Table Of ContentB E E
The
First published in the United States
of America and Canada in 2014 by
Princeton University Press
41 William Street
Princeton, New Jersey 08540
press.princeton.edu
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2014932450
ISBN: 978-0-691-16135-8
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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
B E E
The
A Natural History
DR. NOAH WILSON-RICH WITH
KELLY ALLIN, NORMAN CARRECK
& DR. ANDREA QUIGLEY
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON AND OXFORD
Contents
Introducing the Bee 6–11 CHAPTER 3
Society & Behavior
CHAPTER 1
Evolution & Development Sociality 52–53
Pathways to Eusociality 54–55
The Evolution of Bees 14–15 Reproductive Division of Labor 56–57
Honey Hunting & Beekeeping 16–17 Swarming 58–59
The Different Bee Groups 18–19 Communication 60–61
The Evolution & Development Dance Communication 62–63
of the Honey Bee 20–21
Olfaction 64–65
Wild Bees Worldwide 22–23
Navigation 66–67
Foraging Behavior 68–69
CHAPTER 2 Crafting 70–71
Anatomy & Biology
Nesting 72–73
Circadian Rhythms 74–75
What Makes Bees Different? 26–27
Thermoregulation 76–77
Anatomy of a Honey Bee 28–29
Changing Behavior Over Time:
Flight & Internal Anatomy 30–31
Temporal Polyethism 78–79
Bee Senses 32–33
Defense & aggression 80–81
Genetics 34–35
Parenting 82–83
Genomics & Informatics 36–37
Courtship 84–85
Hormones–the Endocrine System 38–39
Sexual Reproduction 86–87
Immunology 40–41
Mating Systems 88–89
Pests & Diseases 42–43
Reproduction 44–45
CHAPTER 4
The Bee’s Life Cycle 46–47
Bees & Humans
Pollination 48–49
Ancient & Modern Knowledge 92–93
Scientific Research Today 94–95
An Economic Force 96–97
Spirituality 98–99
Islam, Judaism & Christianity 100–101
Patron Saints of Beekeeping 102–103
Political Symbolism 104–105
What if Bees Were to Disappear? 106–107
CHAPTER 5 CHAPTER 7
Beekeeping The Challenges Faced by Bees
The Basics 110–111 An Introduction to Bee Losses 188–189
Keeping Other Bees 112–113 Weather & Climate 190–191
Ancient Hive Designs 114–115 Habitat Loss 192–193
Langstroth Hives 116–117 Changes in Agriculture 194–195
Observation Hives 118–119 Modern Farming 196–198
Data Tracking 120–121 Agrochemicals 199–201
Urban Beekeeping 122–123 Pests & Diseases 202–203
Harvesting 124–125 Other Threats to Bees 204–205
“Natural” Beekeeping 126–127 Fear of Bees 206–207
Swarming 128–129 Pollinators, the Environment
& Conservation 208–209
Integrated Management 130–131
Research Initiatives to Help Bees
Arthropod Pests 132–133
210–211
Bacterial, Fungal & Viral Infections
How We Can Help the Bees 212–213
134–137
Useful Resources
CHAPTER 6
A Directory of Bees
Bibliography 216–218
Solitary Bees 140–163 Index 219–222
Bumble Bees 164–172 Author Biographies 223
Stingless Bees 173–179 Acknowledgments 224
Honey Bees 180–185
Introducing the Bee
B
efore flowering plants evolved, there were no bees. And then, about
100 million years ago, plants began to develop colorful appearances and
sweetly scented reproductive organs—while at the same time some wasps
abandoned their carnivorous hunting lifestyle and took to a gentler way
of life. Bees evolved from these wasp ancestors, feeding on pollen provided by
the plants for protein in exchange for their services as pollinators.
Bees are remarkable for their co-evolution with flowers, displaying an
astonishing range of adaptations—and they are no less remarkable for their
social lives. Some bees are solitary, but honey bees live in large, well-organized
family groups, and exhibit complex social behaviors seen nowhere else in the
animal kingdom. Besides which, honey bees also make several products that
are of direct benefit to us—the honey, the wax, and the resins that humans
have valued for millennia.
Today, bees are found across the world, and the twenty thousand or so species
display an amazing variety of behaviors. Some species live underground, others
high in trees, and some even build their nests within the walls of our homes. And
of course humans have taken to beekeeping on a massive scale. Bees are now so
intertwined with humanity that our interest in them is no longer a simple
fascination, but a vital necessity. Quite simply, apart from
the honey and other products they supply, we need bees to
pollinate the majority of fruit and vegetable crops that we
rely upon for our own food.
The challenges faced by bees today—from habitat
loss to pesticides and deadly diseases—threaten not only
the bees themselves but potentially all of human life.
Right Bees and other animals cross-pollinate
over 90 percent of the world’s wild plants.
6
INTRODUCING THE BEE
8
INTRODUCING THE BEE
THE HARD-WORKING HONEY BEE
There are about twenty thousand bee species in the world
and they can be split into four broad groups: solitary,
bumble, stingless, and honey bees. While all these groups
are covered in this book, the honey bee (Apis mellifera) is the
most studied and the most familiar.
The honey bee originated in Eurasia and Africa,
but is now found on every continent except Antarctica.
Honey bees have lived in close association with humans
for thousands of years, ever since the Ancient Egyptians
established the art of beekeeping. But how many of us,
as we pick a jar of honey off the supermarket shelf, pause
to consider the lives of the bees that made it?
In a brood cell deep inside the nest, an egg hatches,
and the larva, fed first on royal jelly and then on bee bread,
grows throughout its first week before developing into
a pupa. At this point it is sealed into its cell by the adult
workers, and about three weeks after the egg was laid a
new worker bee emerges.
The behavior of the adult worker progresses with age.
Her first duty is inside the nest, cleaning and nursing the
brood, before she moves on to guarding the entrance, and
eventually to foraging for pollen and nectar. Foraging takes
a severe toll on the worker bee’s body, clearly visible in the
shredding of her wings. In the summer, a worker honey
bee lives only about a month as an adult, but in the inactive
winter season she might live for three to six months.
The drones and the queen do not experience such
grueling wear and tear, so they have longer lives.
Drones can live for three months, or until they
finally mate. Honey bee queens are remarkably
long-lived. They may survive several years,
taking periodic rests during the winter
or the rainy season, and then restarting
egg laying to produce more workers when
flowers come back into bloom.
9
INTRODUCING THE BEE
