Natural History

The Annotated Bee & Me
by Tim Bowling
This delightful book of poetry by local author, Tim Bowling, is divided into two sections. In the first, Bowling weaves his own verse and excerpts from The Bee and Me into a long poem which is part tribute to kin and part lament for modern life, an exercise which delivers him to "a day when you’re neither alive nor dead / but so conscious of both conditions that you’ve entered the hive." In the second section, titled "Out of the Hive, Into the World" Bowling wrestling with the "confusion of loving too much the world." Its poems touch on family, literature, salmon fishing and beekeeping lore, hinting at how in facing the unvarnished facts of one’s brief life one might honestly annotate their experience: "You build an immunity over time to Time / or you fall among the dried husks of the bees / on the grass."
Price: $18.95

 The Incomparable Honeybee: The Economics of Pollination
By Dr. Reese Halter
From Dr. Reese Halter comes a remarkable, concise account of the honeybees that have profoundly shaped our planet for the past 110 million years. They are the most important group of flower-visiting animals, pollinating more multi-billion-dollar crops and plants than any other living group. Since prehistoric times humans and honeybees have been inextricably linked. This book is rich with interesting and humbling facts: bees can count, they can vote, and honey has potent medicinal properties, able to work as an anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant, even an antiseptic. The fate of the bees, whose numbers have been beleaguered most recently by colony collapse disorder, lies firmly in the hands of humankind. As such, it is our job to ensure their health, protect the habitats within which they live and communicate to others the vital link that human society shares with the remarkable honeybee.
Price: $16.95

A Nature Guide to Boundary Bay
By Anne Murray
A Nature Guide to Boundary bay is the first comprehensive book about the wildlife of this dramatic and diverse coastal landscape that connects British Columbia with Washington State. Over 170 colour photographs by David Blevins illustrate the plants, animals and landscapes that can be found here. The book covers all of Boundary bay and its watershed, including Burns Bog, North Delta, Tsawwassen, Ladner, Surrey, White Rock, Langley and Richmond in British Columbia, and Blains, Point Roberts and the Drayton Harbor watershed in Washington State.
Price: $24.95

Sea Kayak Paddling Through History: Vancouver and Victoria
By Aileen Stalker and Andrew Nolan
Experience inner-city paddling with a guide that tells the story of Vancouver and Victoria from water level. Explore history with the tales behind the people, bridges, lighthouses, museums and watercraft you will see as you explore these waterways. Paddling Through History explains place names, geology and other highlights, and is illustrated with maps and photos.
Price: $19.95

Tracing Our Past: A Heritage Guide to Boundary Bay
By Anne Murray
Tracing Our Past: A Heritage Guide to Boundary Bay is the story of a landscape and the people who transformed it. Explore the history of this coastline, from the last Ice Age to the challenges facing us in the modern day. The resources of ocean, river and land, in and around Boundary Bay, have supported five hundred generations of people, dating back 9,000 years. This year has been the scene of immense changing in the last two hundred years, and the pace of change is accelerating. Learn about local Coast Salish, multicultural explorers, settlers, fishers, farmers, developers, naturalists and conservationists, and the relationships all these people had to the changing land, river and ocean.
Price: $27.95