Bookshelf

A scanning electron microscopy atlas of the Africanized "killer" honey bee

Charles I Abramson and Italo de Souza Aquino 2002 155 pages £28.80 (€43.20) Code AQOO

Text in English and Portuguese

This long titled publication is subtitled A selection of photographs for the general public. The authors have over 100 electron microscope photographs of bees collected over several years from bees of the Laboratério Apicola hives at the Universidade Federal da Paraiba, Brazil. The introductory chapter describes the importance of honeybees for studies of learning and memory, offers a short history of the Africanised honeybee, and explains morphological and behavioural differences between European and Africanised honeybees. There are four other chapters showing photographs of workers, drones, Africanised queen bees, and the stinging apparatus of the worker bee. The photographs have been selected for their interest to the general public and the technical explanations kept to a minimum to make this book appealing to beekeepers and researchers alike.

The honeybee inside out

Celia F Davies 2004 150 pages £22.50 (€33.75) Code D300

Celia Davies provides information about the anatomy and physiology of honeybees in a clear and concise format. This is achieved with eight chapters illustrated with colour photographs, and diagrams drawn by the author from her own dissection work, providing realistic a impression of the parts being described. Chapters cover external bodywork, internal workings, control systems, breeding, growing up, keeping it together, colony reproduction and inside and outside influences. Phonetic spellings in the glossary and the appendix assist the reader in getting on with the jargon of terminology. Based on the British Beekeepers' Association examination modules this highly informative book will be of value to both beekeepers and students.

For love of insects

Thomas Eisner 2004 448 pages Hardback £20.50 (€30.80) Code E050

The introductory chapters to this book tell us that one million species of insects, spiders, millipedes and other arthropods have been discovered to date, and given a scientific name. Yet fewer than 1000 have been studied in any depth. Viewed on a grand scale, insects have not only achieved a great deal, but have succeeded in one major respect where humans have failed: they are practitioners of sustainable development. They do not merely exploit plants, they also pollinate them, thus providing a secure future for themselves and their plant partners.

Thomas Eisner was fascinated by insects from the moment he could walk. This book is the story of his work on the insect world observed and described down to its tiniest astonishing detail. Eisner's research has added significantly to our understanding of chemical communication, but his most important contributions have been in exploring the defence mechanisms used by insects: beetles that eject defensive sprays as hot as boiling water, caterpillars disguising themselves as flowers by fastening petals to their bodies, termites emitting a viscous glue to rally fellow soldiers, and many more. Bees are mentioned purely for their relationship to ants and wasps. However reading this book with its descriptions of ingenious experiments and excellent photographs is time well spent.

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