Disease is often a neglected topic but it is an important factor for the beekeeper to bear in mind. Celia details the major diseases affecting honey bees as well as other pests including the mite, Varroa destructor. The honey bees major function is as a pollinator of flowers, both in agriculture and the wider environment, and the final chapters look at the relationship between bees and flowers and the resultant products of the hive.

Chapters:

• Honey bee beginnings
  • Knowing their place
  • Origins
  • Solitary wasps
  • social wasps
  • Solitary bees
  • Bumblebees
  • Bees from wasps
  • Climbing the social ladder

• Variations
  • Variety is the spice of life
  • General classification of subspecies
  • Only the best
  • Raising new queens
  • More advanced bee breeding
  • Conclusions

• Health and Hazards
  • Keeping them healthy
  • Types of organism causing disease in honey bees

• When the Kids are ill
  • Viruses affecting brood
  • Bacteria affecting brood
  • Fungai affecting brood
  • Not strictly diseases

• Problems with Grown Ups
  • Viruses causing adult bee diseases
  • A disease caused by a microsporidian
  • A disease caused by a protozoan
  • Diseases caused by mites

• Mighty Mites
  • The nature of the beast
  • Build-up in the colony
  • Effect of the mite
  • Chemicals and varroa

• The enemy within and without
  • One of lifes little puzzles
  • Wax moths
  • Wasps
  • Mice
  • Woodpeckets
  • An ongoing story

• The Broader Picture
  • The current situation
  • Agricultural chemicals
  • Stress on Bees
  • Be positive

• Flower show
  • How flowers are made
  • How flowers work
  • Variation in structure and function in different plants

• The food of the gods
  • Nectar
  • Extra-floral nectaries
  • Recycling - bee style

• Other bee essentials
  • Small and perfectly formed - pollen
  • Sticky stuff
  • Water
  • Beeswax

• On best behavior

• More than sweet, thick and sticky
  • Nectar to honey
  • Honey behaviour
  • Granulation
  • Fermentation - friend and foe
  • Legal requirements for the sale of honey

Also included are an appendix giving the background to scientific terminology, a wide-ranging glossary including phonetic spellings and suggestions for further reading. This is a book that will inform anybody who is interested in this fascinating insect. It is based on the examination modules set by the British Beekeepers Association, but this text will prove interesting for anyone wanting to know more about our honey bees.

It is a book for anyone wanting to know more about our fascinating honey bees as well as those studying for the British Beekeepers Association examination modules.