Honeybees of Africa

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. Front Matter....Pages I-XV Biogeographical Perspective....Pages 1-34 Classification of Honeybees....Pages 35-77 Populations: Forms of Measurement....Pages 79-102 Introgression and Hybridisation in Natural Populations....Pages 103-131 Swarming, Migration and Absconding....Pages 133-161 Mating and Fecundity....Pages 163-184 Properties of Honeybee Nests....Pages 185-204 Intraspecific and Interspecific Conflicts....Pages 205-225 Colony Defense....Pages 227-241 Flight and Foraging....Pages 243-268 Seasonal Cycles of the Honeybee Colonies....Pages 269-298 Back Matter....Pages 299-371