Bieke and the bees

Bieke and the bees is a picture book written by Bart Callaert, beekeeper, teacher and great nature lover. The book originated from years of teaching children about bees and the desire to preserve and share that sense of wonder with a wider audience. Not by lecturing, but by inspiring.

The story follows Bieke, a honeybee with big eyes and even bigger curiosity, month by month through the bee year. From the silent winter cold where the colony clusters together to stay warm, through the first snowdrops of February, to the bustling spring when the mason bee starts building and Vosje digs her tunnels in the sand.

The texts are written in rhyming verses that read smoothly aloud. The illustrations are colorful, warm and full of details to discover together. The story is truthful but never didactic: every insect that appears is real, and every behavior matches nature.

At the back of the book you will find an appendix with all the characters, from Bieke the honeybee to Roodgatje and Vosje to the large leaf-cutter bee and ivy bee, and a plant map with bee plants and the sun position per month.