Bookshelf

THE QUEST FOR THE PERFECT HIVE

Gene Kritsky 2010 198 pages Hardback £16.99 (€24) K800

Gene Kritsky is a beekeeper and entomologist who has investigated the history of hives, predominantly in the UK and USA. He observes, correctly, that while we have in recent years managed to sequence the honey bee genome, in these countries we continue to keep honey bees in hives that were developed over a century ago. The text is accompanied by many excellent images of hives and beekeepers from the 19th and 20th centuries, and extends to discussion of bee houses and the various beekeeping paraphernalia. A fascinating book for everyone concerned with understanding the origins of beekeeping as practised today in North America and UK.

GUIDE TO BEES AND HONEY

Ted Hooper 2010 edition 272 pages £12.99 (€18) Code H450

A new and completely up to date edition of one of the best European beekeeping texts. This book is an entirely reliable and comprehensive guide to beekeeping with European honey bees and frame hive equipment. It is an ideal text for a beginner, while many experienced beekeepers turn first to their copy of ‘Hooper’ whenever guidance is needed. Sadly, Ted Hooper died earlier this year, and this excellent new edition makes a fine memorial to a great beekeeper.

BEE

Photographs by Rose-Lynn Fisher 126 pages Hardback £21 (€30) F800

Images of honey bees created by the latest high-resolution scanning electron microscope allow secret details of honey bee anatomy to appear in astonishing and beautiful detail. Rose-Lynn Fisher presents 60 photographs in magnifications of up to 5,000.

SIX LEGGED INSECTS

Jeffrey A Lockwood 2009 377 pages Hardback £14.99 (€22) L800

A remarkable story of human ingenuity and brutality, this book provides a comprehensive study of the too-often horrific history of the use of insects in warfare, from ancient times to as recently as 1989. Many honey bee stories are told, including the account of how lethal chemical weaponry ‘yellow rain’ was, according to US Secretary of State Alexander Haig, being used during the Vietnam War by the Soviet Union and its allies. ‘Yellow rain’ a feature of many Asian forests, is in fact the pollen laden faeces of giant honey bees, Apis dorsata.