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Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping, Caron & Connor
£100.00
£100.00

Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping

Third edition with updated contents
Dewey Caron & Lawrence J. Connor
£100.00
£100.00
Taxes included.
Wickwas Press (3rd ed. 2024)
Hardback / 480 Pages
ISBN 978-1-878075-62-8

First released in 1999, Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping is widely accepted as a major textbook of Apiculture. Universities use it to teach college students bee biology and beekeeping.

Beekeepers and bee clubs use it to teach other beekeepers.

It concentrates on the 'why', 'how' and 'when' of bee keeping. It explains bee and beekeeping basics in a manner meaningful to people who lack an extensive back ground in biology. Yet it is not oversimplified, and provides a meaningful source of beekeeping information for the informed beekeeper.

The Third Edition has been carefully edited, updated and expanded to 480 pages. New chapters have been added, as have colorful new graphics and photographs. The Glossary has also been expanded.

This comprehensive textbook easily replaces many beginner books while adding comprehensive details of bee biology essential to becoming a successful beekeeper and student of the honey bee.

VIEW Contents
  • Title page
  • Copyright, ISBN, Dedication, Acknowledgments
  • About the authors
  • Chapter Quick Finder
  • How to use this book

    SECTION 1: BEE BIOLOGY

  1. Introduction
    1. Our insect ally
    2. What is beekeeping?
    3. Beekeeping - both science and art?
    4. The real key
    5. Human association with bees
    6. Wasps, bees and warfare
    7. Apiculture beginnings
    8. Temperate versus tropical seasonality
    9. Bee gums and skeps
    10. Bees on the move
    11. A new hive
    12. Father of modern beekeeping
    13. And today ...
    14. Honey bee culture
    15. Learning beekeeping
    16. Are bees going extinct?
    17. What are the factors in bee decline
    18. Saving bees
    19. Ten things to save bees and pollinators
    20. Key terms
    21. Discussion questions
    22. Exercises
    23. References
  2. What's in a Name?
    1. The classification system
    2. Phylum Arthropoda
    3. Classification of the honey bee
    4. Class lnsecta
    5. Order Hymenoptera
    6. Superfamily Apoidea
    7. Families of bees
    8. Family Apidae
    9. Bumble bees
    10. Genus Apis
    11. Subspecies of honey bees
    12. Do honey bees predate Europeans in North America?
    13. Hybrid bees
    14. Improved bees
    15. Varroa mite tolerant bees
    16. Key terms
    17. Discussion questions
    18. Exercises
    19. References
  3. Sociality
    1. Insect societies
    2. Sociality in the Hymenoptera
    3. Evolution of sociality
    4. Relative stages of social interaction Eusocial
    5. Character comparison Bees
    6. Wasps
    7. Ants
    8. Why is sociality so common in Hymenoptera?
    9. Control of stinging wasps /bees
    10. Key terms
    11. Discussion questions
    12. Exercises
    13. References
  4. What is a Honey Bee?
    1. Queen, drone, worker
    2. Hive bees
    3. Developmental time
    4. Field bees
    5. Immature bees or brood
    6. Differentiation of queen and worker
    7. Seeing is believing
    8. Superorganism
    9. Dead bees
    10. Seasonality of brood and adult populations
    11. Fat (fall) bees
    12. Bee stewardship
    13. Key terms
    14. Discussion questions
    15. Exercises
    16. References
  5. Anatomy
    1. Three body regions
