Bookshelf

Toward Saving the Honeybee

Ginther Hauk

2002 80 pages £14.60 (€20.40) Code H140

Ginther Hauk is Director of the Biodynamic Gardening and Environmental Studies Programme of the Pfeiffer Center in New York. In this book, he encourages respect for bees and urges beekeepers to reconsider some accepted norms.

Chapter One considers the hive, and discusses the virtues of round shapes compared with angular ones, and various other matters such as the possibly beneficial properties of cow dung! Chapter Two looks at wax: honeybees uniquely create the substance for their nest (beeswax) out of their own bloodstreams. Production of wax is an activity of major significance to the bees, and forcing them to use old combs may be robbing them of vitality. Chapter Three considers the bees themselves, and argues for greater reverence in our approach, while Chapter Four takes a fresh look at swarming, and how bees' behaviour is essential for their well-being. Chapters Five and Six cover honey, pollen, and honeybee health, and encourage beekeepers to be stewards of bees, rather than mere exploiters, and to use approaches that will keep bees satisfied and contented. Chapter Seven urges a complete change in our way of thinking: honeybee colonies suffered a rapid decline in numbers during the 20th Century - we need to find a way to re-establish their well-being and health, and this might mean considering the bees' needs above our own.

Beekeeping and Sustainable Livelihoods

Nicola Bradbear

Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) Diversification Booklet 1 2004 60 pages

Readers in developing countries may obtain a copy by contacting john.dixon@fao.org or francesca.cabreaquilar@fao.org or by mailto John Dixon, AGSI, FAO, Via delle Terme di Caracalla, Rome 00100, Italy.

This new booklet outlines the great role and value of bees as part of rural people's sustainable livelihoods.

Beekeeping in Central Africa

Paul Latham (editor) and Heather Poxon (translator) 2004 46 pages £7.20 (€ 10.80) Code L125

This is the English version, with some adaptation of Apiculture en Bas-Congo, reviewed in BfDJ 69 from the Integrated

Development Project of the Salvation Army of D R Congo and Angola. Colour cartoon illustrations augment the brief text in an an easy-to-read and entertaining manual. Working with top-bar hives, management tips and tips hive siting, honey and wax harvesting, and the products of beekeeping, are some of the subjects described.

DVD Des Abeilles et des Hommes

Gilles Thérieu

2004 52 minutes £32 (€42) Code VID30 English and French editions on one DVD

A beautiful, serious, moving and thoughitful film exploring the relationship between bees and humankind. The film depicts how from the beginning of human civilisation the honeybee has been associated with power and wealth - typically one of the world's first coins showed a bee - and the bee has been used over centuries as signature, symbol and ideal. The film gives cultural insight, and there is plenty of accurate apicultural detail too, explaining honey hunting, how beekeeping evolved, and the international apicultural situation today, with beautiful sequences from different countries showing facets of apiculture - from the smallest scale to the largest.

A theme of the film is that the bee is not domesticated, the bee is not constrained. However, after 1851 when the frame hive was invented, man at last became master of bees and able to manipulate them. This meant that today the bee has become constrained, as frame hives allowing the manipulation and worldwide spread of Apis mellifera, have also brought about the devastating spread of honeybee diseases and predators that bees and beekeepers face today.

The film provides excellent information for anyone new to apiculture, and there is plenty to engage experienced beekeepers. All the current issues are briefly covered: varroa, GM pollen, antibiotic residues in honey, Apimondia, the internet, marketing, and even that trade in honey has been associated with the Al Qaeda network. Finally, a beekeeper is shown who has adopted a 'new' approach - allowing bees to build combs naturally and being sensitive to their needs. The message is that this is the way we need to go. Highly recommended for everyone with an interest in bees.

CD Proceedings of the 1st International Symposium: prevention of residues in honey

Apimondia 2004 £25 (€35) (price to be confirmed) Code VID31

One of the most serious threats to beekeeping today is the spread of honeybee diseases and parasites and the over-recommended use of antibiotics and pesticides to control them. There is growing concern about the residues these products leave - especially in honey that consumers regard as a natural and healthy product.

In October 2002, 275 experts from 45 countries met in Celle in Germany, to discuss the possibilities to avoid residues in bee products, especially honey, and also how to measure residues. Honey traders, equipment manufacturers, apicultural researchers, extensionists and beekeepers participated in the Symposium.

The Proceedings are now available on CD. Everything from the Symposium is here - abstracts, presentations, discussions, papers and conclusions. A list of participants is also provided. This is a splendid CD- it is very easy to find the information you need, and it provides an excellent, up-to-date resource on this important and concerning subject.

WAYS TO PAY

• Secure order and payment at www.beesfordevelopment.org

• PayPal to store@beesfordevelopment.org

• Credit/Debit card: We need card number, name on card, valid from and expiry dates, card issue number (if given), security number on back of card.

• Cheque/bank draft in GBP payable to Bees for Development