Product Description
In Laurie R. King’s latest Mary Russell–Sherlock Holmes mystery, the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author delivers a thriller of ingenious surprises and unrelenting suspense—as the famous husband and wife sleuths are pursued by a killer immune from the sting of justice.
 
It began as a problem in one of Holmes’ beloved beehives, led to a murderous cult, and ended—or so they’d hoped—with a daring escape from a sacrificial altar. Instead, Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes, have stirred the wrath and the limitless resources of those they’ve thwarted. Now they are separated and on the run, wanted by the police, and pursued across the Continent by a ruthless enemy with powerful connections.

Unstoppable together, Russell and Holmes will have to survive this time apart, maintaining tenuous contact only by means of coded messages and cryptic notes. With Holmes’ young granddaughter in her safekeeping, Russell will have to call on instincts she didn’t know she had. But has the couple already made a fatal mistake by separating, making themselves easier targets for the shadowy government agents sent to silence them?
 
From hidden rooms in London shops and rustic forest cabins to rickety planes over Scotland and boats on the frozen North Sea, Russell and Holmes work their way back to each other while uncovering answers to a mystery that will take both of them to solve. A hermit with a mysterious past and a beautiful young female doctor with a secret, a cruelly scarred flyer and an obsessed man of the cloth, Holmes’ brother, Mycroft, and an Intelligence agent who knows too much: Everyone Russell and Holmes meet could either speed their safe reunion or betray them to their enemies—in the most complex, shocking, and deeply personal case of their career.
 Amazon.com Review
Laurie R. King on The God of the Hive

Customer Reviews (70)

I'm so conflicted.
I read the last Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes book, The Language of Bees, slightly over a year ago.I remember that at the time I was a bit disappointed that it ended on a cliffhanger, so I would have to wait to see what happened next.This is the sequel, as promised.The two books connect; do not attempt to read this one without the other.

I'm conflicted about this book, overall.After finishing it, I didn't much like it.I felt that the style had drifted too far from the early books, that the plot disappointed, and the writing was thin.Then I took a breath, went back in and re-read several sections that I knew I had been reading very quickly (in order to get to the plot.)

And just like that, I fell in love with the prose again.There are some great lines, and some interesting themes explored.The voice I remember and love is in there.I still think the plot is severely lacking, and some of the writing tactics are trite beyond belief, but I'm more sanguine about the book now than I was upon first finishing it.

Assumes you have a lot of Sherlock knowledge
Bad. Really slow drift through a swamp of inside Holmes stuff. If the son and his kid had a bigger part it would have been readable. Boooooring.

Author's new book disappoints
As a longtime fan of Laurie King's "Sherlock Holmes/Mary Russell" series, I regret having to criticize King's new work, "The God of the Hive."

Nevertheless, in my opinion this book is an experiment that fails. By making Holmes and Russell go their own far-apart paths for most of the story, King squanders the magic that made "The Beekeeper's Apprentice," "O Jerusalem," and other early King books so exciting.

Essentially, King here sets up separate story lines which, however carefully they are stitched together at the end, don't really achieve unity. The continually shifting point of view is also a confusing distraction, with some "chapters" only four or five paragraphs long.

As well, Sherlock Holmes himself never quite comes to life in this volume. By the time he gets back to London to take a more active part, he is almost an afterthought. True, the aging detective still has a few tricks up his sleeve. But given a little more time, Russell could probably have solved the whole mystery of Mycroft Holmes's bogus demise by herself.

Then, too, what shall we say about the major character intrusion of Robert Goodman, the "Green Man," into this story? How are we to feel about Goodman and Mary Russell actually holding hands as on one occasion they trek through London?Goodman's enigmatic personna seems at times far more important than the role of the largely absent Sherlock Holmes.

Perhaps the magic of the earlier relationship between Holmes and Russell cannot be recreated endlessly in new volumes. But readers may justifiably remind author Laurie King that the early chemistry in this series came from actual physical meetings between the standoffish Holmes and staunchly feminist Russell, more than from obscurely coded messages in the London Times. And both Holmes andRussell deserve a better opportunity to show off their relationship, as well as their skills, than this particular book gives them.

On a grading scale of "A" through "F," I'll give Ms. King a "C+" for trying a new creative formula. But I liked the old formula better!

With Laurie King you can believe Sherlock is married.
I have been reading the Laurie King books since the first one and place it proudly on my several shelves of Sherlock Holmes adventures.I know there are critics that cannot stand the idea of Holmes being married to Mary Russell, however the author pulls it off.From her introduction in the first book when Holmes becomes her mentor up though this last great story it is easy to see in Mary why it is the logical decision for the two to marry.Their relationship with each other comes off like magic.In this last book I must agree that first you must read The Language of the Bees to get in on the action.Certainly Irene Adler fans were made happy in that book to learn that the great detective consummated his relationship with this clever lady.The God of the Hive is one of the best in the series taking up from the last one.This is a real page turner that, forgive the cliche', is impossible to put down.There are more twists than even the immortal Hitchcock could imagine.The introduction of Robert Goodman adds spice to the tale and the reader will wonder if he comes back.I look very forward to the next in the series and plan to go to the web page for the author to hopefully congratulate her on another great work.

The God of the Hive: A novel of suspense featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes
The God of the Hive: A novel of suspense featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes was a very fun book to read. I thoroughly enjoyed the style of writing. Having never read a Sherlock Holmes story, this was a great introduction and I am encouraged to read more. Overall, I highly recommend this read. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (3)

Excellent Choice
This book is great.It is for older children.The photography is excellent and full of a lot of good information on the bee problems. I would highly recommend this book.

The Hive Detectives
I knew a bit about bees and the current predicament before I read this beautiful and informative book, but my appreciation has grown so much. After reading about bee habits and bodies and needs, my gardening has changed. I look at the bees as friends. I watch them closely. And feel so so glad that they're around.

I hope this book will be read by many, who will also come to be more thankful for the bees in our lives, and help make the world a safer place for them.

Richie's Picks: THE HIVE DETECTIVES
"Wind, rain, spiders, and other animals can pollinate plants, but nothing does the job as efficiently as the honey bee.Some crops, such as almonds, are so dependent on honey bees that they couldn't be produced without the help of commercial beekeepers.Every February, more than half a million acres of almond trees bloom in California, and beekeepers from around the country truck in more than one million bee colonies to do the pollinating.
"Other crops depend on commercial honey bees too.In addition to California almond trees in February, Dave's bees pollinate Florida citrus trees in March, Pennsylvania apple trees in April and May, Maine blueberry bushes in June, and Pennsylvania pumpkin plants in July.
"'The biggest thing about bees is not honey,' says Dave.'It's that your food supply depends on them.'"

When I was little and I had a nose stuffed with snot and a throat filled with sandpaper, my mom would squeeze some fresh lemon into a big mug, add a spoonful of honey and fill it with hot water.I'm thinking that honey's sweet role in being a comfort to me when I was feeling really miserable is one reason why I am still so fond of it today.Concerned about the degree to which refined sweeteners were being added to nearly all processed foods (Yes, I read a book about it.),I've avoided eating food and beverages containing white sugar and/or corn syrup since the Seventies.But I do like to keep a container of honey around for when I bake.

As Loree Griffin Burns explains in THE HIVE DETECTIVES, big-time commercial beekeeper Dave Hackenberg trucks all of his bees to Florida in the winter."Instead of clustering in a hibernation-like state, which is how bees survive frigid northern winters," each of the 150 million bees living amongst Dave's 3,000 beehives keep busy as...err...bees, "maintainingtheir hive, rearing young, and collecting nectar and pollen" (as well as availing themselves of the sugar syrup and protein patties with which they are supplemented in the leaner months).

"Dipping into the flower zone
Soaking up directions
Finding our ways in the dark..."
-- Naomi Shihab Nye from "Honeybee"

But as became big news in 2006, twenty million of Dave's buzzing pollinators vanished without a trace that winter.And, as Loree Griffin Burns was explaining to me when we conversed at the NCTE convention last fall, she recognized news of the bee problems as a potential ecological and food supply disaster in the making, and decided she needed to take a closer look at what was being discovered in the scientific community about these mysterious disappearances.

