Bookshelf

Beekeeping: a practical guide for southern Africa

Dominique Marchand and Jenny Marchand-Mayne

2003 186 pages £23.20 (€32.25) Code M015

An attractively designed and wellillustrated new text. The authors are evidently experienced beekeepers for they

give clear, practical information that a beginner beekeeper in South Africa would need to know. Well described are equipment for frame hive beekeeping, choosing an apiary site, catching a swarm or colony, how to manage bees (in frame hives) and feed them, queen rearing, bee plants of South Africa, honey and its harvest, extraction and marketing. Also information about honey and other bee products, and pollination. Near the end of the book are five pages on 'rural beekeeping' giving basic information on top-bar hives, followed by a useful chapter on pests, disease and other problems. The details given in 'other sources of information' are a little dated: all books listed are from the 1980s or before. Nevertheless a very useful new text.

Zambian beekeeping handbook

Bernhard and Renate Clauss

1991 108 pages £20.50 (€28.70) Code C150

We are pleased to announce new stocks of this valuable book for those encouraging beekeeping in resource-poor areas anywhere. Brilliant on handling bees, it is full of practical 'hands on' information and written in a style that is easy to read. The book is extremely well illustrated and contains details of many different types of hive. It provides sound information of exactly the type needed where there are few resources and where existing vegetation and honeybees are precious.

Video Shelf

Beekeeping in Cape Verde

Eigil Holm

2003 22 minutes PAL/VHS

This video is divided into three parts: bees and beekeeping in Cape Verde, equipment, and the harvesting and use of hive products. The author recommends the video as a good teaching resource: each part should be viewed separately after which there should be a discussion before the section is viewed one more time. The film provides an interesting introduction to beekeeping in Cape Verde.

A copy of this video can be downloaded free from: www.beesfordevelopment.org/ downloads/shtml

See also Manual de apicultura para Cabo Verde reviewed in BfDJ 67

African honeybees - how to handle them in top-bar hives

Script by Bernhard Clauss 1995 22 minutes PAL/VHS £22.90 (€34.40) VID05

This film explains that, as in all beekeeping, what is needed most of all is patience and gentle behaviour - from the beekeeper! Another vital ingredient is plenty of cool smoke. There are excellent tips on how this should be used to the best advantage. We are shown that top-bar hives can be produced using local materials - providing care is taken to guard against local pests. There is also a very good guide on how to collect a swarm and introduce it to your top-bar hive. A good training film.

More about top-bars on page 3

Hazards of pesticides to bees

L P Belzunces, C Pélissier and G B Lewis (editors)

2001 312 pages £29.70 (€44.55) Code B480

An important text for anyone researching, or needing to know more about the effects of pesticides upon bees. This book presents 27 papers given at a Symposium run by the International Commission for Plant- Bee Relationships, in France in 1999. Sections cover toxicity tests, effects of sub-lethal doses, metabolites, bee poisoning incidents, non-pesticide chemicals or alternative pest control methods, bumblebees, residue testing and methodology. There are several papers discussing the systemic insecticide imidacloprid (Gaucho®), whose use has been recently banned in France.

BOOK ALERT

"Agodo Community Development Association started a Library project in 1993 to serve the needs of local people at 23 primary schools, seven secondary schools and tertiary and professional institutes.

With the completion of the project, we face a more difficult problem: we have come to realise that a building (no matter how beautiful) does not make a library unless it is equipped. We are compelled to ask for your assistance with materials and advice". Thank you. Arua Kalu, Lagos, Nigeria

Many readers living in developing countries need books. We are asking you to assist by providing funds for the provision of small libraries of books for beekeeping associations and projects in developing countries.

Levels of support:

£50 - 5 books

£100 - 15 books

£500 - 75 books

Shipping costs are included. Bees for Development will provide all recipients with sponsored subscriptions to Bees for Development Journal

BOOKSHELF reaches interested readers in nearly every country of the world. We endeavour to review all useful new texts on beekeeping and related aspects of development. Publishers and authors are welcome to send books, videos or CDs for possible review. We will also consider them for inclusion in our website store and mail order service. We are particularly interested to expand our range of publications on tropical beekeeping. If you know of a publication which we do not stock, but you think we should, do let us know.