Author: Hepburn,R.; Radloff,S.E.
Language: English
Year of publication: 2011
Number of pages: 670
Type of publication: Book
Publication location: BfD Library
Region: Asia

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The honey bee is one of the most researched and documented species after our own. Today we recognise nine species of Apis honey bees: Apis andreniformis, Apis cerana, Apis dorsata, Apis florea, Apis koschevnikovi, Apis laboriosa, Apis mellifera, Apis nigrocincta and Apis nuluensis. All of these, except Apis mellifera occur naturally in Asia. Yet most bee research has been conducted on [Apis mellifera, and of the estimated 100,000 publications on honey bees, only around 4% of this literature concerns Asian honey bee species. This new text contributes to rectifying the consequences of this situation, bringing together detailed reviews, by specialists in each field. The chapters cover: (1) The Asian species of Apis (2) Phylogeny of the Genus Apis (3) Biogeography (4) Asian honey bees and mitochondrial DNA (5) Genetic consideration (6) Biology of nesting (7) Absconding, migration and swarming (8) Comparative reproductive biology of honey bees (9) Pheromones (10) Honey bees in natural ecosystems (11) The pollination role of honey bees (12) Foraging (13) Energetic aspects of flight (14) The dance language (15) Diseases of Asian honey bees (16) Asian honey bee mites (17) Colony defence and natural enemies (18) Self assembly processes in honey bees: the phenomenon of shimmering and (19) Interspecific interactions among Asian honey bees. Finally Chapter 20 presents a bibliography of Asian species of honey bees that lists around 3,500 references by 3,000 authors, published between 1787 and 2009.

 

Written by top experts in their fields, there is information here that has not yet been published in journals. This is therefore an essential text for everyone undertaking Asian honey bee research.