Since that conversation, I have been waiting impatiently all winter for a chance to read and view what Loree learned from researchers about this Colony Collapse Disorder.

What conditions did the hive detectives discover?

"Among this 'stuff' were striking changes in the way the bees' internal organs looked under the microscope.Dennis found swollen, discolored, and scarred tissues and organs throughout the bodies of bees from CCD hives.The CCD bees also contained evidence of yeast, bacteria, and fungal infections, often all in the same bee.These abnormalities weren't seen in bees from healthy hives."

What is causing these abnormalities?

As the hive detectives compared evidence from hives that suffered CCD to evidence from healthy hives, the results remained unclear as to what factors are separately or collectively responsible for this Colony Collapse Disorder.The pests that many in the beekeeping community immediately suspected of triggering the CCD are apparently not the problem.Nor, it seems, are viruses.There was also no significant difference between the levels of pesticide residue found in the pollen and wax samples from the hives that had been victims of CCD versus the healthy hives.

The investigation continues.

But what stuns me in reading THE HIVE DETECTIVES is that across the board -- in healthy hives and in dead hives -- high levels of pesticides are being found in pollen and wax samples.These pesticides include those employed by the beekeepers themselves to rid bees of certain mites and all the latest pesticides employed by the farmers who are growing the crops being pollinated by the bees:

"The first surprise was how common chemicals were; Maryann found them in almost every sample she tested, whether it came from a CCD hive or a healthy hive.Of 208 pollen samples, only three were completely chemical-free.
"'It was shocking to us to find, on average, five pesticides in each pollen sample,' said Marann.'In one sample we found seventeen different pesticides.
"Perhaps even more shocking was that the chemicals found most frequently -- and at the highest levels -- were those that beekeepers themselves put in the hive to protect their bees from Varroa mites.Somehow these beekeeper-applied chemicals were finding their way into the pollen the bees stored in the hive."

So, does this mean that I am ingesting a chemical feast every time I put together a batch of carob fudge brownies or oatmeal raisin cookies containing honey?Whether or not the honey comes to contain concentrated levels of these pesticides is a question that Loree does not directly address in the book, but is the question that has me thinking hard about my continued use of honey.

My biggest fear from reading this book is that Rachel Carson is long forgotten, that our silent spring is coming, and that 2006 was just a dress rehearsal for an even larger CCD disaster that will critically and irreversibly impact the human food supply.I continue to not understand why those of us who seek to eat in a manner that puts less pressure on an ecologically stressed-out planet are so often characterized as being radical, while the employment by multinational food production companies of new pesticides as foundational tools in their monocultural excesses -- a process by which the public and Mother Earth have become the laboratory rats on whom these brave new chemicals are being tested -- is perceived to be the honest work of mainstream down-to-earth American farmers.

Ellen Harasimowicz's photographs are vivid and revealing; and Loree Griffin Burns' text is clear, engrossing, and easy to follow.Given the ease to which the next epidemic of Colony Collapse Disorder might so quickly plunge us all into the midst of a planetary food supply catastrophe, THE HIVE DETECTIVES is certainly the most important children's book I have so far read this year. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (16)

Enjoyable read
This would be one of my more favorite of Frank Herbert's oneshot novels, though I do wish that he could have expanded a bit more on Hive-life. This book was a fun and thought-provoking read, and a bold foray into various issues. Overall I felt the story was believable, though the story would definitely have benefited from more background on the Hive and just how these Hive-people came to be.

I also found myself a bit cheesed-off by the ending. It had a 'The Lady or the Tiger' feeling to it, and ended rather abruptly, though I suppose Mr. Herbert wanted to leave the ending to us.

Do Not Muddle With the Human-hive!
Frank Herbert (1920-1986) wrote his masterpiece "Dune" (1965), generating a recognizable turning point in sci-fi literature.
The variety of themes he touched influenced many genre authors thereafter: ecology, political-religious interaction, genetic manipulation, longevity drugs and secret sisterhoods and brotherhoods.
"Hellstrom's Hive" (aka "Project 40" 1973) is a quite underrated novel from the author nevertheless jam-packed with interesting ideas.

The story is as follows: a couple of agents pertaining to a top secret government organization are investigating an isolated farm. Unknown to them this "farm" is on top of a human-hive.
From this point on a complex intrigue ballet starts involving power struggle in different fronts: Agency's internal, Hive's internal, Agency vs. FBI and Hive vs. Agency.Each of them following diverse patterns and conducting to a final confrontment with unpredictable outcome.

I recommend this rather short book to sci-fi lovers (especially Frank Herbert enthusiasts) and general public too.
Reviewed by Max Yofre.

A Novel Before Its Time
This novel is written like an onion, the layers peel away as you read on, keeper the readers in suspense at every turn. What are the vats? Are the agents really dead? What is this hive? How deep does it go underground? How big is the hive really? All these questions and more are slowly revealed in a style only Frank Herbert can write.

A very refreshing concept of an underground community of humans mimicking insects in a hive. If you look at when the book was written, it was something new, strange and at the same time, frightening and could only come out from Frank Herbert's mind.

The novel is written with a very clever use of language and wordplay to keep the readers enticed. Frank doesn't insult you by telling you everything, he let's you think, imagine, read between the lines and draw your own conclusions - something every author should do!

A truly amazing and compelling story for a novel written before its time!

Best Herbert Next to His Dune
I read this book years ago; loved it then, and now think it's time to read it again.

Agents and Insects
This probably worked better as a short story.Hellstrom's Hive is a 1950's, cold war sci-fi tale, nothing more, nothing less. A few grotesque situations in the hive are memorable, the "stumps" for example, but the endless pages of the Agency going through the motions is just plain mind numbing. Pass. ... Read more

Product Description
Much had been done to limit and destroy the powers of the terrible Hivers, who had torn through space, annihilating every living thing that stood in their way. But still the Alliance had to discover the whereabouts of every last Hiver world and stop the Queens from further colonization.Amazon.com Review
Anne McCaffrey concludes the saga of Angharad Gwyn, the Rowan,her husband Jeff Raven, and their family of powerful telepathicallyand telekinetically Talented offspring with The Tower and theHive. ( The first four books in the series are: The Rowan, Damia, Damia's Children, andLyon's Pride.) As usual, McCaffrey delivers vividly real characters struggling withpersonal, political, and ethical issues and finding humanesolutions.

Federated Teleport and Telepath, dominated by theGwyn-Raven clan, provides interstellar shipping and communications forthe Star League of Humans and Mrdinis--weasel-like aliens. Infollowing the aggressive, ant-like Hivers, whose "spheres" haverepeatedly attacked League worlds, naval vessels have discovered manymore habitable planets, including some occupied by Hivers. Who willget to colonize these planets, Humans or Mrdinis? Should all Hivers bedestroyed, or is there some way to contain them? Where will moreTalents to staff the vital Towers come from? And how best to defeatthose whose resentment of the Gwyn-Raven family's powers andfriendship with Mrdinis could lead to violence?

McCaffrey'sprotagonists are four Gwyn-Raven grandchildren, now young adults whofind romance and mature while studying both alien races. Old and newfans alike can enjoy her masterful blending of scientificextrapolation and fantasy elements to produce a universe they'll leaveregretfully. --Nona Vero ... Read more

Customer Reviews (64)

What the hell?
What happened in this book? Did the author bothered to create and ending so horrible by chance? I'm a fan of the Rowan and the Pegasus Series, but Anne McCaffrey killed the story. The whole book did not make sense, the author totally shocked me, I do not recommend this book, cause it falls short.The stories before this book, were so rich and full of emotions,the characthers were well devolped and the story aimed at something.This book went on and on on tiresome reading and absurd story arc.If this is the ending of the Rowan series its very sad.I finished reading the book because I was loyal to the author and to the story but was a total lackluster book.

