California Bees and Blooms: A Guide for Gardeners and Naturalists

Description

California is home to over sixteen hundred species of undomesticated bees—most of them native—that populate and pollinate our gardens, fields, and urban green spaces. In this absorbing guidebook, some of the state's preeminent bee and botany experts introduce us to this diverse population. California Bees and Blooms holds a magnifying glass up to the twenty-two most common genera (and six species of cuckoo bees), describing each one's distinctive behaviors, social structures, flight season, preferred flowers, and enemies. Enhancing these descriptions are photographs of bees so finely detailed they capture pollen scattered across gauzy wings and iridescent exoskeletons. Drawing from years of research at the UC Berkeley Urban Bee Lab, California Bees and Blooms presents an authoritative look at these creatures, emphasizing their vital relationship with flowers. In addition to opening our eyes to the beautiful array of wild bees in our midst, this book provides information on fifty-three bee-friendly plants and how to grow them. Just a few square feet of poppies, sage, and phacelia are enough to sustain a healthy population of wild bees, transforming an urban or suburban garden into a world that hums and buzzes with life. Review: A wonderful book for people who would like to devote garden space to flowers native bees might like - I am quite familiar with Gordon Frankie's website, helpabee.org, and was expecting similar information. I would say that the book and the website are complimentary. The first part of the book goes into quite a bit of detail about native bee speciess. Maybe it will become more useful to me after I've been growing flowers for bees awhile--for now I was mostly looking for information on what to grow. The plant encyclopedia doesn't seem as extensive as the plant lists on the website but it fleshes out the list on the website. There is a nice section of "recipes" for choosing plants for a bee garden, which is useful. And the short section on flower anatomy is an interesting read. But please also read the website if you're serious about creating a garden for bees--I don't feel like the book stands completely on its own in that regard. Review: Great reference book - Love this book. Gave it as a gift to a friend who is creating a country cottage garden in her yard and wants to attract pollinators. This book talks about which bees are attracted to which plants, which plants they like for each season, gardens to go see, great pictures, easy to read. Love this book.