Understanding Bee Anatomy: A full colour guide

Description:

There is a lot to a bee. They are able to memorise large areas and find their way home, unfailingly, despite a brain that would hardly cover a pinhead. They work co-operatively in large colonies, communicate information and make collective decisions. They engineer perfectly uniform hexagonal cells and manage these efficiently for brood rearing or food storage depending on the needs of the season. And each new bee emerges equipped with an impressive range of tools for the tasks required in its short but busy life.

This amazement only increases when we look at the details of a bee more closely with a microscope.

The stimulus to write the book was the author's own experience in preparing for the modular examinations in bee biology of the BBKA. He had learnt human anatomy as a medical student, and had been exposed to several books which aimed to make this task easier. This led him to think that modern imaging techniques and digital photography could be used to illustrate bee anatomy in a way that would make it easier to learn and bring out the fascinating detail.