The book that went nowhere fast
I hate to say it, but this book did very little for me.I've been an Anne McCaffrey fan for years, but this book is a disappointing ending to a great series.I was surprised to find out that the plot went absolutely nowhere.There was some intrigue and political maneuverings, which I've enjoyed in many of McCaffrey's novels (Sassinak, Decision at Doona, Crysal Singer series just to name a few) but I was surprised when many of these plot twists and turns ended up as dead ends.

Perhaps, McCaffrey has become so enamoured with these characters, she couldn't bear to part with them.I'm not sure.To me, this seems like she was trying to just tie off loose ends with no real story behind the works.

Love it
Anne McCaffrey is a fantastic author. I'm glad she wrote another book for this series. It's worth buying.

Finding the key
The third time, we're told, is lucky, and in this book, the chronological eighth volume of McCaffrey's combined Pegasus/Rowan saga, the third generation of a family of powerful psychic talents finally proves to be lucky in its quest to contain the insectoid Hivers.

Thian and Rojer Lyon, the elder sons of Afra Lyon and Damia Raven, are on board the naval ship Washington, investigating failed Hiver colonies, when they discover, by an unexpected and fortuitous chance, that Hivers communicate by pheromones--which may also be the key to why one Hiver colony hasn't followed the common pattern of overpopulation and aggressive emigration.Meanwhile their sisters, going-on-17 Morag and slightly younger Kaltia, are sent to help eldest daughter Laria at Clarf Tower, where they not only originate a more efficient way of handling message tubes but prove to be indispensable after Laria and her second, Kincaid Dano, must hurry with their 'Dinis to Iota Aurgiae, where another sister, empathic healer Zara, has been attempting to help the Mrdini biologists discover a means of controlling their species' exploding population--something not previously needed, since so many died in the two-century war with the Hivers.And throughout the human League of colonies, a militant movement continues to press with growing fervor for the utter annihilation of the Hiver species, while another deplores the assignment of certain newly-discovered worlds to the Mrdini, not stopping to consider that that species prefers much hotter, brighter suns than humans generally do.Then the earliest-found Hiver colony abruptly explodes in warfare between various queens' groups.Should it be left alone so the Hivers can butcher one another and thereby reduce the threat?Or can the Talents' discoveries be used to control Hiver aggression and population?

Some gay readers may be mildly offended by Kincaid's liaison with Laria ("I love you...as much as it is possible for me to love a woman," he tells her upon learning that they've started a child together).And others may be disappointed at the denoument of rejected T-2 Vagrian Beliakin's resolve to avenge himself on Laria.McCaffrey also seems to have gotten a little confused as to whose 'Dinis are which: she locates Sim, Dar, Kev, and Su on Iota Aurigae after Morag and Kaltia have left, but 16 pages later describes them as belonging to the girls and accompanying them to Clarf.Her picture of future human society is intriguing in its choice of cultural survival: one new colony ship is named the "Asimov," and a low-grade Talent speaks of "an ancient comedian" who's clearly Jimmy Durante, yet nuns as a type are apparently so long vanished from the scene that even the word for them is half forgotten.In the end the quests of the Talents seem to be finally crowned with success, and a fourth generation is assured as Thian learns that he is about to become a father and Rojer finally makes it with his cousin Asia.Whether or not there will be any further volumes in this series remains to be seen, but at least the issues that have troubled the Rowan's line for three generations now seem to be resolved.

Is this Anne McCaffrey?
Who really wrote this book? I have to wonder if Todd McCaffrey didn't in fact write this.
That's the only explanation I can come up with for her having seemed to forget her characters so completely.
I just finished reading the whole Talent series back to back and the difference between those books and this is striking.
What happened? I have been wondering what the deal is with her allowing her son Todd to tinker with Pern, the results of which you can read about in other reviews here on this site. Suffice it to say, they have not been a roaring success.
I personally think he had a large hand in this one, even if he received no credit for it. Why?

After 5 years with no sequel, all of a sudden she decides to come back, like with Skies of Pern and just like that book, this one has some major problems. For example, the woodenness, the unfamiliarity of all the characters we have come to love from the last 4 books. The characters just feel all wrong, almost like in fanfic when someone tries hard to emulate the original, but is just too self aware.

What about the Rowan? She makes glorified cameos, along with Damia and Afra. And frankly, they were the only reasons I kept reading this book. But they don't appear all that much and the reader is left with the boring personalities of their cookie-cutter children.
The once interesting and vibrant characters in the first novels have been radically changed, as if McCaffrey did indeed forget them. In this book, Afra is described as being `methody' when in fact the entire background of the Damia novel was all about him NOT being methody, which was why he had to leave Capella. Jeff Raven is now a Peter Reidinger clone, shamelessly manipulating his horde of offspring and heavily pressuring them to accept outposts on planets light years away from family and friends. The Rowan is somewhere in the background there. She has one or two paragraphs, but not much else.What happened to the Jeff Raven who wanted to rebel? Or even the Rowan for that matter.

My other misgivings about this so-called `ending' are these:

1. The plot meanders all over the place.I mean, why is the Hiver Queen now into her third book of incarceration, and no one has a clue how to talk to her yet? Zara was supposed to be the liaison with godlike gifts of empathy, but she goes on to other things and never comes in contact with the Hiver Queen again. Later they attribute her understanding of the Queen's distress as having been just chance. Now, this is the first break with canon that got my attention and why I think someone other than McCaffrey had a hand in writing this thing. You may recall, that Zara felt the pain of the Queen from several light years away, and when she got close, she immediately understood that she was freezing to death. The continuity error here is a step beyond the shoddily written intro where Afra is listed as being Damia's brother, for Pete's sake. This is just a straight cop out, and if they didn't want to write any more, they would have been better off not bothering at all. Of course, there's no money in that, is there?

2.The other children and their significant others go from one planet to the other, hypothesizing and theorizing about Hiver biology, when what the reader wants to know is: What happened to so and so --? And it just goes on and on, along with the ridiculous subplot of developing birth control methods for the `Dinis. The final answer of how to talk with the Hivers is very contrived and
goes against earlier canon. Uh, why weren't the pheromones detected in Damia's Children when Zara pulled her `antic'? Why didn't the Queen react to Zara's pheromones? You might remember she stank so badly, she was rushed into the showers, and yet in the Tower and Hive, the mere hint of garlic caused a Hiver to react to cleanse the air. It's all just nonsense. Forget writing the
Biology textbook for the 24th century, this story was always about the PEOPLE and I think the communication thing with the Hivers could have been so much more interesting . . . as in, what if they are Telepathic in some new way?That would have explained why Zara could hear her all those light years away and the instantaneous communication from the Queen to her workers.
Pheromones take time, because they require air. And air, even in a hurricane, can only go so fast.

3. Damia's children. To the last man (or woman) they are absolutely perfect. They don't gripe about working full time jobs from the time they are 12 or so and don't seem to want to rebel against their grandfather's unceasing demands as well as his schemes to turn them all into baby factories. They don't seem to mind being bred like cattle. In addition, we are left at the end of the book knowing that they will all be searching for Hiver worlds forever on board navy vessels in order to drop the pheromones on them. For years and years and years. And I thought my job was bad.

4.No interesting characters. The one possibility, Vagrian, is given more time in the book than the Rowan or Damia but turned out to be a red herring. Why did they bring in this character? He adds nothing to the story and once he is mind-fixed, has no other purpose. Why did McCaffrey introduce us to him, if he doesn't do anything important? He doesn't even seduce one of her available daughters, so there's no reason for him to be in the story. You begin to wonder if there wasn't more planned for that character McCaffrey
(or Todd) just lost steam and tied it all up.

