Best-selling children’s author Rachel Weston produces the first-ever comprehensive native New Zealand bee book

It’s hard to be noticed when you’re the size of an apple seed! New Zealand’s 28 species of native bees are teeny-tiny and super speedy! Kiwi bees pollinate Aotearoa’s native plants and trees and – they truly are the bee’s knees!

Most people are not aware that New Zealand has native bees, but once you meet them, you’re sure to fall in love with them!

Author Rachel Weston is thrilled and honoured to introduce Aotearoa’s gentle bees to children, teachers and families in this first-ever comprehensive native bee book. With 36 stunning photographic images, fun illustrations, diagrams and QR video clips of native bees zipping and zooming, Kiwi Bees Have Tiny Knees is an informative, interactive visual feast!

Native bees have been flying under the radar for far too long, until now. Kiwi Bees Have Tiny Knees connects children to the world around them, where native bees (ngaro huruhuru) have had a long evolutionary history with New Zealand’s native plants and ecosystems. Kiwi bees are a crucial part of New Zealand’s unique heritage – they are a taonga! Ngaro huruhuru o Aotearoa – Native Bees of New Zealand, winner of New Zealand’s Bug of the Year, 2023.

Made with the support of Creative New Zealand and Western Bay District Council.

“This is a beautiful book on our special native bees; it’s crammed full of fascinating information. I’m excited to meet a future generation of kids already pre-loaded with native bee facts!” ~ David Pattemore, The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Ltd

“Not only for kids! This is a book for everyone who is interested in New Zealand’s nature. Rachel Weston has achieved something that was long overdue: compiling all facts about native bees, beautifully wrapped in marvellous colours of words, photos and illustrations. You will discover new things from the bee’s world every time you look into this book.” ~ Julia Kasper, Lead Curator Invertebrates, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

Rachel Weston published the best-selling Bumblebees Have Smelly Feet after discovering bumblebees live underground and do “buzz pollination”. A couple of years later, while on her kiwifruit orchard watching bumbles and honey bees during pollination (and filling her iPhone with more bee photos!) she saw a small, black beelike insect on a flower, which quickly flew away when a bustling bumblebee came in for landing. Looking more closely, she spotted another small black “bee” landing on a flower, zipping off again. Not knowing what these were, she made contact with bee expert, the late Dr Donovan, who told her about New Zealand’s native bees. So started a new bee journey…