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BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

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Book of the Week

Audiobooks

Factual

Serialised book readings, featuring works from various genres

Serialised book readings, featuring works of non-fiction, biography, autobiography, travel, diaries, essays, humour and history

BBC Radio 4 LW

Book of the Week: A Sting in the Tale

Dave Goulson

Joanne Green

Tim McInnerny

Book of the Week: A Sting in the Tale: Episode 1

Factual: Science & Nature: Nature & Environment

A Sting in the Tale

Episode 1

BBC Radio 4 - Book of the Week, A Sting in the Tale, Episode 1

Dave Goulson's first foray into bumblebee conservation ends in disaster.

Dave's first foray into bumblebee conservation, involving bees and a hotplate, ends in disaster. And we learn fascinating facts about the bumblebee year.

Dave Goulson has always been obsessed with wildlife, from his childhood menagerie of exotic pets and dabbling in experimental taxidermy to his groundbreaking research into the mysterious ways of the bumblebee and his mission to protect our rarest bees.

Once commonly found in the marshes of Kent, the short-haired bumblebee now only exists in the wilds of New Zealand, the descendants of a few queen bees shipped over in the nineteenth century.
Dave Goulson shares exclusive research into these curious creatures, looks at history's relationship with the bumblebee and offers advice on how to protect it for all time.

We'll also hear about bumblebee sniffer dogs, how bees navigate their way home and why you should remember these tiny furry friends next time you pour ketchup on your fish and chips.

One of the UK's most respected conservationists and the founder of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Goulson combines Gerald Durrell-esque tales of a child's growing passion for nature with a deep insight into the crucial importance of the bumblebee.

He details the minutiae of life in their nests, sharing fascinating research into the effects intensive farming has had on our bee populations and on the potential dangers if we continue down this path.


Read by Tim McInnerny 

Producer: Joanne Green
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Dave Goulson details the mysterious ways of the bumblebee. Read by Tim McInnerny

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