5. That's yet another problem. Too many pat answers, the most glaring of which is the Laria/Kincaid relationship. Now, why go to all the trouble to reinforce that the man is gay in the other books, and then just have him forget all that and become straight just for her.
Because he loves her? It doesn't work that way. So now, we are left with their very implausible relationship and of course her entry into the halls of baby making. How about a female Talent that -gasp!- chooses not to have ANY babies! Now that might be a good story.

So, we are finally left with an incomplete and hurried story, up to an including the Final Solution for the Buggers -I mean Hivers.
(Wouldn't want Orson Scott Card to get mad or anything.) What made these books so great was the concept of Talent combined with the interesting personalities. From Rhyssa Owen to Damia, even Jeff Raven before his character got ruined. It would have been better not to end it like this, but leave it with the open ended finale in Lyon's Pride.
... Read more

Product Description
Langstroth on the Hive and the Honey-Bee - A Bee Keeper's Manual is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by L. L. (Lorenzo Lorraine) Langstroth is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of L. L. (Lorenzo Lorraine) Langstroth then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

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Thrown together during the last night of an alien invasion, Wilks, a space marine with a compassionate heart, and Bille, a child and the only survivor of a far-flung colony outpost, must rely on each other to survive. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (46)

EARTH HIVE IS ALIVE
THIS IS THE FIRST BOOK OF THIS TRI SERIES. FROM START TO FINISH I WAS HOOKED ON THIS BOOK. I LOVE THE MOVIES AND THIS BROUGHT BACK SOME GREAT MEMORIES. THE CHARACTERS ARE LIKEABLE AND THE ACTION IS SWIFT. MARINE WILKS HAS BEEN ORDERED TO HELP CAPTURE AN ALIEN TO BE BROUGHT BACK TO EARTH TO BE USED AS A WEAPON. WILKS BRINGS ALONG THE ONLY OTHER PERSON WHO HAS SURVIVED AN ALIEN ATTACK. BILLIE WAS A CHILD WHEN THE SETTLEMENT SHE LIVED ON WAS DESTROYED. FOR YEARS SHE HAS BEEN IN MENTAL HOSPITALS DRIVEN TO THE EDGE OF SANITY BY THE MEMORIES AND DREAMS OF THESE NIGHTMARE CREATURES. WILKS HELPS HER ESCAPE AND WE ARE ON THE JOURNEY TO THE ALIENS HOME WORLD. ALONG THE WAY BILLIE FALLS IN LOVE WITH MARINE BUELLER WHO IS UNAWARE OF WHAT HE REALLY IS. ONCE ON THE PLANET THERE IS TREACHERY, SECRETS REVEALED, ACTION AND A SHOCKING ENDING. ALL IN ALL A VERY ENTERTAINING BOOK IN THE AMAZING ALIEN SERIES.

Surprisingly Good
Aliens Novels: Book 1, Earth Hive / 0-553-56120-0

I'm a die-hard fan of the Aliens movie franchise (I enjoy all four movies immensely), so it seemed natural to branch out a bit and check out the novel series that was written based off of the film and comic franchise. "Earth Hive" being the first book, I dived in with relish, fully expecting, however, that the end results would be pretty poor. I was pleasantly surprised to find that was not the case.

Wilks and Billie are the sole survivors of an alien infestation on a remote colonized world, years ago, when Billie was just a child and Wilks was the marine who rescued her. If this sounds familiar, there's a good reason: Wilks and Billie are basically Hicks and Newt from Aliens. Without getting too deep in the back story, it seems that the original comic writers hadn't initially foreseen that the two would be killed off in Alien 3, so when the novel series came out afterwards, they just changed the names of our heroes, added a few tantalizing throw-away references to "the others" who survived a similar outbreak and are missing in action (a marine and two civilians - Hicks, Ripley, and Newt), and then moved forward without changing anything else in the story. In a way, I think this is actually a fortuitous change - Hicks and Newt have a lot of emotional baggage attached to them at this point, and it's probably better to start fresh with this new Wilks and Billie, with comfortably similar back stories.

To continue, it's ten years after the infestation that scarred Wilks face and haunts Billie's nightmares. Wilks is still a marine, but a washed-up one, addicted to anything that can channel his feelings of rage and despair. Billie has been locked in a mental asylum - and not a particularly nice one - on account of the fact that her dreams and memories don't match the official government version of what happened on the colony and the rest of the world thinks she's a loony.

When the alien home world is discovered (how they discovered it isn't exactly fleshed out in detail), "the government" (this is a bit tricky - we have a "Terran Intelligence Agency", which implies a world government, but there are also "borders" to be closed later, when things go FUBAR, and it's generally unclear who controls what) sends out the marines to collect a few samples. (The theme of alien-as-weapon has been omnipresent in the series and is a huge factor here, but the book does charitably note that there are also medical benefits from, for example, learning how the aliens survive in the vacuum of space.) Wilks 'volunteers' for the mission, under duress, but finds a certain spring in his step at the idea of facing his old enemy and settling a few scores. He also breaks Billie out of the mental hospital and smuggles her along as an 'alien expert'. Neither really expect to come back alive, and both are pretty much at peace with that. Meanwhile, after they break contact with Earth, the Terran authorities realize with glee and trepidation that there's an alien *here*, on Earth, hatching in the bowels of the science lab of a private corporation, which should give you some idea where the subtitle of the book ("Earth Hive") came from.

As a fan of the movie series, this book is like chicken soup for the soul and provides all the little 'fanboy' details that I was desperately longing for. We discover a little more about the mysterious dead alien we saw in the derelict spacecraft in Alien - a space faring race, curious to take samples from the hostile alien home world and falling victim, not unlike our own Earthlings, to their little specimens. We learn more about the aliens' social structure, physiology, and intelligence levels - like the African reed frogs and the Jurassic Park raptors, the aliens are capable of changing gender if the situation calls for it, thus each baby alien is capable of growing to a queen in order to propagate the species. The alien drones have no higher intelligence than an Earth dog; the alien queens, on the other hand, are more intelligent than most humans. And, like everything else, they are capable of evolving.

I expected (or at least hoped) this book would be heavy on the fan details, but I also feared that the actual writing would be pretty poor, if only because adaptation series books have a reputation of coasting on their laurels. Perry does a fine job, however, in weaving a tale that is fairly well-written, and kept at a quick clip and heavy on the suspense. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of details missing here. The government situation on Earth is murky. It is left to the imagination why a derelict freighter orbiting Earth has an alien lurking among the dead crew. It's not clear where the host picked up by the corporations came from, nor how he became infected. Worst of all, alien babies born alone only grow into queens when the plot calls for it - aliens babies born on, for example, the ship carrying Wilks and Billie (ok, I'm edging into Book 2 of the series, but it's the same author) grow into drones, for no apparent reason other than that the plot calls for it.

Having said that, the crisp writing, fast pace, and overall plot are good enough to easily gloss over these little details. I do wish that Perry had employed the technique of labeling each location shift with a time/location stamp - a practice I usually dislike, but the shifts in perspective here are harder to follow than usual. After a few paragraphs, the reader can place their new location, but the shifts can be slightly jarring at times, largely because I was reading so fast (because I was keenly interested in the plot) that I didn't want to take time to figure out where I was now that the location had shifted. One more thing I want to praise about the book - Perry avoids the lazy "evil corporation" and "evil government" tropes that must have been a temptation while writing. The corporations here *are* greedy, no doubt, but they are equally sane and are willing to destroy their project rather than unleash it accidentally on the Earth. Equally sane is the Terran government who recognizes, intelligently so, that the total destruction of their study samples is preferable to their escape into the general population. True, they aren't motivated out of pity but rather self-interest, but it is at least a *sane* self-interest, and not the "I'll risk everything for more power!" insanity that often gets laid on thick in these sorts of novels. The fact that Perry avoided this shows a great deal of skill on his part, I think.

