Bookshelf

Malaysian Meliponiculture & Beyond Including Stingless Bee Conservation

Coordinator: Abu Hassan Jalil, Editor: David W Roubik 2021 344 pages Softcover. Published by the International Bee Research Association (IBRA) & Northern Bee Books (UK)

This is the second instalment in the Meliponiculture and beyond series. It covers stingless bees and their produce harvested by keepers of stingless bees, and conservationists’ efforts in peninsula Malaysia and east Malaysia on Borneo Island. The text describes the regional stingless bee fauna and flora diversity and discusses crop pollination potential. Highland stingless beekeeping is discussed, and data from the 19th century until now is presented. Data on the diverse sugar profiles of stingless bee honeys are given. This large book concludes with aspirations for the future of meliponiculture, and there are three extremely useful appendices: A glossary of pollination terminology (extremely helpful indeed), a genera key update, and finally, while defining a swarm as ‘A large, dense group of flying insects’ – Appendix C describes twelve different types of swarms! With over 100 photographs, many diagrams and much data accumulated within, this text will provide hugely valuable information if you are seeking to learn more about stingless bees and their status.

Honey bees

Ingo Arndt and Jurgen Tautz 2021 192 pages Hardcover. Published by the Natural History Museum (UK)

A close look at the secret lives of honey bees nesting in the trees of the forests of central Europe, seen like never before in stunning photographs captured by Ingo Arndt. Jurgen Tautz guides the reader through this amazing visual journey with charm and erudition. This is not just a book of beautiful pictures – it contains useful introductions to the research that is helping us to understand how bees think. The closing remarks on the status of honey bees as wild animals and on our relationship with them as beekeepers, are very well-chosen. This is exactly the book needed to bring free-living honey bees into sight by the public, raising awareness about their behaviour, place and value within natural habitat. Everyone, even with just a passing interest in bees will love this special and important book.

The Insect Crisis

Oliver Milman 2022 260 pages Hardcover, Published by Atlantic Books (UK)

Milman has been a Guardian journalist for almost a decade and this has given him opportunity to interview entomologist worldwide who are studying the catastrophe that is the decline in insects. This book will educate and inform you – Milman explains and makes the argument for huge effort to now restore the earth’s biodiversity and abundance of the insects that play such a crucial role for life as we know it.

Rebugging the Planet

Vicki Hird 2021 224 pages Softcover. Published by Chelsea Green Publishing (UK)

This book gladdens the heart with the amazing things that insects do and awakens us to how essential they are in supporting us and all life on earth. It explains how we risk losing all of that. Pesticides and intensive farming, loss of forests, hedgerows, shrubs, trees and wildflowers, accelerating climate change, pollution of water and soils, plastic micro-particles, light pollution and so much more are causing problems. Most importantly, Vicki Hird tells us what we can all do to change this – practical actions we can take in our gardens, in our communities and while shopping, as well as tips for launching effective campaigns. We can all rewild by rebugging!