Bees/ov Development Journal 77
BOO K
B/D NOW AT WWW.BEESFORDEVELOPMENT.ORG
AVAILABLE FROM
SH E LF
Beekeeping and conserving
biodiversity of honeybees
BEEKEEPING AND CONSERVING BIODIVERSITY OF HONEYBEES edited by Marco Lodesani and Cecilia Costa 2005 180 pages AS soft cover
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rms untreegt
(€16.50) Code L305
This new title reports the work of six bee laboratories in Europe who have participated in the Beekeeping and Apis Biodiversity in Europe or BABE project. In the first part Beekeeping for maintaining biodiversity Dt Robin Moritz introduces the most important beneficial insect the vital of not the is a domesticated but is wild, kept animal, honeybee. A part any ecosystem, honeybee in humans artificial nest sites which allow access to the resources. by (hives) honeybees' Chapters in the first part of the book are: EU research network on the impact of beekeeping on honeybee diversity; Biogeography of European honeybees: Selection theory and effective population size; Requirements for
local population conservation and breeding; and Practical aspects of bee breeding for biodiversity aims. Part 2 reports on special projects including a case study of the honeybee conservation on Laesg Island in Denmark. |
MELISSOPALYNOLOGY VENEZU ELA Patricia Vit 2005 205 pages soft cover 11.90
(€17.90) Code V010
Patricia Vit explains that her motivation to write this book was the outcome of an investigation into the medicinal properties of stingless bee honey. Data on honey analysis in Venezuela was scarce. Yet
pollen analysis (melissopalynology) of honey is necessary to apply precise standards for its quality control. As well as floral resources, there is a description of how the pollen reference collection was prepared. Palynological measurements are described, and terms included in the glossary. This useful book provides descriptions and microphotographs of pollen grains from 140 species in 58 plant families. The author hopes that the book will encourage support for beekeeping.
THE MONK AND THE HONEYBEE David Taylor, York Films 2005 90 minutes 20 Code VID35
(€30)
This film on DVD is an engaging blend of science, natural history, adventure and biography telling the remarkable story of Brother Adam, who spent a lifetime trying to breed the perfect honeybee. From the Benedictine Abbey in Buckfast, UK, Brother Adam directed an incredible enterprise. He searched Europe, the Middle East and Africa for genetic material from which he planned to ‘synthesise’ the Buckfast strain. This culminated in an extraordinary expedition, undertaken in his 90th year, to hunt the elusive black bee of Kilimanjaro. Filmed in the Buckfast apiaries, the German Alps and the mountains of Tanzania, this is a fascinating insight into the workings of the honeybee colony and the genius of a great bee
master. Brother Adam died on
1
September 1996, aged 98.
The Monk and the Honeybee is a tribute to his
extraordinary life.
BEEKEEPING
IN
LAOS
Horst Wendorf 2005 45 minutes 29.40
(€44.10) Code VID36 English and Lao language
Regular readers will recall our reviews of the films Horst Wendorf has prepared on beekeeping in Zambia and in the Philippines. This new DVD describes the five year beekeeping project by the Provincial Agriculture & Forestry Office in Qudomxay Province in Laos partnered by German AgroAction with the assistance of DED. The aims were the sustainable use of natural resources and an increase in productivity which would lead to greater income and improved living standards for the local population. The film is honest about the outcomes of the project and the ways to move forward. Top-bar hives were introduced to local beekeepers who had been using log hives. These were not a success: beekeepers found it difficult to manage the bees in the new hives and wasps and other predators became a problem. More training will be provided and the good news is there is no evidence of a decline in the number of bees in the area. Not only educational, this is an entertaining film for all bee enthusiasts.
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