    2. Exoskeleton and body hairs
    3. Head
    4. Mouth parts
    5. Queen and drone head
    6. Thorax
    7. Abdomen
    8. Bee senses
    9. Digestive and excretory systems
    10. Fat body
    11. Nervous system
    12. Circulatory system and hemolymph
    13. Respiratory system
    14. Reproductive structures
    15. Sting structure
    16. Gland systems
    17. Gland and bee development
    18. Additional queen and drone differences
    19. Key terms
    20. Discussion questions
    21. Exercises
    22. References
  6. Physiology
    1. The living honey bee
    2. Honey bee nutrition and food ecology
    3. Gut biome
    4. Physiological changes in the labor force
    5. Royal jelly
    6. Nutrition's specific impact
    7. Gas, liquid and temperature regulation
    8. Thermal activity
    9. Comb as an organ of the colony
    10. Comb effect on bees
    11. Key terms
    12. Discussion question
    13. Exercises
    14. References
  7. Pheromones
    1. Chemical coordination
    2. Pheromone communication
    3. Queen pheromones
    4. Queen substance spread
    5. Percent of radioactive bees
    6. Queen substance functions
    7. Food transmission
    8. Dufour gland
    9. Tergal glands
    10. Fecal pheromone
    11. Alarm communications
    12. Nasanov scent gland
    13. Colony odor
    14. Trail pheromones
    15. Odor recognition
    16. Brood and comb pheromones
    17. Colony defense
    18. Pheromones in dance language
    19. Other pheromones
    20. Stimulatory effect of comb/brood
    21. Key terms Discussion questions
    22. Exercises
    23. References
  8. Dance Language
    1. Dance communications
    2. Dance routines
    3. The round dance
    4. The wagtail dance
    5. The sickle dance
    6. Dance floor
    7. Taste and smell
    8. Dialects
    9. Comparison of races
    10. Additional recruitment dances
    11. Accuracy of the dance information
    12. Marking bees
    13. Dance language controversy
    14. Nest selection by honey bees
    15. Looking for a home
    16. Key terms
    17. Discussion questions
    18. Exercises
    19. References
  9. The Bee Nest
    1. Colony dwelling
    2. Beeswax comb
    3. How bees measure cells
    4. Nest organization
    5. Human-made hives
    6. The modern Langstroth beehive
    7. Observation hives
    8. Key terms
    9. Discussion questions
    10. Exercises
    11. References
  10. Queens
    1. One queen, usually
    2. Queen replacement (supersedure)
    3. Bee sounds
    4. Swarming
    5. Absconding
    6. Emergency queen replacement
    7. Mating of queens
    8. Massacre of the males
    9. Drone nutrition for proper maturation
    10. Key terms
    11. Discussion questions
    12. Exercises
    13. References
  11. Bee Botany
    1. Foraging
    2. Types of foragers
    3. How bees discover flowers
    4. Scout bees
    5. Flower constancy
    6. Foraging area
    7. Foraging statistics
    8. Nectar collection
    9. Nectar secretion
    10. Pollen foraging
    11. Pollen collection
    12. Water and plant resin collection
    13. Optimum foraging strategy
    14. Robbing behavior
    15. The season through a bee's eye
    16. Early season pollen sources
    17. Mid to late spring
    18. Fruit bloom
    19. Early honey plants for surplus honey
    20. Other late spring plants
    21. Honey plants of June & July
    22. Clovers, vetch & alfalfa
    23. Summer
    24. Cultivated crops
    25. Around the home
    26. Fall
    27. Honeydew
    28. Notes
    29. Key terms
    30. Discussion questions
    31. Exercises
    32. References

