Asian Honey Bees : Biology, Conservation, and Human Interactions.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Oldroyd, Benjamin P.

Contributor:

Wongsiri, Siriwat.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Honeybee--Behavior--Asia.

Honeybee.

Honeybee--Conservation--Asia.

Honeybee--Asia.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (359 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Harvard University Press, 2006.

Summary:

The familiar European hive bee, Apis mellifera, has long dominated honey bee research. But in the last 15 years, teams in China, Japan, Malaysia, and Thailand began to shift focus to the indigenous Asian honey bees. Benjamin Oldroyd, well known for his work on the genetics and evolution of worker sterility, has teamed with Siriwat Wongsiri, a pioneer of the study of bees in Thailand, to provide a comparative work synthesizing the rapidly expanding Asian honey bee literature. After introducing the species, the authors review evolution and speciation, division of labor, communication, and nest defense. They underscore the pressures colonies face from pathogens, parasites, and predators--including man--and detail the long and amazing history of the honey hunt. This book provides a cornerstone for future investigations on these species, insights into the evolution across species, and a direction for conservation efforts to protect these keystone species of Asia's tropical forests.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Foreword by Thomas D. Seeley

Preface

1. To Be a Honey Bee

2. Introduction to the Species

3. Evolution

4. Speciation and Biogeography

5. Dance Communication and Foraging

6. Reproduction, Swarming, and Migration

7. Worker Sterility, Kin Selection, and Polyandry

8. Nesting Biology and Nest Defense

9. Parasites, Pathogens, Predators, and a Plant

10. Human Interactions

11. Conservation

12. Concluding Remarks

Appendix A. A Simple Key to the Workers of the Genus Apis

Appendix B. A Simple Key to the Parasitic Mesostigmatan Mites of Asian Honey Bees

Appendix C. The Names of the Honey Bee Species in Asian Languages

Glossary

References

Index

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9780674041622

0674041623

OCLC:

1312726647