Dave Goulson loves bees. He has shown this in earlier work (Sting in the Tale, A Buzz in the Meadow), and in this book, he sets out to find elusive and rare bumblebees all over the world. In doing so, he finds out not just about the state of affairs of bumblebees, but of all wildlife and plants.
This is not a dry description of the characteristics of different types of bumblebees. 
Every now and again Dave Goulson switches to bee-nerd mode, and immediately apologises to the reader for doing so (which he shouldn’t do, because I loved these elaborate descriptions of a type of bumblebee I had never in my life heard of, and was only distinguishable from another for a little bit of different colouring, for example). This book is, more than anything, a passionate cry about how things should be done differently with regards to wildlife conservation. Farming destroys the plants and flowers that bumblebees so desperately need, and abandoned industrial sites turn into wildlife havens, only to be considered for another supermarket or a parking lot.
Goulson doesn’t limit himself to just talking about bees, however. He manages to outline how all wildlife is connected, and how one species helps out another, and then another, etc. He talks about how nobody stands up for the conservation of insects and other “creepy crawlers”, because they are not cuddly and you do not really notice when they are not around. He also tells tales of “good” intentions gone wrong, for example when Chile decided to introduce European bumblebees to “improve” their farming, causing a decline in native species. Although the reason for this is not entirely clear (probably diseases), it does become clear that the interference of humans has led to many different bumblebees being rarer than they should be. Without bumblebees, we wouldn’t have tomatoes, almonds, etc. Things you take for granted would not be. No more pasta!
This book is a real gem, and it makes you angry on behalf of our little friends out there with six, eight or even more legs. Goulson provides some ideas as to how we ourselves can improve the situation (Leave your dead trees! Don’t clean up your garden!). He also acknowledges that conservation is a rather depressing topic, and I have to say that I oftentimes felt gutted and a bit hopeless. The book has also given me a lot of hope, however, because there are people out there who really care and are working hard to protect these wonderful and important little creatures. I think we should all join them in their efforts. A highly recommended read.
Title: Bee Quest
Author: Dave Goulson
ISBN: 9781911214137
