Bookshelf

Pollination management of mountain crops through beekeeping

Uma Partap

1997 - 117 pages. Spiral bound.

Available from Bees for Development price £15.00 including postage

A very good new text explaining the need for pollination. The text is clearly written and accompanied by excellent line drawings, emphasising all the important points.

The aim of the book is to help farmers and extension workers manage hive bees for pollination. Chapter 2 provides a general introduction to pollination. Chapter 2 describes why different bee species are important for different crops. Chapters 3 and 4 introduce beekeeping and the benefits of different types of hives with respect to pollination of crops. Chapter 5 discusses the management of bees for the pollination of a variety of crops: fruit, vegetable, oilseed and spices. Some examples of using honeybees for crop pollination follow, and finally there is a chapter on protecting honeybees from pesticide poisoning.

Dr Partap works as the international centre for integrated mountain development in Nepal and this publication is part of ICIMOD's initiative to promote the wider use of honeybees

This book is universally applicable to crops and their pollination.

The world history of beekeeping and honey hunting

Eva Crane

1999 720 pages. Hardback. Available from Bees for Development price £90.00 including postage

A marvellous new book from Eva Crane. This is very important major work, itself step in "The history of beekeeping”. It is impossible to satisfactorily summarise this book in few paragraphs: it is an erudite work bringing together historical information from every part of the world, to provide completely new resource for apiculture.

The book examines how humans have exploited bees from prehistoric times until today. Archaeology has revealed information about bee hives used in Ancient Crete, Greece and Egypt, and by Maya people keeping stingless bees in Mesoamerica. From this evidence Eva Crane has worked out routes by which such methodologies may have spread from one region to another. The text accompanied by hundreds of interesting illustrations and diagrams, showing beekeeping from past ages and explaining different types of technology.

The book has 54 chapters arranged in ten sections. The sections cover: Setting the scene (bees and how they are exploited); Opportunistic honey hunting by humans; History of collecting honey from owned or tended nests; Honeybees that nest in the open; Tending and beekeeping; History of traditional beekeeping using fixed comb hives; History of practices in both traditional and movable-frame beekeeping; Development of beekeeping using more advanced hives; Development beekeeping using movable-frame hives; History of bee products; and Bees in human mind.

The vast amount of information within these chapters is also made accessible through indices of personal names, of peoples, geographical index and subject index. 1990 saw the publication of Dr Crane’s earlier work, “Bees and beekeeping: science, practice and world resources” describing the current status of apiculture. in combination with this new work, Eva Crane has managed to produce in book format remarkable summary of the world’s apicultural knowledge.

While this new text is the most expensive book we sell, in terms of information per page it represents excellent value!

Beekeeping in Botswana

Khaliso Kepaletswe 1997 (4th edition) 76 pages. Available from Bees for Development price £10.00 including postage

An updated edition of this popular text that gives excellent advice on how to work with African bees. It advocates top-bar hives as the most practical hive for beekeeping in Botswana, and gives two designs. The new edition also incorporates the dimensions for Langstroth (frame) hives, and gives methods for honey and beeswax harvesting, processing and packing.

Editor’s note interested in some visual accompaniment to this new title? The ever-popular video “African honeybees: how to handle them in top-bar hives” with script by Bernhard Clauss is still available from Bees for Development price 25. Bernhaid worked for many years in Botswana with Khaliso and her team.

Wonders of the Japanese honeybee

Masami Sasaki

1999 - 192 pages. Paperback. In Japanese with English summary.

Professor Sasaki's account of the biology of the inorthernmost Apis cerana includes 88 beautiful colour photographs.

The Japanese honeybee Apis Cerana japonica is first mentioned in history in 627 AD. There was prosperous beekeeping in Japan before the introduction of Apis mellifera in 1877. Today Apis cerana japonica is rediscovering its niche in the urban environment by using manmade structures for nesting sites.

Fruit crops pollination

edited by Verma and Jindal 1997 405 pages. Hardback.

Available from Bees for Development price £70.00 including postage

Statistics tell us that India is the second largest producer of fruit in the world. This compilation of 25 chapters by Indian scientists provides a comprehensive review of the scientific aspects of pollination and the role of honeybees. Pollination of temperate and tropical fruit crops is discussed.

Participatory rural appraisal and planning workbook

Daniel Selener, Nelly Endara and José Carvajal 1999 146 pages. Spiral bound.

English and Spanish editions.

Available from Bees for Development price £20.00 including postage

The best projects are those that aim to address the Samia real needs and aspirations of local people. This book explains participatory rural appraisal and planning (PRAP), technique for designing community and regional level projects to fit local needs. Guidelines are given on how to carry out PRAP.

The book is in two sections. The first relates to planning and practical implementation of PRAP in the field. Part Two deals in words and illustrations with 22 different participatory appraisal and planning tools, including two complete case studies.

A very readable text, full of examples of participatory planning. Excellent!

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