Bookshelf

Directory of important world honey sources

Eva Crane, Penelope Walker and Rosemary Day

2018 reprint 384 pages softcover

This book contains a vast quantity of precious data about plants and bees and it is marvellous to see it in print once again. Best of all would be if people selecting trees become aware of this useful information and consult it to inform their choice: nowadays we need whenever possible to choose species and cultivars with value to bees and other insect pollinators.

The meticulous work of gathering data and compiling it into this useful book was a labour of love for Eva Crane and her team. It was the outcome of many years’ scrutiny of the world’s research literature - across many languages, and carefully recording any data pertaining to plants visited by honey bees. By the 1980’s Eva Crane and her team had considerable data on thousands of plant species, each of them reported somewhere in the world to be major sources of honey. They then began the task of selecting from this lengthy list, those 467-plant species which could make it to the short list and be justifiably described as the ‘Important world honey sources’ of the book’s title. For each plant species, data is provided on its economic and other uses, how much nectar/pollen and/or honeydew it provides, honey flow data (if any exist), and concerning the honey’s chemical and physical properties.

Much of the research that is cited here is from meticulous 20 th century field work, watching bees and recording their behaviour - long before the digital era – and of course the observations remain valid. The entries may look at first impenetrable – but persevere to learn the codes and once you begin using this book, you will become addicted to consulting it and the interesting body of work upon which it is built.

A guide to native bees of Australia

Terry Houston

2018 272 pages softcover

This lovely new book will surely stimulate more interest in Australia’s great diversity of bee species. It represents Terry Houston’s work for over 50 years bringing together his wealth of knowledge and amazing photographs to describe the bees, their life cycle, nest architecture, and relationships with plants and other bees.

Australia has around 2,000 species of native bees occupying a wide diversity of habits, with the majority being solitary bees. Some species use wax for nest building, others work with silk or plant material, or burrow in soil or use holes in wood, or even in gum-nuts, the hard, woody fruit of the Eucalyptus tree.

The first part of this excellent guide is a general introduction to the morphology, evolution, behaviour and ecology. The second part will enable users to identify bees, at least as far as allocating them to their genus. A beautiful new guide.

Buzz – the nature and necessity of bees

Thor Hansen

2018 283 pages softcover

Thor Hanson is one of the new generation of excellent nature writers, and here he turns his focus to bees, clearly explaining by means of engaging narrative, that bees are important in many more ways than people might imagine. Readers of this Journal may be most particularly interested in his learning about the Hadza people in Tanzania and the significance of the vast amounts of honey within their diet, though elsewhere in the book he describes bees’ contribution to the creation that is a Big Mac sandwich. This highly readable book delivers much learning about the natural history of bees, well-considered and scientific. An excellent new contribution to the growing number of books providing fresh perspective around bees and the crucial roles they fill.

Bumblebees – an introduction

Nikki Gammans, Richard Comont, S C Morgan and Gill Perkins

2018 173 pages softcover

An excellent new guide to the bumblebees of UK. People are increasingly interested to identify bumblebees, and this new book provides exactly what they need to do so. 27 species of bumblebees have been recorded in the UK, though three are now extinct, leaving 24 species to identify. Seven of these are relatively common throughout lowland UK and finding and identifying at least these seven is made easy with the excellent photographs – over 250, and explanation that this guide provides. This book has been prepared by staff from the UK Bumblebee Conservation Trust and gives abundant helpful advice for gardeners and everyone who aims to support these important, yet declining species.

The practical beekeeper – beekeeping naturally

Michael Bush

2011 643 pages Hardcover

Michael Bush is a beekeeper in North America using frame hives and natural beekeeping methods. He began keeping bees in the 1970s with two hives, and today he maintains around 200 and shares his knowledge and philosophy via his website and YouTube. Under pressure to combine all his knowledge, he published The Practical Beekeeper in 2011, consisting of three volumes: Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced. This book is therefore valuable for those just starting out with their first frame hive, as well as the more experienced beekeepers looking for ways to help their existing colonies flourish. This guide is comprehensive and informative, and valuable not just for beekeepers in North America.

A honeybee heart has five openings

Helen Jukes

2018 292 pages, hardcover

This book is about bees and humans, for it is a beautifully written account of how the author, while adjusting to a new job and home in Oxford, realises that things need to change if she is to create a meaningful life. For some years she has been learning about bees and beekeeping, and now her friends conspire for her to become a keeper of bees, choosing to house them in a top-bar hive. What does it mean to ‘keep’ wild creatures? Who knew that even Pliny the Elder had written how bees do not fit the usual categories of ‘wild’ or ‘domesticated’ animal - they can be ‘kept’ by the beekeeper, but not tamed. This tension still exists in today’s bee world, where some beekeepers are attracted by the independent nature of bees, while others seek to fully dominate their colonies. This book is enjoyable to read and informative too - for beekeepers and (not-yet) beekeepers alike. Highly recommended!

Helen Jukes will be interviewed by Nicola Bradbear in Monmouth on Wednesday 19 September, 7pm in Monmouth Priory. More details: rossiterbooks.co.uk

Biological beekeeping – the way back

Ed & Dee Lusby

1991 634 pages, hardcover

Dee and Ed Lusby were some of the first beekeepers in recent times to advocate natural methods, describing their beekeeping in Southern Arizona in USA. This book is a collection of Dee Lusby’s writings, her research papers, and references to support her views on cell size and natural beekeeping. In this book the first hundred pages describe how Dee and Ed moved from conventional mainstream beekeeping methods, back to biological methods. The following five hundred pages are various articles and papers on relevant topics. This vast content makes this an extremely valuable reference source for anyone who wants to be scientifically informed on the important facing bees and beekeeping practices today.