    12. SECTION 2: BEEKEEPING

  12. Getting Started
    1. Starting requisites
    2. When and how to start
    3. What to expect
    4. Personal equipment
    5. The hive
    6. Types of honey
    7. Transferring bees
    8. Obtaining bees
    9. Bait hive basics
    10. The apiary
    11. Ten tips
    12. What is the best apiary?
    13. More information
    14. Key terms
    15. Discussion questions
    16. Exercises
    17. References
  13. Management Basics
    1. Basics of management
    2. Wear a veil - use protective equipment
    3. What tools to use
    4. When to manipulate bees
    5. How long to keep a hive open
    6. Is it okay to inspect?
    7. Bee stings
    8. Types of reactions following stings
    9. Queen spotting
    10. Colony manipulations
    11. Box 29 Smoker lighting
    12. Reading the frames
    13. Box 30 Hive inspection
    14. Handling difficult colonies
    15. Robbing
    16. Feeding bees
    17. Key terms
    18. Discussion questions
    19. Exercises
    20. References
  14. Fall & Winter
    1. In the beehive
    2. Fall
    3. Box 32 The winter cluster
    4. Late fall-winter
    5. Why colonies die over winter
    6. Managing the overwintering colony
    7. In summary
    8. Key terms
    9. Discussion questions
    10. Exercises
    11. References
  15. Spring
    1. Spring management
    2. Spring
    3. Water for bees
    4. First spring inspection
    5. Stimulating weak colonies
    6. Box 34 The swarming instinct
    7. Management for spring nectar flow Box
    8. Manage for success
    9. Preventing bee swarms
    10. Swarm control
    11. Doolittle increase
    12. Making divides and increase nuclei hives
    13. Late spring
    14. Key terms
    15. Discussion questions
    16. Exercises
    17. References
  16. Honey Production
    1. The honey harvest
    2. Presence of nectar-secreting plants
    3. Weather suitable for nectar secretion and gathering
    4. Peak population for the nectar flow
    5. Physical ability of the bees and the 'morale' of the colony
    6. Crowing degree days
    7. The work of honey production
    8. Pre-flow management
    9. Nectar flow management
    10. Supering
    11. Drawing foundation
    12. Extracting
    13. Removing bees from supers
    14. Honey in the comb
    15. Destruct harvest
    16. Settling and packaging
    17. Non-flow summer management
    18. Key terms
    19. Discussion questions
    20. Exercises
    21. References
  17. Honey & Other Products
    1. Honey & hive products
    2. What is honey?
    3. What can go wrong?
    4. Kinds of honey
    5. Fine crystallization
    6. Other sources of honey
    7. Uses of honey
    8. Beeswax
    9. Comb honey
    10. Pollen
    11. Royal jelly
    12. Bee brood
    13. Bees as food
    14. Propolis
    15. Venom
    16. Live bees
    17. Mead (honey wine)
    18. Other ways to make money with bees
    19. Key terms
    20. Discussion questions
    21. Exercises
    22. References
  18. Queen & Drone Rearing
    1. Queen & drone rearing
    2. Raising queens and drones
    3. When to raise queens
    4. How to raise queens on a small scale
    5. Using the Cloake board
    6. Graftless cell production
    7. Drone production & manipulations
    8. Making queens
    9. Mating control
    10. Queen introduction
    11. Key terms
    12. Discussion questions
    13. Exercises
    14. References
  19. Nucleus Colonies
    1. Nucleus colonies
    2. Making nuclei
    3. Other methods to make increase hives
    4. Dividing spring colonies to make nuclei and reduce swarming
    5. Mid-Spring and summer nuclei
    6. Fall increase
    7. Overwintering nucleus colonies
    8. Box 46 Doolittle increase
    9. Key terms
    10. Discussion questions
    11. Exercises
    12. References
  20. Pollination
    1. Pollination
    2. Pollinating agents
    3. Insect pollination
    4. Pollinating bees
    5. Conditioning/artificial attracting bees
    6. Managing bee colonies for pollination
    7. One colony per acre
    8. Moving bee colonies
    9. Improving pollination results
    10. Pollination of specific crops
    11. Small fruit pollination
    12. Key terms
    13. Discussion questions
    14. Exercises
    15. References
  21. Bee Mites
    1. Bee mites
    2. Mite-related disorders
    3. Honey bee tracheal mites
    4. Varroa mite
    5. Sampling for varroa mites
    6. Parasitic Mite Brood Syndrome
    7. Colony collapse disorder
    8. Pesticide succession for varroa mite control
    9. Key terms
    10. Discussion question
    11. Exercise
    12. References
  22. Diseases
    1. Brood diseases
    2. Brood problem?
    3. Going to the dogs
    4. Adult diseases
    5. Key terms
    6. Discussion questions
    7. Exercises
    8. References
  23. Pests
    1. Pests
    2. Pesticides
    3. Newest developments
    4. Pesticide poisoning symptoms
    5. Conditions confused with disease Key terms
    6. Discussion questions
    7. Exercises
    8. References
  • Glossary
  • Index

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