Synopsis
Bumblebee emerges from hibernation, builds a nest, lays eggs, and begins the process of creating a busy bumblebee colony.
Children's Literature
A title in the 'Smithsonian's Backyard' series, this beautifully-illustrated, nonfiction picture book follows a full season in the life of Bumblebee. It begins in April, when Bumblebee awakens from her winter-long hibernation. In the warm months that follow, she's as busy as—what else—a bee. Bumblebee cleans her nest, lays eggs and finds food for the larvae. After the eggs hatch, Bumblebee's daughters help her gather more nectar, feed the next batches of larvae, and keep the nest clean. Until late summer, most of Bumblebee's eggs will hatch into female worker bees. Bumblebee's last batch of eggs produces new queens, and males who will mate with queens from other nests. As autumn nears, Bumblebee and the young queens hibernate underground, ready for the life cycle of the bumblebee colony to begin again. Kest's full-color paintings are a delight, giving a "bee's-eye" view of Bumblebee's hive and the flower-filled backyard of a stone-and-wood cottage on Apple Tree Lane. 2000, Soundprints/Trudy Corporation, $15.95 and $4.95. Ages 4 to 10. Reviewer: Dianne Ochiltree