Honeybees of Africa

ISBN-13: 9783642083891 / Angielski / Miękka / 2010 / 370 str.

H. Randall Hepburn; Sarah E. Radloff

Opis

A comprehensive review of the honeybees of Africa on a subspecies as well as by country basis. Includes an updated multivariate analysis of the subspecies based on the merger of the Ruttner database (Oberursel) and that of Hepburn & Radloff (Grahamstown) for nearly 20,000 bees. Special emphasis is placed on natural zones of hybridisation and introgression of different populations; seasonal cycles of development in different ecological-climatological zones of the continent; swarming, migration and absconding; and an analysis of the bee flora of the continent. The text is supplemented by tables containing quantitative data on all aspects of honeybee biology, and by continental and regional maps.

Recenzje

"Honeybees of Africa provides biologists with an excellent source of information and challenges. I applaud the authors for thoroughly synthesising what is known about A. mellifera across the whole of Africa, thereby setting the stage for countless exciting discoveries." Nature

Spis treści

1 Biogeographical Perspective.- 2 Classification of Honeybees.- 3 Populations: Forms of Measurement.- 4 Introgression and Hybridisation in Natural Populations.- 5 Swarming, Migration and Absconding.- 6 Mating and Fecundity.- 7 Properties of Honeybee Nests.- 8 Intraspecific and Interspecific Conflicts.- 9 Colony Defense.- 10 Flight and Foraging.- 11 Seasonal Cycles of the Honeybee Colonies.- References.- Taxonomic Index.- Geopolitical Index.