Bee Time: Lessons from the Hive - Brossura

Winston, Mark L.

Brossura

ISBN 10: 0674970853 ISBN 13: 9780674970854

Casa editrice: Harvard Univ Pr, 2016

Riassunto

Being among bees is a full-body experience, Mark Winston writes—from the low hum of tens of thousands of insects and the pungent smell of honey and beeswax, to the sight of workers flying back and forth between flowers and the hive. The experience of an apiary slows our sense of time, heightens our awareness, and inspires awe. Bee Time presents Winston’s reflections on three decades spent studying these creatures, and on the lessons they can teach about how humans might better interact with one another and the natural world.

Like us, honeybees represent a pinnacle of animal sociality. How they submerge individual needs into the colony collective provides a lens through which to ponder human societies. Winston explains how bees process information, structure work, and communicate, and examines how corporate boardrooms are using bee societies as a model to improve collaboration. He investigates how bees have altered our understanding of agricultural ecosystems and how urban planners are looking to bees in designing more nature-friendly cities.

The relationship between bees and people has not always been benign. Bee populations are diminishing due to human impact, and we cannot afford to ignore what the demise of bees tells us about our own tenuous affiliation with nature. Toxic interactions between pesticides and bee diseases have been particularly harmful, foreshadowing similar effects of pesticides on human health. There is much to learn from bees in how they respond to these challenges. In sustaining their societies, bees teach us ways to sustain our own.

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Recensione:

"Bee Time is a unique book: in turn a touching memoir, a warm paean to the honey bees that have fueled Winston s impressive scientific career, and an insightful analysis of some of the serious environmental problems facing us today." --Gene E. Robinson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

This is clearly a recipe for a unique and informed perspective, and Winston doesn t fail us. He writes lovingly of the rhythms and quiddities of the apiary [...] In a highly personal style, Winston steps between reportage, scientific exactitude and a deep, poetically expressed love of bees, beekeeping and the cultural forms that bees inspire [...] His take on the situation makes Bee Time an insightful delight." --New Scientist

"Winston's argument that the experience of interacting with a beehive is akin to the neurological state brought about by focused dialogue is a fascinating one...The most impressive aspect of Winston's wide-ranging study into social and cultural appropriations of the apiary is his awareness of how NGOs in America have adopted the example of bees to enhance participatory democracy. Turning our long-standing habit of anthropomorphising bee colonies on its head, Winston draws eloquent parallels between a swarm s discussions on the best spot for a new nesting site and the activities of organizations like America Speaks ... And if, as Winston suggests, the answers lie within the intricate colloquies of the hive, perhaps it s about time we let the bees tell us." --Literary Review

"In this personal and scientific journey into the history we share with bees, he ranges over neonicotinoid pesticides and colony collapse, the control of African killer bees and more. The charismatic social insects emerge as both icons of societal cohesion and symbols of nature s paradoxically mingled power and fragility." --Nature

L'autore:

Mark L. Winston is Academic Director of the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University and Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Harvard Univ Pr
• Data di pubblicazione: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0674970853
• ISBN 13: 9780674970854
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 283