This is a very intresting and informative book on the biology of bees including African bees.

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Product Description

From ancient cave paintings of honey bee nests to modern science's richly diversified investigation of honey bee biology and its applications, the human imagination has long been captivated by the mysterious and highly sophisticated behavior of this paragon among insect societies. In the first broad treatment of honey bee biology to appear in decades, Mark Winston provides rare access to the world of this extraordinary insect.

In a bright and engaging style Winston probes the dynamics of the honey bee's social organization. He recreates for us the complex infrastructure of the nest, describes the highly specialized behavior of workers, queens, and drones, and examines in detail the remarkable ability of the honey bee colony to regulate its functions according to events within and outside the nest. Winston integrates into his discussion the results of recent studies, bringing into sharp focus topics of current bee research. These include the exquisite architecture of the nest and its relation to bee physiology; the intricate division of labor and the relevance of a temporal caste structure to efficient functioning of the colony; and, finally, the life-death struggles of swarming, supersedure, and mating that mark the reproductive cycle of the honey bee.

The Biology of the Honey Bee not only reviews the basic aspects of social behavior, ecology, anatomy, physiology, and genetics, it also summarizes major controversies in contemporary honey bee research, such as the importance of kin recognition in the evolution of social behavior and the role of the well-known dance language in honey bee communication. Thorough, well-illustrated, and lucidly written, this book will for many years be a valuable resource for scholars, students, and beekeepers alike.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1687580 in Books
• Published on: 1987-10-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 294 pages

Review
Masterly...Without hesitation I recommend this book to a wide range of potential readers.
--John B. Free (Science )

Mark Winston offers a comprehensive account, covering aspects of anatomy and physiology as well as systematics, ecology and behavior...A useful overview of the biology of an insect that holds considerable interest for both economic and academic reasons. Rich in descriptive detail and well referenced, it will also serve as a basis for more detailed exploration of particular aspects of honey bee biology.
--Sarah Corbet (Times Higher Education Supplement )

This very readable book brings together the wealth of scattered information on the complex honey bee in a way that will serve as a standard for many years.
--Roger G. Bland (Science Books & Films )

Winston's writing is brisk and enthusiastic and the book's illustrations clear and informative. This is a delightful study of an odd, yet oddly familiar, creature.
--John R. Alden (Wall Street Journal )

About the Author
Mark L. Winston is a Fellow in the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University.

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Customer Reviews

What We Know about Honey Bees
This book is a review of current (as of 1987) research about honey bees. Topics covered include: origin and evolution, anatomy, development and nutrition, nest architecture activities of worker bees, pheromones, communication and orientation, collection of food, reproduction, mating, and differences between temperate an tropical honey bees. The book includes numerous black-and-white illustrations, a long-list of references, an author index, and a subject index.

Readers will come away from this book with a much greater understanding of these vital insects, encompassing everything from range to communication to gender roles. The book is written in clear language that is accessible to general readers as well as undergraduate students. Interested readers can use the cited references to learn about specific topics in greater detail.

A sense of wonder
I picked up this book in a store and bought it out of idle curiousity, as I am neither an entomologist, biologist or beekeeper. Its content amazed me and spurred me to return to reading general interest science books, an area I had largely shunned after leaving university.

Apart from the fascinating content, the book wins because of the author's superb style. While sacrificing nothing in the way of content (at least to this nonspecialist's eye) he never indulged in technical jargon, making the book accessible to any interested person.