About the Holiday

Established by the National Honey Board in conjunction with the US Department of Agriculture in 1989, National Honey Month celebrates beekeepers, bees, and of course honey. September was chosen for this honor because here in the US, it’s the time when bees begin to secure their hive and prepare for winter and well as the month when the majority of honey is harvested. To celebrate this month, explore a variety of honey flavors, try a few new recipes that incorporate honey, and learn all the buzz about bees, honey, and beekeeping with today’s book!

I’d like to thank Sleeping Bear Press for sharing H is for Honey Bee: A Beekeeping Alphabet with me for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

H is for Honey Bee: A Beekeeping Alphabet

Written by Robbyn Smith van Frankenhuyzen | Illustrated by Eileen Ryan Ewen

If your garden or yard is anything like mine, the bees are humming around late-summer blooms and tracing their circuitous route to nearby or far-flung hives. The mystery and marvel of how honey bees convert powdery pollen into sweet honey never fails to awe and delight. In H is for Honey Bee, readers of all ages discover fascinating facts and stories about Bees from Apis mellifera (“Apis is the clue that we’re talking about a bee. / And mellifera means it’s all about honey”) to Z “for Zen and BUZZZZ.”

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Image copyright Eileen Ryan Ewen, 2020, text copyright Robbyn Smith van Frankenhuyzen, 2020. Courtesy of Sleeping Bear Press.

In between children learn all about a bee hive, its resident bees (from Drones to Guards to the Queen), how bees communicate, and at E how organized beekeeping dates back to 2400 BC and how important it was to Egyptian culture. “Found on hieroglyphs in the sun temple of Pharaoh Ne-user-re near Cairo, Egypt, an Egyptian peasant is depicted smoking stacked hives while other workers are storing and sealing honey in jars.”

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Image copyright Eileen Ryan Ewen, 2020, text copyright Robbyn Smith van Frankenhuyzen, 2020. Courtesy of Sleeping Bear Press.

At L kids learn about Lorenzo Langstroth, “the father of humane, practical beekeeping.” After discovering that natural hives had small passages that allowed bees to move freely though them, he invented a hive with removable frames that didn’t upset the other bees or damage the combs. Langstroth’s hive paved the way for other innovations, such as the Observation Hive at O, that gives people a clear view of bees at work. “You can watch the queen lay eggs, workers fan moisture from the nectar, and observe the bees dancing on the comb” and other marvels of a bee’s day.

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Image copyright Eileen Ryan Ewen, 2020, text copyright Robbyn Smith van Frankenhuyzen, 2020. Courtesy of Sleeping Bear Press.

Humans aren’t the only innovative ones, and readers will be fascinated to learn about Propolis at P, which bees make from their own saliva and other natural ingredients to protect their hive. V is for Venom—the bee’s defense that is more fun to learn about than experience. If you’re interested in where Beeswax comes from, just flip to W, and if you want to know how to tell if a hive is happy, Z is where you’ll find it.

Back matter includes resources on how you can create a safe and productive atmosphere for bees in your own yard, tips for becoming a beekeeper, and fun facts about busy bees.

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Image copyright Eileen Ryan Ewen, 2020, text copyright Robbyn Smith van Frankenhuyzen, 2020. Courtesy of Sleeping Bear Press.

Through charming and informative four-line rhymes and a column of detailed facts for each letter of the alphabet, Robbyn Smith van Frankenhuyzen presents a full and exhilarating look at bees, honey, and the job of beekeeping. She describes the behavior of bees—from how they communicate to how they survive winter temperatures to how the queen rules the hive and more—as well as the dangers bees face, from inside the hive and out, in vivid language that will captivate kids. Discussions on the healthy properties of honey as well as the joys of amateur beekeeping are here as well.

Accompanying the text are Eileen Ryan Ewen’s vibrant illustrations that give readers an up-close view of honey bees developing from egg to adult, gathering nectar, and working in their hive. Kids also meet Lorenzo Langstroth, see beekeepers working at their hives in yards and on rooftops, and travel down the Nile River with ancient beekeepers who moved their hives to continually provide them with the nectar and pollen they needed. Each page invites lingering to see and discuss all the details.

A well-rounded and comprehensive resource for those interested in bees and insects, gardeners of any age, and kids who love nature as well as for elementary and middle-grade science classes, H is for Honey Bee: A Beekeeping Alphabet is highly recommended for home, school, and public libraries.

Ages 7 – 10 and up

Sleeping Bear Press, 2020 | ISBN 978-1534110700

Discover more about Robbyn Smith van Frankenhuyzen and her books on her website.

To learn more about Eileen Ryan Ewen, her books, and her art, visit her website.