, to fulfil their primary purpose of reproduction. Here we see flowers bathed in ultraviolet light – the same part of the spectrum that makes bee vision special – allowing us to peek into a secret world of brilliant colours and dazzling light otherwise invisible to us and inviting us to reimagine the world from a bee’s point of view.

 Coupled with fascinating research from some of the world’s leading bee, pollination and medical experts including many from New Zealand’s own apiculture and science communities, this in-depth book is also a valuable resource about the history of beekeeping, current environmental impacts affecting bees and the rise of bee products in medical and wellness spaces.

 Photographer Craig P. Burrows say, “Bees see in the ultraviolet spectrum. Their world is completely foreign to the human eye, full of electric, alien colours and luminous, vibrant light that we can only imagine. Shooting UVIVF doesn’t show us exactly how bees see the world, but it does enable us to better contemplate pollinator vision and understand these vital species and their importance to the future of life on earth.”

 Contributing writer Nick Worthington comments, “From the ways flowers appear to insects differently to the human eye, to the symbiotic relationship they have with bees that ensures both species’ survival, there are many lessons we can learn from nature if we simply take the time to look at the world through a different lens. Craig’s photographs open the door to our understanding of the relationship between flowers and bees, and the reward offered to the honeybee in return for sex: nectar.”

 The book also explores the latest scientific and medical applications of arguably the world’s most potent honey made from New Zealand’s native mānuka tree, and the extraordinary role the honeybee can play in the future vitality, immunity and longevity of humankind.

ISBN 9780473688240

192 pages, 266 x 215 mm