The World History of Beekeeping and Honey Hunting

Cover; The World History of Beekeeping and Honey Hunting; Copyright; Contents; List of Tables; Preface; Acknowledgements; 1 The Structure of the Book; Part I SETTING THE SCENE; 2 The Ancestry of Honey-Storing Insects; 2.1 Evolution of insects that feed on flowering plants; 2.2 Evolution of stingless bees (Meliponinae); 2.3 Evolution of bumble bees (Bombus) and honey bees (Apis); 2.4 Evolution within the honey bees (Apis); 2.5 Evolution of honey-storing wasps; 2.6 Evolution of honey ants; 2.7 Relationships between honey-storing insects; 3 Honey-Storing Insects and their World Distribution.;This definitive work by world-renowned bee authority Eva Crane offers a fascinating account of bees and their complex relations with both humans and animals. Comprehensive, absorbing, and lavishly illustrated, this scholarly, yet accessible volume explores how bees, honey and other bee products have been gathered and utilized throughout the world. Beginning with the rock paintings of the Mesolithic cave dwellers, readers will learn about the variety of methods used by human beekeepers, the stratagems used by animal honey-hunters, and the multitude of products humans have derived from be. Cover The World History of Beekeeping and Honey Hunting Copyright Contents List of Tables Preface Acknowledgements 1 The Structure of the Book Part I SETTING THE SCENE 2 The Ancestry of Honey-Storing Insects 2.1 Evolution of insects that feed on flowering plants 2.2 Evolution of stingless bees (Meliponinae) 2.3 Evolution of bumble bees (Bombus) and honey bees (Apis) 2.4 Evolution within the honey bees (Apis) 2.5 Evolution of honey-storing wasps 2.6 Evolution of honey ants 2.7 Relationships between honey-storing insects 3 Honey-Storing Insects and their World Distribution. 3.1 Introduction3.2 Distribution of the honey bee Apis mellifera 3.3 Distribution of Apis cerana and Apis koschevnikovi 3.4 Distribution of Apis dorsata and closely related species 3.5 Distribution of Apis florea and Apis andreniformis 3.6 Distribution and features of stingless bees (Meliponinae) 3.7 Distribution and features of bumble bees (Bombus species) 3.8 Distribution and features of honey-storing wasps 3.9 Distribution and features of honey ants 4 Features of Honey Bees in Relation to their Use by Man 4.1 Introduction 4.2 The honey bee colony and its members. 4.3 How honey bees make honey4.4 The seasonality of honey production, storage and harvesting 4.5 Colony characteristics valued by man 5 Animals other than Man in Relation to Bees 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Bears 5.3 Other carnivores 5.4 Primates 5.5 Birds Part II OPPORTUNISTIC HONEY HUNTING BY MAN 6 Man's First Interactions with Bees and Honey 6.1 Early man, and the bees he encountered 6.2 Evidence from rock art 6.3 Other early representations of bees 7 Honey and Bee Hunting, with Examples in the Mediterranean Region and Middle East 7.1 The circumstances of opportunistic honey hunting. 7.2 Nests in rocks and in trees7.3 Honey hunting in the Ancient World 7.4 Honey hunting in later centuries 7.5 Bee hunting 8 Honey Hunting in Africa South of the Sahara 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Preparations, and methods of finding honey bee nests 8.3 Partnership with a bird (the honeyguide) 8.4 Methods of reaching honey bee nests 8.5 Treatment of honey bee nests when honey was collected 8.6 Use of smoke and other bee pacifiers 8.7 Treatment of the harvest from the nest 8.8 Bee hunting in Madagascar 8.9 Hunting for honey of stingless bees 9 Honey Hunting in Temperate-Zone Europe. 9.1 The circumstances of honey hunting9.2 Early honey hunting in eastern Europe 9.3 Methods in eastern Europe 9.4 Western Europe 9.5 The northern limit for honey bee survival 10 Honey Hunting in Asia East of Persia 10.1 The variety of honey-storing bees in Asia 10.2 The giant bee Apis dorsata at different nest sites 10.3 Cavity-nesting Apis cerana 10.4 The dwarf bee Apis florea 10.5 Stingless bees 11 Honey Hunting in the Americas and Oceania: Stingless Bees 11.1 The peoples, regions and bees concerned 11.2 Mesoamerica.

