The little book of bees / Karl Weiss ; with Carlos H. Vergara.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Weiss, Karl, 1924-

Contributor:

Vergara, Carlos H.

Series:

Little book series (New York, N.Y.)

[Little books]

Standardized Title:

Bienen und Bienenvölker. English

Language:

English

German

Subjects (All):

Bees--Behavior.

Bees.

Physical Description:

viii, 163 pages : illustrations ; 19 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : Copernicus, [2002]

Summary:

The more we learn about bees, the more extraordinary they seem. They have five eyes. Their fertilized eggs hatch as females; unfertilized eggs become males. They beat their wings at a rate of almost 200 cycles per second, but fly at only 10 or 15 miles per hour. In the course of a lifetime, a typical worker bee will produce less than a tenth of a teaspoon of honey, yet a single hive's population can produce as much as 2 pounds of honey a day. A queen bee, in a single day, will lay her weight in eggs -- as many as 1500 in an uninterrupted 24-hour period. And to communicate with each other, bees do sometimes make sounds, but mostly they dance in order to share information on the distance and direction to the nearest food source. Karl Weiss and Carlos H. Vergara provide the newcomer with a startling view into the surprisingly complex and highly organized world of bees. The Little Book of Bees describes not only the evolution of our honeybee, but also of dozens of types of wild bees. It sheds light on bee society, with its amazing rituals related to work, reproduction, defense of the hive, and, most amazingly, communication, and it even provides helpful advice for those interested in helping bees nest.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Bees in the Animal Kingdom and in Earth's History 1

Chapter 2 The Bee

An Insect 15

Chapter 3 What Does "Social" Mean in the Animal Kingdom? 25

Anonymous Societies 26

Family Associations 28

The Insect Colony 30

Social Classifications 34

Chapter 4 The Traits of Bees and Their System 35

Chapter 5 Solitary Bees and Social Development 45

Solitary Bees 45

On the Way to a Colony 63

Unique Mating Behavior 75

Threats from Outside, and Enemies Within the Ranks 77

Chapter 6 Bumblebees and Stingless Bees 83

Bumblebees 84

Stingless Bees 97

Chapter 7 On the Summit of Social Insect Life 107

The Genus Apis: Species and Races 108

The Domestic Honeybee 118

The Comb 118

The Colony and Its Individuals 122

Brood Rearing and Division of Labor 126

What Holds a Colony Together 128

How New Colonies Originate 130

Sensory Capabilities 132

Artists of Orientation 136

The Language of Honeybees 138

Chapter 8 Nest Aids for Wild Bees 145.

Notes:

Series from jacket.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 151-154) and index.

ISBN:

0387952527

OCLC:

49712235