|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Frequently Bought Together
Product Details
|
Product Description
Review
--John B. Free (Science )
Mark Winston offers a comprehensive account, covering aspects of anatomy and physiology as well as systematics, ecology and behavior...A useful overview of the biology of an insect that holds considerable interest for both economic and academic reasons. Rich in descriptive detail and well referenced, it will also serve as a basis for more detailed exploration of particular aspects of honey bee biology.
--Sarah Corbet (Times Higher Education Supplement )
This very readable book brings together the wealth of scattered information on the complex honey bee in a way that will serve as a standard for many years.
--Roger G. Bland (Science Books & Films )
Winston's writing is brisk and enthusiastic and the book's illustrations clear and informative. This is a delightful study of an odd, yet oddly familiar, creature.
--John R. Alden (Wall Street Journal )
Product Description
From ancient cave paintings of honey bee nests to modern science's richly diversified investigation of honey bee biology and its applications, the human imagination has long been captivated by the mysterious and highly sophisticated behavior of this paragon among insect societies. In the first broad treatment of honey bee biology to appear in decades, Mark Winston provides rare access to the world of this extraordinary insect.
In a bright and engaging style Winston probes the dynamics of the honey bee's social organization. He recreates for us the complex infrastructure of the nest, describes the highly specialized behavior of workers, queens, and drones, and examines in detail the remarkable ability of the honey bee colony to regulate its functions according to events within and outside the nest. Winston integrates into his discussion the results of recent studies, bringing into sharp focus topics of current bee research. These include the exquisite architecture of the nest and its relation to bee physiology; the intricate division of labor and the relevance of a temporal caste structure to efficient functioning of the colony; and, finally, the life-death struggles of swarming, supersedure, and mating that mark the reproductive cycle of the honey bee.
The Biology of the Honey Bee not only reviews the basic aspects of social behavior, ecology, anatomy, physiology, and genetics, it also summarizes major controversies in contemporary honey bee research, such as the importance of kin recognition in the evolution of social behavior and the role of the well-known dance language in honey bee communication. Thorough, well-illustrated, and lucidly written, this book will for many years be a valuable resource for scholars, students, and beekeepers alike.
Concordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A sense of wonder,
By Tom Houtman (Ottawa, ON Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Biology of the Honey Bee (Paperback)
I picked up this book in a store and bought it out of idle curiousity, as I am neither an entomologist, biologist or beekeeper. Its content amazed me and spurred me to return to reading general interest science books, an area I had largely shunned after leaving university.Apart from the fascinating content, the book wins because of the author's superb style. While sacrificing nothing in the way of content (at least to this nonspecialist's eye) he never indulged in technical jargon, making the book accessible to any interested person.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very informative with great details,
By
This review is from: The Biology of the Honey Bee (Paperback)
This book is great. I'm a beekeeper and I'm interested in learning all I can about bees so this book hit the spot perfectly. It has great detail on the honey bee's anatomy and their activities/tasks both in and out of the hive. I've read many beekeeping books that cover some biology but not to the extent that this book does - that's why I recommend it.It answered many of those little nagging questions I'd have. For instance, the reason why bees showed up in the hive one day with a distinct yellow rectangular stripe on their backs I learned is because they have a blind spot on their backs that they can't reach when grooming. There are certain flowers that mark a stripe of pollen on the bee's back when she enters the flower. The author's writing style is easy to read. There are some technical details but they're certainly not overdone (no need to skip pages or be put to sleep) and the author breaks them down in such a way that you'll get the point, regardless if you're a beekeeper or someone who's interested in bees. Some of the chapters are: The Origin and Evolutionary History of Bees, Honey Bee Anatomy, Development and Nutrition, Nest Architecture, The Age-Related Activities of Worker Bees, Other Worker Activities, The Chemical World of Honey Bees, Communication and Orientation, etc. As you can see there's lots of topics. All three castes of bees (drone, worker and queen) are covered. The chapter on the chemical world was great. Bees are able to do many more scent markings than I was aware of. References to studies are listed throughout. There's a full reference section at the back of the book. I highly recommend this book. I plan to read it again.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.6 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews) 21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A sense of wonder,
By Tom Houtman - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Biology of the Honey Bee (Paperback)
I picked up this book in a store and bought it out of idle curiousity, as I am neither an entomologist, biologist or beekeeper. Its content amazed me and spurred me to return to reading general interest science books, an area I had largely shunned after leaving university.Apart from the fascinating content, the book wins because of the author's superb style. While sacrificing nothing in the way of content (at least to this nonspecialist's eye) he never indulged in technical jargon, making the book accessible to any interested person. 9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
What We Know about Honey Bees,
By Erika Mitchell - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Biology of the Honey Bee (Paperback)
This book is a review of current (as of 1987) research about honey bees. Topics covered include: origin and evolution, anatomy, development and nutrition, nest architecture activities of worker bees, pheromones, communication and orientation, collection of food, reproduction, mating, and differences between temperate an tropical honey bees. The book includes numerous black-and-white illustrations, a long-list of references, an author index, and a subject index.Readers will come away from this book with a much greater understanding of these vital insects, encompassing everything from range to communication to gender roles. The book is written in clear language that is accessible to general readers as well as undergraduate students. Interested readers can use the cited references to learn about specific topics in greater detail. 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Dated but still good,
By Jason Fossen - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Biology of the Honey Bee (Paperback)
The book only gets 4 stars because it's getting out of date. Nonetheless, if you can pick it up used for a few bucks, it's well worth the money and time, and the most interesting topics, like dance communication and hive behavior, are nicely covered. It's actually hard to find books like this. A book on honey bee biology is likely to be either too basic, perhaps intended for high school students, or too detailed, intended for others in the field. This book is just about right for the college/grad student or amateur biologist.
|
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Outdoors & Nature > Fauna > Insects & Spiders
- Books > Professional & Technical > Medical > Basic Sciences
- Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Agricultural Sciences
- Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Zoology
- Books > Science > Biological Sciences > Biology > Entomology
- Books > Science > Biological Sciences > Zoology > Invertebrates
- Books > Science > Mathematics
- Books > Science > Nature & Ecology > Animals > Insects & Spiders
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
|
