Asian Honey Bees: Biology, Conservation, and Human Interactions (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780674021945)

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.

Author: Benjamin P. Oldroyd, Siriwat Wongsiri
ISBN-10: 0674021940
ISBN-13: 9780674021945
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Language: English
Published: 05/15/2006
Pages: 360
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.44lbs
Size: 9.44h x 6.76w x 1.12d