Bottom line, if you're a long-time alien fan and you're desperate for more details on the alien race, this book will definitely whet your appetite (while leaving you hungry for the next book in the series, believe me). And you might even be surprised to learn that the actual writing isn't half-bad, either.

not a good way to start the series, but ok
i started reading this book with higth expectations, only to be let down. the book drags on and on, and all these characters wich have practicaly nothing to do with the story keep get added to the mix. was it worth the wait for the end? well, kind of. i thought it was smart that it conected to the first alien movie and the sudden rush of energy. one major problem with the book is the large amount of sexual content within its pages. i rate the movie M15+(coarse language, some violence and sex scenes)that is australian movie ratings.

Good book
My teenagers were having problems finding the book in the stores, they enjoyed the Alien/Predator series.

Good book
Minimum Maturity Level - Teen
Extreme violence and gore.Mild language.

Previous Reading Required - None
Seems to be the start of an epic series.

Reading Level - Average
Easy to keep up with.

Rate of Development - Average
Takes a bit to get background on the characters but not too long.

The Story - Good
Aliens found.A group of marines sent to destroy them.At the same time, a queen is brought to earth for study.

My Suggestion - Recommended
I liked this one.There is not much of a plot but its good action.It was a good story save for a few things.The ending was one of those preparing for a sequel endings so there was really no real climax to be found.The title of the book gave me the idea that it starts off as the earth is overrun but it seems like it only just tells the story of how it got overrun with a side quest being told with Wilks and Billie.I would recommend this but only if you plan on reading the sequels after. ... Read more

Product Description
A SEQUEL OVER 70 YEARS IN THE MAKING
Jimmy Hayes had a bad feeling the moment he arrived at Kharkhov Station, and it had nothing to do with the cold, the snow, and the four solid months of darkness at the South Pole. But when mummies were discovered in the mountains, Hayes knew the cause of his bad feeling. Only he didn’t know what would happen when the ruins of a pre-human civilization was discovered in a series of sub-surface caverns. That was when the real trouble at Kharkhov Station began...

Tim Curran (author of Skin Medicine) presents a stunning sequel to H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (21)

"The very insane geometry of the place made you want to vent your mind in a single rending and wet scream."
Jimmy Hayes is a contractor that takes care of the machinery that keeps the Kharkhov Station at the South Pole running.He's a no-nonsense type of guy amid others of the same on one side, and the scientists on the other.He's the novel's focal point that the story revolves, and is the type of character that can move in both the scientific and the contractor circles.The story doesn't take any time getting started.Within the very first pages, Gates, one of the scientists, has made a fantastic discovery.He has discovered some pre-human non-human mummies at one of his dig sites.

He's bringing them right back to the station, and Hayes, along with his friend Lind, is one of the first to see them.They are barrel shaped, star-headed, and while obviously dead, seem to radiate a miasma of pure malignant evil that effects all that come within range of them, and nobody is more effected than Lind, of whom Hayes will witness the gradually loss of mind and life.

But Lind is only the first, as anxiety, nightmares, sleeplessness, and death slowly begins to infect all of the station's personnel.As the mummies begin to affect the station's personal, Hayes becomes a thorn in the side to the station's camp commander LaHune.His constant companion and confidant through all of this will be the compact and red-haired Doc Sharkey, the only woman at the station.As the events begin to escalate, they will become occasional lovers, allies, and lone warriors against the revived ancient threat.

This was the novel that got me hooked on reading Curran, and it was before I read his weird sea masterpiece "Dead Sea".Curran doesn't go for big shocks here; he takes his time to slowly build up the creep factor, along with throwing us the odd spectacularly weird event to keep things moving."Hive" is a sequel to H. P. Lovecraft's novella "At The Mountains Of Madness", a novella that Hayes obliquely references many times throughout the novel.Lovecraft's novella is famous for moving as slow as molasses in January, while building up the suspense slowly through the accumulation of the details of the ancient city.Curran does the same thing.If you expect a slam-bang action novel you will be disappointed. Curran goes for a science-fiction horror through the accumulation of detail as we truly see just how the mummies are affecting the very reality of the people that are inhabiting the station.

Curran is also a middle-class working man, and so this novel is told through the eyes of a hard working everyman.This novel's prose is often extremely dense, yet the story never slows.The story also concentrates on a nuts-and-bolts working man's viewpoint, therefore we meet more of the contractors and fewer of the scientists than most novels of this type.A positive is that the contractors often have the earthy way of talking that working class people often talk.True there are a few too many dopey analogies, and a little too much foul language, but, factory workers will often talk this way.And the novel is full of quotable prose like "The night was alive with viscid shadows and creeping shapes and the wind was full of voices.He could hear them calling him through that blowing white death . . ."

Despite being the novel's focal point and hero, Hayes is hardly a larger-than-life, completely competent hero.He's often desperate, afraid, and has to have his life saved at least three times by Sharkey.His heart is in the right place, but he clearly wasn't cut out to save the world.

And while there have been many that have commented on that the plot of this novel often resembles John Carpenter's movie The Thing (Collector's Edition), right down to lifting a number of scenes, the novel more closely resembles the movie "Five Million Years To Earth" (a. k. a.:Quatermass & The Pit).This would include the ancient hive race, ancient experiments of human ancestors, the complete takeover of the purest of the stock, and the subsequent purging of the impure after an attempt of the aliens to recapture their property.

While the story takes it's time to build, and is seemingly mired in details, it is never dull, and it does build to a satisfying conclusion.This is a working-class novel that should be on any weird adventure, science-fiction horror, or Lovecratian's book shelf.Somebody really should reprint this in a mass print edition.

The cover is by long-time small-press and Lovecraftian artist Dave Carson and is totally poster worthy.

For this site I have reviewed these other Tim Curran books:

Dead Sea
Skin Medicine

I have also reviewed the Lovecraft novella at At the Mountains of Madness and Other Tales of Terroralthough the definite version can be found in The Antarktos Cycle.

Almost a really good book
I enjoy HP Lovecraft. This came close but just did not finish well. A good read for HP fans.

Another Winner from Curran
Tim Curran is a master horror writer. It is criminal that he is not more well known.

Hive is the fourth novel by him that I have read and I will be making my way through them all. The story is a sequel to Lovecraft's "At The Mountains of Madness" and Curran builds on that story, taking it in his own direction. Where Lovecraft's original story can be a real chore to get through, Hive is a real page turner with never a dull moment.

The movie, "The Thing" is also clearly an influence and Curran acknowledges that film twice in Hive.

I don't really get the negative reviews here. If I was to be critical I could say that I find it unlikely that a city could be in any way intact after several hundred million years, but that is Lovecraft's fault. The cover is misleading too.

Strongly recommended along with all Tim Curran.

Good Writer, Boring Book!!!
All I can say is, Grrrrrr!This book should have been so much better than it was.It is obvious that this Author can write but what he wasted his talent on was minute details, repeated from chapter to chapter to chapter.When he wanted to be creepy, he was.When he wanted you to feel a sense of awe, he did.When he wanted you to have an opinion about his characters, you had one.However, those were far and few instances and they could not carry the book.The only reason I finished it was because I thought there might be a great ending but I was wrong.Extremely boring and disappointing because you knew by the writing style that this Author could have done way better.I think he was more interested in teaching about something than creating a good read!I do not know if I want to try him again.All his other books sound good but so did this one!

New to Curran
This is my first Curran novel and I was pleased to see a little action put to a H.P. Lovecraft story.I thought it captured the Lovecraft atmospheric mood adequately but I did find that Curran went heavy with the adjectives from time to time.Because of all the mood setting it was a bit slow, but in that slow horror is the Lovecraft signature Curran style was true to form. (Sorry for the run on)The story did pick up on the back half and was, I don't know if satisfying is a hood word for a horror story, but it was good.All in all I think Curran is a welcome addition to the family of horror writers.I think he and I will have a long unsettling relationship. ... Read more

Product Description
They work hard, are devoted to family, love sex, and know the importance of a good piece of real estate. Honey bees, and the daily workings of their close-knit colonies, are one of nature's great miracles. And they produce one of nature's greatest edible bounties: honey. More than just a palate pleaser, honey was once an offering to the gods, a preservative, and a medicine whose sought-after curative powers were detailed in ancient texts . . . and are being rediscovered by modern medical science.

