Bees for Development
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The Aculeate group of the order Hymenoptera includes bees, ants and wasps. Bees, with few exceptions, feed on food of plant origin, especially pollen. Consequently, they are important pollinators of natural vegetation and crops. They are biologically diverse with 1200 genera, and around 30,000 species, around half of them named by science. They include social, semi-social and solitary bees all with their own importance as part of ecological biodiversity.
Only two types of bee groups are exploited by humans for direct gain. There are a number of species of stingless bees whose honey is often particularly valued for its special medicinal properties. The other major group of exploited bees are the honey bees (Apis mellifera). Honeybees are calssified into the family Apidae and the genus Apis. They characteristically control their brood nest temperature, keep their brood separate from their food, and live exclusively on pollen and honey. There are four accepted groupings of honeybee species with three of these species groups further subdivided into additional species.
Further, within the species groupings of the honey bees, separate subspecies or races are also recognised. The behavioural and biological characteristics of each race can be distinctive and each race will have their own value and disadvantages for the beekeepers wishing to keep them. In general these differences arise in response to evoloutionary pressures and so enable each race to maximise its capacity for survival withn a given environment. In particular, there are significant differences between tropical and subtropical and European races of honey bees. This is an evolutionary consequence of adaptation to different habitats. The difference between races is so marked that it affects the management of these differing bees. However, even within races, there can be tremendous genetic variation and determining what is a typical honey bee race is often subjective. These naturally occurring genetic variations are what bee breeders use to enhance desired characteristics and reduce those that are less desirable.
List of Articles available on this topic (60):
Title | Author |
A Book on the Japanese Honeybee | Okada, I. |
A rational approach to the honey bees of Britain | Knight, A. |
Abstract Proceedings: 11th Asian Apicultural Association Conference, ApiExpo & Workshop | Asian Apicultural Assocaition |
Adventures in Beekeeping - Ratanakiri, Cambodia | Peterson, S. |
African and African(ized) bees nesting in the open | Fletcher,D.J.C. |
Africanised Honeybees in the Americas | Caron, D. M. |
Africanized Honey Bees in the Americas | Caron, D.M. |
An experience with Slovenian Beekeeping | Kingham, G. |
An Investigation into the Social Organisation of Mmoka, a Stingless Bee Species | Durbin, J. |
Apis mellifera capensis (The Cape honeybee) | Waite, R. |
Asian honey bees: biology, conservation and human interactions | Oldroyd Benjamin P., Wongsiri Siriwat |
Atlas of the Bumblebees of the British Isles | IBRA |
Atlas of the Bumblebees of the British Isles | IBRA |
Balken-Imkerei in Kambodscha | Waring, C. Jump, D. |
Bees | Hodge, D. |
Bees of the World | O\'Toole & Raw, A. |
Bees, Biodiversity & Forest livelihoods in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve | Bees for Development |
Black bees of Laeso | Stevenson, W. |
Bumblebee Distribution Maps Scheme: A Guide to British Species: Entomologists Gazette Vol. 21 | Alford, D.V. |
Bumblebees | O\'Toole,C |
Bumblebees | Corbet, S.A. & Prys-Jones, O. |
Bumblebees | Prys-Jones, O. & Corbet, S. |
Bumblebees | Benton, T. |
Caribbean Congress in Guyana | Roberts, A. & Stewart, L. |
Caucasian Honey Bee Workshop, 2006, Camili, Artvin, Turkey | Inci, A & Kandemir, I. |
Decouverte de l\'abeille Apis dorsata (l\'abeille geante) a Siem Reap (Cambodge) | SEPHANE,D.; GUIBAULD,S. |
Honey bee biology; encounters with the giant honey bee: Apis dorsata - Part 2 | Mangum, W.A. |
Honey bee biology; encounters with the giant honey bee: Apis dorsata - Part 3 | Mangum, W.A. |
Honey bee species in China | Jlanke, L., Xianmin, L. and Aiping, W. |
Honey Bee: Architect of Green and Sweet Revolution | Open University |
Honey: A Source of Nutrition, Medicine and Cash Income for Himalayan Farmers | Ahmad, F, Joshi SR and Gurung MB |
Honeybee Species Diversity in the Chinese Himalayan Region | Sichuan, Yunnan and Tibet |
Honeybees in Oman | Dutton, R.W., Mjeni, A.M. & Whitcombe, R.P. |
IDENTIFICAÇÃO DAS ABELHAS MELÍFERAS DE CABO VERDE | Pederson, B.V. |
Improving Livelihoods through Community-Based Beekeeping | Partap, U. & Min B. Gurung |
Indigenous Honeybees and Honey Hunters of Himalayas: A case of Apis laboriosa in Kaski District of Nepal | |
Instructions on bee-keeping | Ghosh, C.C. |
Introduction of Apis mellifera in Jammu and Kashmis - present status and future prospects | Abrol, D.P. |
Like Bees | Nsubuga, G. |
Low-cost homes for wild pollinators | Bogatyrev, N. |
Management of Philippine Bees | Cervancia C.R: Fajardo A.C; Manila-Fajardo A.C; Lucero R.M. |
Meliponiculture - Beekeeping with stingless bees | Sommeijer, M. J. |
Morphometric studies on Apis cerana indica F. worker | Kshirsagar, K.K. |
Notes on Apis dorsata and Tropilarlaps clarae in Burma | Maung Maung Nyein |
Observation on the nesting biology of Xylocopa, a night flying carpenter bee | Burgett, D.M., Ttayavan, M., Sukumalanand, N., Sukumalanand, P. |
Other bees; the wool-carder bee | Robinson, M.A. |
Pot - Honey: A legacy of Stingless Beest | Vit P., Pedro S., Roubik D. Editors |
Practical Bee Guide, The | Digges, J G |
Recent Research - Apis mellifera Woyi-Gambella honey bees endemic to Ethiopia | Bezabeh, A. |
Restoration of Apis Cerana on the Goto Islands | Hisashi, F. |
Royal Mayan bee | Poovey, C. |
Starting with Bees: An Introduction to African Beekeeping | Nazzi, F., Annoscia, D., Del Fabbro, S., Del Piccolo, F. |
Stingless bees in Costa Rica | Bees for Development |
Stingless bees in Guyana | Rajkumar, A |
Stingless bees in Kenya | Macaharia, J. Raina, S. and Muli, E. |
Stingless Bees: Importance, Management and Utilisation | Aidoo, K., Combey, R., Karikari, A. & Kwapong, P. |
The Bee Tree of Sahyadri | Basavarajappa,S |
The bees of the world | Michener, C D |
Tropical Beekeeping in Cambodia | Yoshikawa, K. and Ohgushi, R. |
Viruses of the honey bee: Part 1 | Thompson,C.; Budge,G.; Biesmeijer,J. |