Ben Hoare investigates The Secrets of Bees
About Author
Bestselling wildlife writer and self-described nature nerd introduces his new non-fiction book for children, Secrets of Bees.
Ben has worked as an editor of children's non-fiction, and at BBC Wildlife Magazine, where he went in search of everything from leafcutter ants to whale sharks and met many of his heroes in conservation and natural-history TV. After that Ben became a full-time writer.
A massive fan of libraries, he loves discovering new facts about weird and wonderful species. He keeps chickens and used to be a beekeeper.
Interview
Ben Hoare investigates the Secrets of Bees (Nosy Crow)
April 2025
With our pollinators increasingly under threat, Ben Hoare and Nina Chakrabarti's new book, University of Cambridge: Secrets of Bees is a timely look at bees and their importance in food production and it includes some fascinating facts about one of our favourite insects. ReadingZone spoke to author Ben Hoare to find out more!
Find out more: University of Cambridge: Secrets of Bees: A Kid’s Guide to Hives, Pollination & Electro-Sense
Review: "I shall certainly be recommending Secrets of Bees whole-heartedly. It is bright, it is colourful and it is important."
Q&A with Ben Hoare introducing University of Cambridge: Secrets of Bees
"By looking at bees, we can learn about insects in general, and about some of the important ways
animals and plants work together."
1. Thank you for joining us on ReadingZone this month. Can you tell us a little about yourself and the kinds of books you write?
I'm an all-round nature nerd and always have been! Everything I write really is about wildlife, the environment and the wonder of nature. My books are jam-packed with quirky and surprising facts - and I want them to be fun to read and look stunning, too.
Apart from children's books, I also write for natural-history and science magazines, and I give talks to university students.
2. Why did you decide to write a book about bees? When did your own interest in bees start?
Who doesn't love bees? These furry little insects are fabulous for getting folk into nature - children especially. We can easily see them buzzing about the place, even in gardens and at balconies and window boxes in city centres. And actually, I've also been a beekeeper, with my partner Louise. We had a hive of honeybees opposite our house.
3. Why is the book focused on the secrets of bees? What will readers find out about bees and how is the book arranged?
By looking at bees, we can learn about insects in general, and about some of the important ways animals and plants work together, for example when bees pollinate flowers.
The book starts by asking a question - what is a bee? - and then focuses on bee behaviour, how bees live and how we can all help them. A glossary is a great way to reinforce the meanings of key words and means I don't have to explain terms the whole time, which can spoil the flow - readers have the choice of looking them up in the glossary if they want to (but it's up to them!).
4. Where did you go to research bees for this book, and to check your facts?
I never just use the internet. It can be a great resource, sure, but I also read as many books on the subject as I can. Sometimes these are pretty serious scientific tomes. And I look up scientific articles that describe the latest research.
For Secrets of Bees, we worked with experts at the Cambridge University Botanic Garden, who checked all of the text and artwork at every stage of the book-making process to make sure everything's accurate.
5. What did you most enjoy discovering about bees and their lives; was there anything that surprised you, even though you already know a lot about them?
I wanted to include many different bees from around the world, because books on bees often just show honeybees and bumblebees. They're great, but in total there are something like 20,000 different species of bee on this planet! That's a lot! To be honest, I was surprised by just how many there are - even in deserts and up high mountains!
6. What are your favourite top three facts that you found out for Secrets of Bees?
Did you know that there are sweat bees, which don't just drink nectar but also sip sweat, including from humans? Or that there's a bee in India that comes out at night and flies in the dark, like bats? Believe it or not, there are even bees that are partial to carrion - vulture bees.
7. You mention in the book's introduction that bees still have many secrets. What don't we still understand about bees?
Much of the research on bees has been on honeybees, because they give us honey. After all, we look after 2 trillion honeybees worldwide. But this means that we know almost nothing about some kinds of non-social bee, particularly those in tropical rainforests for example. There are almost certainly new species of bee out there that scientists have not even discovered and given names to yet.
8. Nina Chakrabarti's illustrations are gorgeous - how do they help support the reader to absorb the information in the book?
If a non-fiction book is colourful, it is more engaging. Nina's brilliant illustrations not only bring Secrets of Bees to life, they also give the reader lots of different chances to glance around the pages and dip in and out to find what interests them. My eldest daughter is neurodiverse and she finds big blocks of text tricky, so she likes the way that artwork like Nina's is able to break up the text.
9. What are you writing currently? For children who enjoyed Secrets of Bees, which other books of yours might they enjoy?
Some are top secret! But I can tell you I'm writing about the many and surprising links between humans and other earthlings.
10. How do you plan to celebrate World Bee Day on 20 May?
I'll enjoy a few mindful moments watching the bees in our garden. There's usually a couple of bumblebee nests hidden in old mouse holes. And I'll make sure to have some delicious local honey on my breakfast toast.
Creative Challenge: How do you suggest adults take this book further with readers? What can children do to help bees in their own gardens?
Pollination is one of the key ecological stories in the book - there are some great activities and games about pollination, suitable for different ages.
One of the simplest things children can do at home is keep part of their lawn wild, if they have one. Simply not mowing a square metre or two of turf, and allowing flowers like dandelions to appear, is proven to give bees a great boost.
Planting one or two pollinator-friendly plants in the garden, or in a planter or window box, is another great idea. (Most garden centres and plant websites have selections of plants popular with bees and other pollinators.)
Or children could encourage their school to plant a bee-rilliant bee-friendly flowerbed or 'nectar bar' and then design a sign for it.
University of Cambridge: Secrets of Bees: A Kid's Guide to Hives, Pollination and Electro-Sense (Think Big)