In Letters from the Hive, Prof. Stephen Buchmann takes us into the hive--nursery, honey factory, queen's inner sanctum--and out to the world of backyard gardens, open fields, and deserts in full bloom, where the age-old sexual dance between flowers and bees makes life on earth as we know it possible. Hailed for their hard work, harmonious society, and, mistakenly, for their celibacy, bees have a link to our species that goes beyond biology. In Letters from the Hive, Buchmann explores the fascinating role of bees in human culture and mythology, following the "honey hunters" of native cultures in Malaysia, the Himalayas, and the Australian Outback as they risk life and limb to locate a treasure as valuable as any gold.

To contemplate a world without bees is to imagine a desolate place, culturally and biologically, and Buchmann shows how with each acre of land sacrificed to plow, parking lot, or shopping mall, we inch closer to what could become a chilling reality. He also offers honey-based recipes, cooking tips, and home remedies--further evidence of the gifts these creatures have bestowed on us.

Told with wit, wisdom, and affection, and rich with anecdote and science, Letters from the Hive is nature writing at its best. This is natural history to be treasured, a sweet tribute that buzzes with life.


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Excellent Book
This is a wonderful book for a basic overview of the history and mystery of beekeeping. It is not a how-to book, but it is a great book if you like reading about bees and their relationship with people.

Wonderful read!
This book delivered on all expectations, and then more. I was fascinated by the descriptions of the honey hunts by various peoples, how honey is used as medicine, the history of honey, the recipes, etc. The one thing I would have liked to see more is information about honey in South America. Buchmann touched on the topic briefly, but never really elaborated like he did with other places. Yet I appreciated the amount of detail he devotes to Central and North American stingless bees.

The writing style is simply AWESOME. I enjoyed very much how he and the writer peppered the book with fun remarks. For example, after reading the gruesome battles and killings between queen bees, they finish the paragraph by comparing it to Shakespeare's plays. Even if you are not into bees, you are going to enjoy reading this book.

great read
I enjoyed this book tremendously.As a complete novice in the world of bees, it gave me the information I wanted while being thoroughly enjoyable to read and providing great historical connections.Added bonus, the recipes are terrific!

A lovely book that could do with lovelier writing
All in all, this book was very enjoyable.Parts were charming, while half or more sounded more like an article in a scientific magazine or, indeed, a travelogue.Those parts could have used a bit more literary touch.The content throughout, however, is really very interesting, especially if you're not all that familiar with honey bees, and I'm very happy to have read this.The publishers also did a beautiful job on the book, which contains pretty little illustrations to punctuate the chapters.

Beekeepers Poetry
What a great book full of insights, humour and knowledge about bees in the world. Great easy read which has appealed to this new amateur beekeeper ... Read more

Product Description
Did you know that honey bees visit about two million flowers just to make one pound of honey? Buzz inside the beehive and learn about the world of honey bees, from the bee's body parts, to the pollination, hive community, and honey production. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

GET THIS CLASSIC FOR $36 FROM PUBLISHER!!
The Hive and the Honey Bee (1992) is the definitive text for anyone involved with bees, from keeping bees to simply finding out more about them. The most recent edition of this classic (1992), a wonderful clothbound book with attractive gold-stamped cover and spine, has been completely rewritten, revised, and enlarged. It's divided into 22 chapters and includes the work of 33 world-famous authors along with hundreds of photos and drawings.It's worth getting for its special features alone: a new 52-page United States and Canadian honey plants table, updated Africanized honey bee information, parasitic bee mites, pesticides, management, business practices, marketing, hive products, bee behavior, and more.

Earlier editions of this book are of interest to book collectors, of course, but are not as up-to-date or as comprehensive as this 1992 edition, all 1324 pages of it, weighing in at about 6 pounds.Early editions sell for over $140, but you can get this edition BRAND NEW from the publisher for less than a third of that.Why Amazon doesn't load up on these brand new copies at the publisher's selling price is a mystery to me.

If you want to save yourself $100+, mosey over to Dadant and Sons, Inc. and order one.

Do NOT buy this book here!
A book that no serious beekeeper should be without but the prices here at Amazon are ridiculous.The publisher sells it for $36 and other beekeeping supply houses have similar prices.

The Bee Bible
If you're new to bees or an old coger still raising bees, as the other reviewers have said, you've got to have this book, no arguments! It covers everything you'd ever want to know. Even after reading it and using it for reference, you'll more than likely find something new you didn't find the first time or something becomes crystal clear. :)

I will also recommend to get the newest edition, it has a red/maroon cover with gold lettering.

Watch out...
This book is for sale, new from the publisher for $36.00 brand new.Cheaper if you buy in quantity.It is the latest revision, 1992.


I just thought I would pass that along for all you would be beekeepers...

More honey please!
This is an excellent how-to book for novices in the honey industry. Last year when I decided that harvesting honeybees would be an interesting way to make a living, this was the book I read to prepare myself for the challenge ahead!
Read, drink and eat honey! ... Read more

Product Description
Beekeeping is a sixteen-billion-dollar-a-year business. But the invaluable honey bee now faces severe threats from diseases, mites, pesticides, and overwork, not to mention the mysterious Colony Collapse Disorder, which causes seemingly healthy bees to abandon their hives en masse, never to return.

In The Quest for the Perfect Hive, entomologist Gene Kritsky offers a concise, beautifully illustrated history of beekeeping, tracing the evolution of hive design from ancient Egypt to the present. Not simply a descriptive account, the book suggests that beekeeping's long history may in fact contain clues to help beekeepers fight the decline in honey bee numbers. Kritsky guides us through the progression from early mud-based horizontal hives to the ascent of the simple straw skep (the inverted basket which has been in use for over 1,500 years), from hive design's Golden Age in Victorian England up through the present. He discusses what worked, what did not, and what we have forgotten about past hives that might help counter the menace to beekeeping today. Indeed, while we have sequenced the honey bee genome and advanced our knowledge of the insects themselves, we still keep our bees in hives that have changed little during the past century. If beekeeping is to survive, Kritsky argues, we must start inventing again. We must find the perfect hive for our times.

For thousands of years, the honey bee has been a vital part of human culture. The Quest for the Perfect Hive not only offers a colorful account of this long history, but also provides a guide for ensuring its continuation into the future. ... Read more

Product Description

In Honey Bees: Letters From the Hive, bee expert Stephen Buchmann takes readers on an incredible tour. Enter a beehive--one part nursery, one part honey factory, one part queen bee sanctum--then fly through backyard gardens, open fields, and deserts where wildflowers bloom. It's fascinating--and delicious!

Hailed for their hard work and harmonious society, bees make possible life on earth as we know it. This fundamental link between bees and humans reaches beyond biology to our environment and our culture: bees have long played important roles in art, religion, literature, and medicine--and, of course, in the kitchen.

For honey fanatics and all who have a sweet tooth, this book not only entertains and enlightens but also reminds us of the fragility of humanity's relationship with nature.

Product Description
Banned for many years by the Franco regime, Cela's masterpiece presents a panoramic view of the degredation and suffering of the lower-middle class in post-Civil War Spain. Readers are introduced to over a hundred characters through a series of starkly rendered interlocking vignettes, transforming this book from a social document into a towering work of inventive fiction. Filled with violence, hunger, and compassion, The Hive captures the ambitions and constraints of life under a dictatorship. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Superb
For me Cela is one of the best Spaniard authors ever. This novel is a master piece. The only advice I can give you is: read it!

