Starting Bee Book Week

Although I’m always on the look out for cool books about ants, other than the awesome thrill ride of a movie that came out recently (Ant-Man), not much as crossed my desk. On the other hand, the pile of intriguing books about bees and pollination is growing by the day. This week let’s feature a few. (See the Books about Bees tag or click on the icon below for a list).

Bee Books

First up is Bees: An Up-Close Look at Pollinators Around the World by Sam Droege and Laurence Packer, published in July.

Right on the first page, Droege admits that the photographs in this book reveal an unusual look at bees. Rather than glimpses of live bees, the photographs capture the up-close view of preserved specimens under a microscope against a black background, as generally seen by scientists. The results are both eerie and wondrous, as you can see from the example below (not actually from the book).

Hoplitis-tigrina-Greece
Public domain image of Hoplitis tigrina from Greece

If you are interested in seeing more images, check out the USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Flickr photostream. The good news is that the photographs in the photostream have been generously released into the public domain.

In the book, the photographs are organized by region of the world where the featured bees are found. The bees are identified by scientific and common name, if available, plus the name of the collector and location collected. Each species grouping is accompanied by a paragraph or two of text discussing some of that insect’s unique features. Otherwise, the book has a brief “Contents” page, some information about the photography, and  resources for further study, but no index.

Bees: An Up-Close Look at Pollinators Around the World is a unique look at the diversity of bees found throughout the world. If you are interested in Hymenoptera in general, and bees in particular, you should check it out.

Hardcover: 160 pages
Publisher: Voyageur Press (July 7, 2015)
ISBN-10: 0760347387
ISBN-13: 978-0760347386

 

Disclosures: This book is my own copy. Also, I am an affiliate with Amazon so I can provide you with cover images and links to more information about books and products. As you probably are aware, if you click through the highlighted title link and purchase a product, I will receive a very small commission, at not extra cost to you. Any proceeds help defray the costs of hosting and maintaining this website.

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