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Bees and beekeeping: Science, Practice and World Resources /y E Crane Oxford, UK; Heinemann Newnes (1990) 614 pp. Available from IBRA price 85.00 (UK post free, overseas surface post 2.00 on this book only on orders received before 30 September 1990).
Eva Crane's latest publication provides the most comprehensive, singlevolume source of information on the scientific principles behind beekeeping, the techniques in use, and the resources on which honeybees depend worldwide. For the first time we have a beekeeping text book written from an entirely global viewpoint without bias towards the beekeeping of any particular region. Beekeepers everywhere will find clear information relating to the type of bees they use and the beekeeping which can be practised in their region. The book is arranged in six parts: The bees used in beekeeping and background information (the basis of beekeeping and honeybees as_individuals and as members of a colony); Beekeeping with movable-frame hives (equipment, management methods); Beekeeping with simpler and cheaper hives (traditional and other types of hives and their management); Maintaining honeybee health; Honeybees, plant resources and products from the hive; Beekeepers (covering legislation and further resources). Appendix 1 lists important world honey sources and their geographic distribution, Appendix 14
2 is a gazetteer of beekeeping. The book carries a bibliography and plant, geographical and subject indexes. To demonstrate the comprehensive nature of this work take for example a single subject, say, foundation. A standard text will explain what foundation is, how it is made and used. Eva Crane’s text provides in addition the sizes of brood cells of different species and races of Apis (useful data not previously available in one table), addresses of suppliers of foundation of different sizes and the equipment for making it, discussion of the orientation of cells in foundation, the use of plain beeswax sheets in areas where foundation cannot be obtained, the use of waxes and materials other than beeswax for foundation, and even that the report, in April 1936, of rubber honeycomb from which the honey could simply be squeezed, was no more than an April Fool's joke! This book amasses information reflecting over 40 years’ work by Eva Crane in painstaking compilation of material concerning bees. Much data has been gathered together into a useful format for the first time and Eva Crane has been able to draw on the expertise of many in obtaining any elusive facts she required. Indeed, Eva Crane has been fortunate in her opportunities to meet beekeepers in every comer of the world and useful accounts of their experiences with various techniques illuminate and add interest throughout the text. Each chapter has a happily short list of selected further reading, with all necessary references carried together in the final extensive Bibliography. 614 pages, 78 tables and numerous illustrations inevitably lead to the single drawback of this book: the high price which makes it beyond reach for many individuals. If you are in this position then try to obtain a copy through your library, or perhaps a beekeeping group could together purchase a copy. This publication summarises all developments in modern management of bees and must surely stand unchallenged well into the next century as the authoritative text on the science and practice of beekeeping.
Ecology and natural history of tropical bees 4y D W Roubik
Cambridge, UK; University Press (1989) 514 pp. Available from IBRA price 50.00 (post and packing 3.00 to UK address, 4.00 overseas surface post). A new compendium of current knowledge on the 300 or so bee genera which occur in the tropics. After an introductory section describing the reasons for studying tropical bees and their diversity and distribution, the book deals in detail with the biology of foraging and pollination, nesting and reproduction and community ecology. The biology of some bee species (honeybees, bumble bees, carpenter and leaf-cutter bees) that live in temperate areas is well known. But as Roubik points out, although probably tropical in origin, there are few studies of these bees in tropical habitats. The study of tropical bees allows. insight into the ecology and evolution of groups of organisms in both temperate and tropical regions. The book contains two useful appendices, the first a partial checklist of families, subfamilies, tribes, genera and subgenera of the Apoidea, the second appendix consists of black and white photographs of 255bee specimens which could be helpful on the way to identification of a particular species. Interesting black and white photographs and drawings are also interspersed throughout the text. This publication will be of interest primarily to entomologists but it does carry information for those concerned purely with tropical beekeeping. Roubik informs us that while there are 800 kinds of stingless bees, at least seven species of Apis, and 30 forms of Bombus that produce honey in tropical latitudes, no more than 5% of these honey-making bee species are cultivated by beekeepers.
Education Resource Pack London, UK; IBRA (1990) with financial support from the National & Provincial Building Society. Available from IBRA price 5.50 plus post and packing (1.00 per Pack UK, 2.00 per Pack overseas surface post). Nicola Bradbear, Janice Goodwin and Helen Jackson of the International Bee Research Association have produced an Education Resource Pack for UK
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