The fellowship of the cafe
In "The Hive", a most appropriate title, Cela recreates the everyday life of Madrid in the 1940's, centered around a small cafe and the life of its employees and clients. This place is the real protagonist of the novel, as we are witnesses to the small tragedies, triumphs, fights and passions of the people who live around it. It is verily a hive, an endless show of life with all its grandiosity, sordidness, pettiness and small acts of love and redemption. For those who know the modern-day Madrid, a cosmopolitan, prosperous place, it should be reminded that this book portrays the city right after the bitter Spanish Civil War, during the first days of Franco's dictatorship. Under Franco, Spain was a poor, provincial, backwards place where the most primitve form of Roman Catholicism was the religion of state, where the Catholic Church reigned supreme and where political repression was everywhere. Life wasn't easy in Spain in those days, and though this is not by any means a political novel, it is useful to remember this as we look at the lives of the many characters in this moving and excellent story.

A day in the life of Franco's Spain.
"The Hive" is the story of a coffee shop in Spain, frequented by a wide assortment of every-day Spanish citizens. It is an interesting narrative of colorful characters. There are a few tense moments when one realizes the fact that this is the Spain of Franco's rule, and a character runs afoul of the authorities once or twice, but by and large, this is a normal novel with an interesting story to tell. It is enjoyable to read and nice to follow the various characters, but Cela will remind the astute reader in a very subtle fashion, but an unequivocal one, that this is Franco's Spain, an isolated universe of political peril, giving this novel a second tier, a dark cloud which overhangs the proceedings. Readers who enjoy the multivarious tales of small town inhabitants and their common taverns, or readers who enjoy stories of early twentieth-century Spain will enjoy this story particularly.

obra maestra de un maestro
"La Colmena" pasará a la historia como la obra hispana contemporánea más estudiada en las Universidades Americanas. Entre los diversos estudios destaca una tesis doctoral de la Universidad de California firmada por una tal "Loreena M." que intenta analizar el número de personajes que intervienen en la novela llegando a la conclusión de que son 232 aunque plantea la duda sobre un personaje llamado "Manolo" que aparece en dos ocasiones y que la autora de la tesis no puede asociar. Esta anécdota demuestra el interés suscitado por esta obra publicada a mediados de la década de los 50 y que sirve de puente entre el realismo de Posguerra y las nuevas tendencias de los años 60. La técnica narrativa, denominada por los críticos como calidoscopio, se basa en una estructura coral de los personajes que describen un entorno concreto, el Madrid de la posguerra, haciendo un exhaustivo repaso a la sociedad de la época con sus grandezas y miserias en un periodo temporal muy determinado: cinco días.
Como antesala de esta obra hay que mencionar "Café de Artistas", un relato que Cela escribió a finales de los años cuarenta aunque se público bastante después que "La Colmena". En definitiva una obra compleja que invita a ser releída una y otra vez descubriendo a cada pagina un nuevo matiz con el que completar ese espectro narrativo que surge de la descomposición de la realidad, cuando pasa a través de un prisma óptico llamado Camilo José Cela.

Life
A masterpiece -- and a superb translation. ... Read more

Product Description
"It seemed to me that the bees were working on the very same kinds of problems we are trying to solve. How can large, diverse groups work together harmoniously and productively? Perhaps we could take what the bees do so well and apply it to our institutions."

When Michael O'Malley first took up beekeeping, he thought it would be a nice hobby to share with his ten-year-old son. But as he started to observe these industrious insects, he noticed that they do a lot more than just make honey. Bees not only work together to achieve a common goal but, in the process, create a highly coordinated, efficient, and remarkably productive organization. The hive behaved like a miniature but incredibly successful business.

O'Malley also realized that bees can actually teach managers a lot about how to run their organizations. He identified twenty-five powerful insights, such as:

* Distribute authority: the queen bee delegates relentlessly, and worker bees make daily decisions based on local cues and requirements.
* Keep it simple: bees exchange only relevant information, operate under clear standards, and use straightforward measures and feedback to guide their actions.
* Protect the future: when a lucrative vein of nectar is discovered, the entire colony doesn't rush off to mine it, no matter how enriching the short- term benefits.

Blending practical advice with interesting facts about the hive, The Wisdom of Bees is a useful and entertaining guide for any manager looking to get the most out of his or her organization. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Management tools from nature
As a retired business owner, I found "The Wisdom of Bees" to be an easily absorbed guide to sound business practices.Through his consulting practice and experience as a beekeeper, O'Malley sees the company as a living organism that is constantly adapting to change and renewing itself.His 25 principles of management include some thought-provoking and unusual items such as: protecting the future, building a "flexigid" organizational structure and divesting parts to renew the whole.The value of O'Malley's book is that he focuses on the beehive, the universal symbol of a high activity, high performance environment, and yet he illuminates how the hive really depends on activities designed to promote the health of the overall community. I recommend that business owners and their management teams read this book and take the lessons to heart.

If Freud had kept bees. . .
Too bad Freud wasn't a beekeeper.Rather than a psychological rubric based on sex and aggression, he might have tuned into the urge to maintain the hive.We'd know that Nature only wants us to carry out what we can use; that communication is essential to the species; that even in abundant times, we should be on the look-out for resources; and, most importantly, that our own best interest means sustaining the things that nurture us. I'm grateful to Michael O'Malley for laying all this out in such a readable and entertaining way. It may have been written for managing organizations, but its observations and wisdom also illuminate and inform what's important in our everyday lives.

The Bees get an A...
This is a terrific book full of good advice. O'Malley, who actually keeps bees, renders a hives-worth of clever and useful insights that are applicable not just to the corporate suite and board room but to every day life. Check out his Wal-Mart analogy as just one good example of the wisdom in the Wisdom of Bees. It makes you wish the bees, who waste not and want not and are mindful and protective of their place in the environment, were running BP or Halliburton. Surely, given the events in the Gulf of Mexico, the world would be a better place. ... Read more

Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Fiction / General; ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

obedience is taught and caught
This book presents realistic stories in an easy to read format.
Warm family relationships are apparent and grandma's stories always have a significant lesson for young readers and reminders for older readers. For every choice one makes, whether a careless choice or a careful choice, there are consequences. Love of neighbor in making choices and seeking forgiveness when mistakes and resulting consequences harm others are two themes repeated throughout.

A Hive of Busy Bees
DON'T BUY THIS BOOK if you want "fluff"!My 8 yr.old and I loved this book.We need more books that teach "Bee Obedient, Bee Polite, Bee Content, Loving, Prayerful, Grateful, Truthful," etc. It is a great conversation starter about things that matter in life.It deals with the circumstances of our actions and other issues that can make us better people. But, as I said earlier, "if you want "fluff", don't buy it".

very scary book
I was given this book by my grandmother as a child. Nearly thirty years later, I still remember how very scary it was to me. It teaches life lessons with a heavy, heavy dose of guilt. In one story, a little boy does not do the chores his mother wants him to, and goes fishing instead. He comes home to find his mother has done all the chores, and IS NOW DEAD! In another, a little boy does not close the gate as he is asked to, and his little sister gets trampled by horses and is in a wheelchair for life as a result of his irresponsibility. Come on now! I found the book to be traumatizing.

A must for every family with young children!
My children adore this book.I recently found there is a sequel entitled, "Another Hive of Busy Bees" -- I can only hope that is more of the same gentle, thoughtful and character-building stories.

A book your children will read again and again
In the search for wholesome books to enrich my daughter's library, I, on a wing, ordered this book. We read it together two years ago, a chapter a day.Of all the books on her shelf, this book is the one that she turns tofor that familiar relationship between a favorite story and the desirewe've all had to actually be in the story.

Don and Joyce spend a summerat their grandparents' farm, learning about life through Grandma'snightly"Bee" stories.

Each tale illustrates a different charactertrait needing development in the children that day..."Bee Polite"tells the story of two children who learn the sting of this bee as theyfollow the crowd throwing stones at an elderly lady walking along the road,only to later be introduced to this same lady as their grandmother, whomthey've never had the opportunity to meet in person.

"BeeCareful" describes a tree that in its early years of development had abranch tied into a knot by a young boy, unnoticed by the adults until somuch time had passed by that the knot could not be untied.Through thedetails of this story, Don and Joyce learn how listening to the buzz ofthis bee can help them prevent future trouble by being careful...choosingwisely the words they speak and the actions they take as youngsters.

