Just the bee’s knees: Botanical photographer produces loving showcase of our furry friends

Botanical photographer Craig P Burrows has produced a loving showcase of our furry honey-making friends, Apis mellifera. The book is an unbeatable marriage of beauty and brains, blending striking images of pollen-strewn flowers and pollinators in ultraviolet light – something like how bees might see the world – alongside diagrams and snappy text from writer Nick Worthington.

The Seduction of the Honeybee, by Craig P Burrows. Photo / Supplied

They explain the science of pollination, threats to the creatures that provide an estimated one in three bites of food we eat, and the medicinal benefits and chemical secrets of mānuka honey, in particular. It’s greatly informed by experts in beekeeping, plants, immunology and microbiology.

The Seduction of the Honeybee by Craig P Burrows (Blackwell & Ruth, $65 hb) is out now.