---
product_id: 3751262
title: "Honeybee Democracy"
price: "€ 47.22"
currency: EUR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.be/products/3751262-honeybee-democracy
store_origin: BE
region: Belgium
---

# Honeybee Democracy

**Price:** € 47.22
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- **What is this?** Honeybee Democracy
- **How much does it cost?** € 47.22 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.be](https://www.desertcart.be/products/3751262-honeybee-democracy)

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## Description

Honeybee Democracy [Seeley, Thomas D.] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Honeybee Democracy

Review: Well written, very informative - I am a scientist by nature and trade, though I am a geologist with no level of expertise or knowledge in regards to insects. After hearing another story about colony collapse disorder on NPR, I researched the available books on honeybees at desertcart (was surprise at how few there are) and settled on Dr. Seeley's book. Great read! I found the structure of the book well thought out, each chapter leading into subsequent chapters. Each chapter also dealt with a discrete topic and flushed out the details thoroughly. Also - I enjoyed the fact that his writing style was easily accessible for the laymen. Some books of this ilk get caught in up what level of jargon or detail to use, but Dr. Seeley found a very reasonable position on this. Being an analytical type person, I really enjoyed how each theory was tested and described. The reader will see for example the criteria bees use for siting new hives, how they test some of those criteria, and of course the main topic - how the scouts tell the colony about their searches for new homes and then how the colony reaches a consensus amongst the various choices the scouts bring back. The reader should understand that this is not an all-encompassing book on bees, there is not much in here on hive construction or life cycles or how foragers do their thing. But there was enough on those topics for a novice like me to understand the context of what Dr. Seeley was writing about. At the end, I was not entirely convinced of using the bees "democratic" style in real life human situations. But it was good that Dr. Seeley gave real anecdotal examples from his university meetings and from New England town hall meetings to discuss it - other authors may have simply made the theoretical premise and left it at that. I look forward to reading his other book - Wisdom of the Hive - to read up on the foragers. Just wish the price would come down some! We get spoiled on the $5-$10 cheap paperbacks and are lamentably surprised at the price of niche scientific books. But Dr. Seeley does a great job here.
Review: This is a remarkable book! Layperson or bee expert, buy this book! Fascinating! - Not only is the research completely sound and refreshing, the graphic representation of compelling information is truly revelatory. If you are going to be shipwrecked on an island, even if that island has no honeybees, you should take this one book. It just seems that Thomas Seeley has compiled a most fascinating explanation of one of the bees' most curious and intelligent behaviors - and the graphic illustration and charts lend insight in clean, straight-forward, "ahh-hah" kind of ways, less understandable until now given the new, brilliant and powerfully simple conveyance. The Epilogue should be read first because it provides the most fitting setup: Martin Lindauer observed a clustered swarm of bees on a bush and noticed that the waggle-dancing bees were covered in black soot, red brick dust and grey soil. Calling them dirty dancers, a multiple of them were obviously attempting to convince others regarding the merits of a nearby chimney. That started his research into bee group decision making, and thus, Thomas Seeley's remarkable treatise on the subject. This would be a fascinating coffee table book, with insighful information for any curious book-flipper. For seasoned beekeepers, the photos, illustrations and information presented solidifies and exemplifies many of the things that we already know. Best example: on page 38, Figure 2.12 is a photo illustrating the underside of some house bees and shows how the wax chips are produced from the abdomens of the worker bees. I know this but had never seen it before. To see the photos is to gain much deeper understanding, and that quality of knowledge shared is represented throughout the entire book. As an informational tome, this book is beautiful, fascinating, timely, informative, curious, insightfully supportive, educational and moves what we know forward in terms of an improved general understanding of the bees' intricate and remarkable intelligence. Thank you Thomas Seeley, your illustrator, your graduate and undergraduate research students. I feel like a more comprehensive beekeeper by the richer understanding that your work has provided. It's a terrific book for the lay person and experienced beekeeper alike. Beautiful and fascinating!

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #28,574 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #2 in Entomology (Books) #5 in Biology of Insects & Spiders #31 in Democracy (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars (1,000) |
| Dimensions  | 8.2 x 1 x 9.6 inches |
| Edition  | Illustrated |
| ISBN-10  | 0691147213 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-0691147215 |
| Item Weight  | 2.13 pounds |
| Language  | English |
| Print length  | 280 pages |
| Publication date  | October 10, 2010 |
| Publisher  | Princeton University Press |

## Images

![Honeybee Democracy - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81IX6r2kJ9L.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Well written, very informative
*by B***D on July 23, 2011*

