#1 Kindle Best Seller the first weekend of its publication. "This is a very important book and one that belongs in the hands of everyone who cares about ecology and the preservation of the bee population, and that in turn means the preservation of life as we know it on this planet." - Grady Harp, Amazon Hall of Fame Reviewer. Albert Einstein said, "If the bee disappears from the earth, man would have no more than four years to live." This beautifully illustrated edition is meant to educate the reader about the potential extinction of the bees as an indicator of a mass extinction, the last one of which was 65 million years ago. It explains what pollination is, who does it, why its essential to us, what things are threatening our pollinators and what we, as individuals, can do about it. They have been in existence for over 100 million years, but it has taken us less than 30 years to kill almost all of them off. Honey bees are responsible for pollinating 60% of the world's food supply. Without them, the human race would face starvation. A worldwide epidemic, it has been called the bee apocalypse by Russia's president, but it is worse in the United States than any other country. Since 1972, feral honey bees in the United States have declined 80% to near extinction, and domestic bees in the United States are down to 60%. Since 2006, the epidemic has been referred to as colony collapse disorder, describing the disappearance of entire colonies of bees. Among the causes cited for this disaster of epidemic proportions are parasites, the decrease in abundance and diversity of wildflowers, insecticides and genetically engineered foods (GMO's) that create their own synthetic pesticides which kill bees as well as other insects. But one thing is for certain-- mankind is responsible for the drastic decline in bee population and the United States government is doing nothing about it. On the contrary, the government has taken measures to make the problem worse. There is more to this delicate 100 million year old evolution of pollination that just honey bees, who were not native to the United States, but imported from Europe and probably originally came from Africa. At least 4,000 species of wild bees are known to exist in North America alone. All of them are at risk, and this book will show you how you can make a difference in saving them, our food supply, and our planet as we know it.

Leonardo da Vinci once mused that "we know more about the movement of celestial bodies than about the soil underfoot," an observation that is as apt today as it was five hundred years ago. The biological world under our toes is often unexplored and unappreciated, yet it teems with life. In one square meter of earth, there live trillions of bacteria, millions of nematodes, hundreds of thousands of mites, thousands of insects and worms, and hundreds of snails and slugs. But because of their location and size, many of these creatures are as unfamiliar and bizarre to us as anything found at the bottom of the ocean. Lavishly illustrated with nearly three hundred color illustrations and masterfully rendered black-and-white drawings throughout, "Life in the Soil" invites naturalists and gardeners alike to dig in and discover the diverse community of creatures living in the dirt below us. Biologist and acclaimed natural history artist James B. Nardi begins with an introduction to soil ecosystems, revealing the unseen labors of underground organisms maintaining the rich fertility of the earth as they recycle nutrients between the living and mineral worlds. He then introduces readers to a dazzling array of creatures: wolf spiders with glowing red eyes, snails with 120 rows of teeth, and 10,000-year-old fungi, among others. Organized by taxon, "Life in the Soil" covers everything from slime molds and roundworms to woodlice and dung beetles, as well as vertebrates from salamanders to shrews. The book ultimately explores the crucial role of soil ecosystems in conserving the worlds above and below ground. A unique and illustrative introduction to the many unheralded creatures that inhabit our soils and shape our environment above-ground, "Life in the Soil" will inform and enrich the naturalist in all of us.