Ihighly recommend this book for old and young alike! ... Read more

Product Description
It is estimated that one out of five persons in the United States experiences at least one episode of hives in their lifetime. That is approximately sixty million people in the U.S., almost twice the population of California. Even if the actual number is over-estimated by fifty percent because of inaccurate diagnosis, thirty million remains an impressive number. Approximately five to ten percent of these patients may experience symptoms from six weeks up to two years or longer. This suggests that 1.5 to 3 million individuals in the U.S experience chronic hives.

There is a paucity of materials to assist health care professionals (HCP) and patients on these conditions.There is in fact no existing publication, past or present, that provides the practical approach discussed in this book for the evaluation and treatment of these conditions. The book will appeal to patients who are desirous of a self-help approach and to HCPs who need time-saving guidance to organize and standardize the evaluation of these conditions.

Many of the common questions that are asked by patients are answered in this book. It is our experience that addressing the following questions allays anxiety that patients experience and will improve their understanding as to why their symptoms are sometimes not diagnosed or brought under control.
•What are urticaria and angioedema?
•Why is it difficult to find the cause of urticaria and/or angioedema?
•Is there a common mechanism that causes urticaria and/or angioedema?
•Why do urticaria and/or angioedema remain only for a short time in some individuals, while other patients experience symptoms for longer periods, sometimes months or years?
•Can the duration of symptoms be predicted for chronic urticaria and/or angioedema?
•Why aren’t antihistamines completely effective in treating urticaria and/or angioedema?
•How can you determine whether a food, food additives, dyes, preservatives, or undetected allergens are causing urticaria and/or angioedema?
•Do psychological factors play a role in causing urticaria and/or angioedema?

This book is very different than existing medical textbooks as it distills the information from a variety of scientific sources to a level that is understandable for patients and for health care professionals, who may not be familiar with these complex conditions.

This book provides time saving tools to gather information efficiently from patients. Key sections may be reproduced for use with multiple patients. The book organizes and standardizes the evaluation and treatment process and encourages a cooperative approach between HCPs and patients that improves outcomes. It can be used by:

•Health care professionals (HCPs) who can advise their patients tocomplete a workbook section. Based upon the workbook information, theHCPs can utilize a numeric algorithm to guide them to discussion(s) ofpossible diagnostic possibilities, laboratory test considerations andtreatment recommendations. •Patients, who believe they have hives or swelling, can completethe workbook section. This is shared with the health careprofessional, who can use the information to consider diagnosticpossibilities, laboratory considerations and treatmentrecommendations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Very informative
This is a very informative book on chronic urticaria. If you think you have this miserable condition by all means this use the workbook section and take to your Dr! Most Dr's know little to nothing about this. It was very helpful to me.

Hives: The Road to Diagnosis and Treatment of Urticaria
Urticaria hives have plagued me for nearly 3 years.Many visits to a Dermatologist and an Allergist plus numerous blood work-ups have not been of any help. Dr. Wanderer's book "Hives: The Road to Diagnosis and Treatment of Urticaria" has been very beneficial in my understanding of Urticaria and has shown me what steps to take in an attempt to pinpoint the cause.I highly recommend this book to anyone who has Urticaria.It may not help you find the cause but it will help you understand what you are faced with.It is my belief that this book should be recommended by all Doctors to people with Urticaria.

Wonderfully validating and great reference material!
I have been a chronic urticaria sufferer for 5 1/2 years and have been on Prednisone for the last 4 1/2 years.My doctor ordered the book after my recommendation and we are using it together to try new medications and therapies.Thank you Dr. Wanderer!

Very helpful for a CU sufferer like myself
Should have gotten this book way before wasting so much time, energy, fraustration, and money on all the different doctors/medications/injections...etc. it is too bad Dr. Wanderer is not in Los Angeles otherwise I would love to see him also refer him to others

A must have for Chronic Urticaria sufferers
This is a terrific book that answers many questions for chronic urticaria sufferers.I wish I had found it sooner.I'm only on my first year of CU, but I really like to use this book as a reference for all the information scattered over the Internet.I brought it to show my allergist/immunologist and he had ordered it too. ... Read more

Product Description
Don and Joyce are invited to spend the summer with their grandparents at the farm. Each day presents exciting opportunities for them to experience outdoor farm life-so different from the city-especial ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Dear to my heart
My grandma Hawbaker shared these stories with me when I spent time with her as a child. Not only do I still LOVE them, I Love the warm memories of the quality time we spent together reading them. I still dearly miss her. I found and purchased this book on Amazon and have shared it with my 6 year old son this year. The stories have left a great and positive impression on him. It is an awesome way to open discussion on why we are to be obedient in every way possible; in a kind, gentle and loving way. He to has enjoyed these stories like I did. I am blessed not only to have had the opportunity to share them with him; but to also witness his growth in the Lord as a result of them.

The best children's book around
"A Hive of Busy Bees" is a great children's book. My mother read it to me years ago and my own children are still captivated by the wonderful story today! (Adults will love it too.)

A Hive of Busy Bees
I am 78 years old, I bought this book for my first child in 1960, since then I have bought 2 more of this book, it is full of moral stories so wonderful for reading to your children stories they hear very little of in this day.

A Hive of Busy Bees (Don and Joyce)
This book series was absolutely captivating when our teacher read them to our class.25 years later I've finally gone to Amazon to find them and order them for my daughters. Each chapter has a life lessons that ispresented in a very interesting way.Students from 2nd to 6th grade loved these books. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
The beekeeper's year begins with a late winter hive inspection and ends with "putting the bees to bed" in the autumn. Richard Bonney believes that each beekeeping activity should be performed with an eye toward the overall well-being of the colony, as part of an integrated year-round program of hive management.

Long-term success in beekeeping can only be achieved by understanding the intimate lives, behaviors, and motivations of honey bees -- the factors which govern the life of each colony. Richard Bonney explains the reasons behind common practices that many beekeepers perform without really knowing why. He also stresses when to take timely actions that will prevent problems in future seasons.

Hive Management offers concise, up-to-date information on the whole range of beekeeping tasks, including:

-- How to prevent, control, and capture swarms.

-- What you can tell from an outside inspection of your hives.

-- When and how to "take the crop" and harvest honey.

-- How to successfully requeen -- from handling and marking queens to methods of introducing one into a hive.

-- The problem signs to look for when you open up a hive.

For the practicing beekeeper who needs more information, or for the serious novice who wants to start out right, Hive Management offers sensible advice to help keep your honey bees thriving. 

Customer Reviews (16)

Beekeeping
I have 3 other books on beekeeping. This book is better than the others.
It explains in detail all the phases of beekeeping. Recomendable for beginning bee keepers.

Very helpfull
I bought three books at the same time, this one, his other one, "Beekeeping, a Practical Guide," and "Beekeeping for Dummies" They cover much of the same information but each has variations. All are readable and informative. I bought all three because beekeepers told me it was advisable to read several different books. I am glad I did. I ordered woodenware, but am too late to get bees this year. I will be well prepared when I do acquire them in the spring of 2011.

Great book for the 2nd year beekeeper
This book has good information on how to take good care of your hives during the winter and early spring. This is not a beginners book. This book goes one step past the beginners books to help you manage strong & healthy hives through all of the seasons. This book answered most of my questions that the beginners books did not. This book Should be read during the fall of your first year beekeeping so you can be knowledgeable & prepared for the winter & spring. I recommend this book for any one in their first couple years of beekeeping.

Hive Management
Hive Management is very informative.Although my grandmother kept bees there was much to learn in this day and age.This book filled the holes in my knowledge of keeping bees and how to manage hives to get the best out come for myself and the bees. Invaluable book for any one interested in keeping bees.

Wise man.
Mr. Bonney writes well about a topic of which he has a great deal of pratical experience. He is also aware of how much we all have still to learn about the honeybee. Money well spent! ... Read more