I am a scientist by nature and trade, though I am a geologist with no level of expertise or knowledge in regards to insects. After hearing another story about colony collapse disorder on NPR, I researched the available books on honeybees at Amazon (was surprise at how few there are) and settled on Dr. Seeley's book. Great read! I found the structure of the book well thought out, each chapter leading into subsequent chapters. Each chapter also dealt with a discrete topic and flushed out the details thoroughly. Also - I enjoyed the fact that his writing style was easily accessible for the laymen. Some books of this ilk get caught in up what level of jargon or detail to use, but Dr. Seeley found a very reasonable position on this. Being an analytical type person, I really enjoyed how each theory was tested and described. The reader will see for example the criteria bees use for siting new hives, how they test some of those criteria, and of course the main topic - how the scouts tell the colony about their searches for new homes and then how the colony reaches a consensus amongst the various choices the scouts bring back. The reader should understand that this is not an all-encompassing book on bees, there is not much in here on hive construction or life cycles or how foragers do their thing. But there was enough on those topics for a novice like me to understand the context of what Dr. Seeley was writing about. At the end, I was not entirely convinced of using the bees "democratic" style in real life human situations. But it was good that Dr. Seeley gave real anecdotal examples from his university meetings and from New England town hall meetings to discuss it - other authors may have simply made the theoretical premise and left it at that. I look forward to reading his other book - Wisdom of the Hive - to read up on the foragers. Just wish the price would come down some! We get spoiled on the $5-$10 cheap paperbacks and are lamentably surprised at the price of niche scientific books. But Dr. Seeley does a great job here.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This is a remarkable book! Layperson or bee expert, buy this book! Fascinating!
*by R***E on November 2, 2010*

Not only is the research completely sound and refreshing, the graphic representation of compelling information is truly revelatory. If you are going to be shipwrecked on an island, even if that island has no honeybees, you should take this one book. It just seems that Thomas Seeley has compiled a most fascinating explanation of one of the bees' most curious and intelligent behaviors - and the graphic illustration and charts lend insight in clean, straight-forward, "ahh-hah" kind of ways, less understandable until now given the new, brilliant and powerfully simple conveyance. The Epilogue should be read first because it provides the most fitting setup: Martin Lindauer observed a clustered swarm of bees on a bush and noticed that the waggle-dancing bees were covered in black soot, red brick dust and grey soil. Calling them dirty dancers, a multiple of them were obviously attempting to convince others regarding the merits of a nearby chimney. That started his research into bee group decision making, and thus, Thomas Seeley's remarkable treatise on the subject. This would be a fascinating coffee table book, with insighful information for any curious book-flipper. For seasoned beekeepers, the photos, illustrations and information presented solidifies and exemplifies many of the things that we already know. Best example: on page 38, Figure 2.12 is a photo illustrating the underside of some house bees and shows how the wax chips are produced from the abdomens of the worker bees. I know this but had never seen it before. To see the photos is to gain much deeper understanding, and that quality of knowledge shared is represented throughout the entire book. As an informational tome, this book is beautiful, fascinating, timely, informative, curious, insightfully supportive, educational and moves what we know forward in terms of an improved general understanding of the bees' intricate and remarkable intelligence. Thank you Thomas Seeley, your illustrator, your graduate and undergraduate research students. I feel like a more comprehensive beekeeper by the richer understanding that your work has provided. It's a terrific book for the lay person and experienced beekeeper alike. Beautiful and fascinating!

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Astounding insight into honey bee behavior for the .
*by M***. on July 2, 2014*

Astounding research from decades of painstaking observation and research. Excellently written commentary on bees and their behavior. The extrapolation of honeybee democracy to the human condition in the last part is interesting, well written and thought provoking. Seeley has followed (literally) and observed bees intently for decades and this book shares the rich and subtle wisdom only informed observation can yield. The best of this book is the first part dealing with the world-class natural science that Seeley et al have done on honey bee behavior and their informed speculation on the implied meanings of these behaviors. This book's bee behavior portion deserves a second read because it is PACKED with information and insight into the subtle interrelationships between genetics, instinct, behaviors and their implications. The insight into the honey bee caste system and it's management is like reading the best science fiction - it is genetically driven but involves the personal effort of each bee to fulfill it's destiny. This is one of the best books on natural history I have read in years, written so the non-scientist can devour and understand the content, but fully complete in it's scope. As to popular science for the layman, Seeley is right up there with the very best of Jane Goodall, Richard Feynman, Michio Kaku, and Neil Degrasse-Tyson, in my opinion. A must read for bee keepers.

## Frequently Bought Together

- Honeybee Democracy
- The Lives of Bees: The Untold Story of the Honey Bee in the Wild
- Following the Wild Bees: The Craft and Science of Bee Hunting

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*Product available on Desertcart Belgium*
*Store origin: BE*
*Last updated: 2026-05-08*