This definitive work by world-renowned bee authority Eva Crane offers a fascinating account of bees and their complex relations with both humans and animals. Comprehensive, absorbing, and lavishly illustrated, this scholarly, yet accessible volume explores how bees, honey and other bee products have been gathered and utilized throughout the world.

Beginning with the rock paintings of the Mesolithic cave dwellers, readers will learn about the variety of methods used by human beekeepers, the stratagems used by animal honey-hunters, and the multitude of products humans have derived from bees. The first in-depth book on the subject, the World History of Beekeeping and Honey-Hunting is the ultimate work on bees for scholars in biology and the life sciences, professional and amateur beekeepers, and anyone who is interested in bees or the collection of honey.

Booknews

Crane was director of the International Bee Research Association for a quarter of a century. Here she updates and expands her 1983 by incorporating subsequent findings and bringing the coverage up to the present. She begins with the evidence of rock art for prehistoric bee hunting and archeological indications of early beekeeping. She traces the probably route of transmission of hives within the Mediterranean region, northern Europe, eastern and western Asia, and the Americas. The technology, she shows, changed little from the earlier days until the 19th century, and has been tinkered with considerably ever since. Other topics include the history of bee products and the symbolic importance of bees, hives, honey, and wax in both literature and religion. Her text is abundantly supported with black-and-white illustrations. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

This definitive work by world-renowned bee authority Eva Crane offers a fascinating account of bees and their complex relations with both humans and animals. Comprehensive, absorbing, and lavishly illustrated, this scholarly, yet accessible volume explores how bees, honey and other bee products have been gathered and utilized throughout the world. Beginning with the rock paintings of the Mesolithic cave dwellers, readers will learn about the variety of methods used by human beekeepers, the stratagems used by animal honey-hunters, and the multitude of products humans have derived from bees. The first in-depth book on the subject, the World History of Beekeeping and Honey-Hunting is the ultimate work on bees for scholars in biology and the life sciences, professional and amateur beekeepers, and anyone who is interested in bees or the collection of honey. "The author, who was director of the International Bee Research Association for 35 years, provides extensive coverage of historical methodological information about bees, beekeeping, and honey. It is an excellent reference source with chapters about honey-storing insects throughout the world, the origins of hive beekeeping in ancient Egypt, controlling bees, drinks made from the fermentation of honey, and beeswax. Over 400 black-and-white drawings, diagrams, and woodcuts illustrate the book. This fascinating volume is a useful addition to all reference collections."..."Outstanding reference sources 2000", American Libraries, May 2000. Comp. by the Reference Sources Committee, RUSA, ALA First published in 2000. This comprehensive book represents the first attempt to write a world history of people's use of social bees: how bees'nests were initially hunted for their honey and wax and, later, how the bees were kept in purpose-made hives. Evidence survives from early times in the form of artefacts, pictures and written records, and also human traditions of dealing with bees. Since 1949 the author has had opportunities to travel in over sixty countries, and to see traditional and modern hive beekeeping and also honey collection from nests. She learned much that helped her to piece together some of the long history in the different continents. First published in 2000. This comprehensive book represents the first attempt to write a world history of people's use of social how bees' nests were initially hunted for their honey and wax and, later, how the bees were kept in purpose-made hives. Evidence survives from early times in the form of artefacts, pictures and written records, and also human traditions of dealing with bees. Since 1949 the author has had opportunities to travel in over sixty countries, and to see traditional and modern hive beekeeping and also honey collection from nests. She learned much that helped her to piece together some of the long history in the different continents. "This is the first book to explore in detail the world history of humankind's use of bees from prehistoric times to the present day. Both rock art and recent field studies have shown how honey hunters obtained their harvest from bees' nests. Honey has always been the chief prize, but bee brood has been eaten as meat, and beeswax has been utilized in many technologies. Bees, honey, and wax have special symbolic significance in both early beliefs and later world religions. But perhaps bees' greatest benefit has been their pollination of crops."--BOOK JACKET.