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Get it by Mon, 25 Jan - Thu, 28 Jan from Sydney, Australia
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Winner of a 2016 Whitley Award for Australasian Zoological Literature (Practical Zoology). It is richly illustrated with over 500 photos, drawings and charts to increase accessibility and aid learning.
The Australian Native Bee Book describes native bees generally and provides a complete guide to keeping Australian native stingless bees. It is richly illustrated with over 500 photos, drawings and charts to increase accessibility and aid learning. It is written by an expert who has spent his lifetime intimately engaged with these unique creatures. Keeping native stingless bees is a hot topic in Australia for commercial, environmental and recreational reasons. You can do something about the decline of pollinators by conserving native bees. Whether you keep a hive or two in your suburban garden, or want to use multiple hives on a commercial farm, this friendly guide has you covered. * Bee biology, behaviour, nesting, social life and foraging * How to build your own native bee hive * How to transfer a bee colony to a hive box and propagate hives * All about sugarbag honey, including how to extract it from hives * Managing your hive * Identifying and dealing with pests * Using stingless bees for pollination - from small gardens to commercial crops * A complete list of Australia's stingless bee species, how to identify them, their characteristics, where they occur, and recommended hives * A readable summary of the latest research on native bees
This is a comprehensive book. Examples of what is covered include:
- harvesting honey
- positioning hives
- making hives of various designs from scratch
- splitting hives
- keeping hives healthy, signs of ill-health
- explanations of hive behaviour including fighting and how to prevent it
- stingless bee evolution and biology
- differences between Euro bees and stingless bees
- detailed breakdown of the lifecycle of hive and the different castes of bee within the hive
- differences between the different stingless bee varieties
There are a couple of minor negatives - it focuses a little on T. Carbonaria, so you'd probably want an additional resource if intending to keep Hockingsii etc., and there is perhaps too much "background" information in sections that should really be "quick reference" instructions on how to perform a specific task or check for a specific problem - I'd have liked to see the background moved to sidebars. These are minor niggles though - this book could be less good and still earn 5 stars.
The production is great, with glossy, detailed high-colour plates. This is important as native bees are very small, and the differences between specifics (e.g. the colour honey cells and pollen cells) are difficult for a beginner to pick at a glance.
My only other complaint is that with such great production, no hardcover edition is available.
I would recommend buying this book 1st, then shopping around for other resources (or online) to fill any gaps. I have had a hive for 6 months, and every question I've had (so far) has been answered here or with a quick Google search.Read full review
Overall the product is good, however I found two holes at the base of the hive which when I split my original hive leaked out precious honey.
I plugged the holes but there was no explanation why the holes were there to begin with.
Very little instructions.
For the person starting out keeping native bees I think this book is a must.
I am a novice and the way this book was written, accompanied with quality color photos, makes it very easy to follow and understand.
Well worth the money asked.