The ABCs of California's Native Bees

Journey through the world of California native bees, one letter at a time.National Geographic Explorer Krystle Hickman has spent a decade capturing exquisitely detailed photographs of native bees and making exciting discoveries about their behavior in the field. In her debut book of natural history, she offers an intimate look at the daily habits of rare and overlooked bees in California: those cloaked in green and black and blue, that live alone in the ground or sleep inside flowers, that invade nests and enslave other bees like infinitesimal conquerors, or that, unlike more generalist honeybees, feed only on native blooms in wild lands. A committed conservationist and community scientist who knows all too well how precarious the wellbeing of these insects is, Hickman shares her adventures in local native plant gardens and throughout the far reaches of California to bring the beauty of our diverse ecosystems into wondrous bee's-eye view. Meant for all curious readers, this collection of bee stories—one for each letter of the alphabet, matching the first letter of a bee's scientific name—will leave you both wowed and compelled to help save these fascinating beings.