What a bee knows Exploring the thoughts, memories, and personalities of bees

Are bees capable of perception or feeling things like emotion? Apparently so. That is what bee researcher Buchmann (Univ. of Arizona) explains in this book. Based on his own and others' research, Buchmann asserts that all sorts of bees, whether solitary or communal, quasi-, semi-, or eusocial, show complex emotions such as joy, happiness, pleasure, despair, anger, grief, and fear, as mammals do. If bees are "self-aware, sentient . . . conscious . . . solve problems . . . and think" as these investigations seem to confirm, such knowledge will impact the way handling and experimentation should be done with bees from now on. In the book's eleven chapters, readers learn about the mental capacity of all bees: how they experience a multitude of feelings, how they behave toward each other, how they feel about their whereabouts, how they are able to solve certain problems, and even how they use tools. The epilogue and final appendix provide insights into groundbreaking new research and suggest what readers can do to protect, support, and conserve native bees and those commonly used as "livestock" to pollinate commercially grown crops. This pleasantly written book brings new light to the subject and expands the reader's understanding of bees. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers. --Jorge M. Gonzalez, Austin Achieve Public Schools

In this enlightening outing, Buchmann (The Reason for Flowers), an ecology professor at the University of Arizona, takes readers "into the minds and lives of bees." He explains the critical role bees play as pollinators--"about 35 percent of the world's food supply that isn't derived from wind-pollinated cereal crops" stems from bees' services--and provides an intimate look at how bees experience their environment. Describing some of the insects' extraordinary capabilities, he discusses research that has found bees can count to four, learn to use tools (they have been trained in studies to roll tiny balls for a reward), and "taste" via hairs on their legs and antennae. More provocatively, Buchmann argues that bees can feel pain and might have a "limited form of consciousness," as demonstrated by studies that found bees can likely practice selective attention and "interpret reality in relation to themselves." Fascinating trivia abounds, and the eye-opening material on bees' interior lives complicates conventional wisdom about which animals are capable of emotions and consciousness (one study found that "anxious" bees "avoided being around other bees" and had lower than normal levels of dopamine). Readers fearful of bees may well gain a new perspective, while those who are already fans will find more to celebrate. (Mar.)