James D. Thomson

Carol Ann Kearns

In The Natural History of Bumblebees, biologists Carol A. Kearns and James D. Thomson give amateurs and professionals alike the basic knowledge to pursue the joys of observing and investigating these attractive and amenable subjects. Packed with information on bumblebee colonies, bee honeypots, bee development, foraging behavior, as well as instructions for maintaining bumblebees in captivity, this lively and colorful book also includes an easy-to-use photographic field guide to aid in the identification of over fifty species of North American bumblebee-virtually every known species on this continent. Until now, even the basic identification of North American bumblebees has been through the use of highly technical regional keys. The Natural History of Bumblebees fills a gap in the literature and provides amateur enthusiasts, educators, and scholars the information to develop their own projects in bumblebee biology. Kearns and Thomson also provide detailed instructions for constructing simple equipment that facilitates bee wrangling: the handling, tagging, studying, and raising of bumblebees. They present suggestions for research projects and identify areas of incomplete knowledge requiring further research. This book is an invaluable reference for students and scholars of native pollinators and an indispensable resource for naturalists, gardeners, and anyone who has ever been fascinated by the flight of the bumblebee.

A Sourcebook for Investigations

The Natural History of Bumblebees

Lars Chittka

Important breakthroughs have recently been made in our understanding of the cognitive and sensory abilities of pollinators, such as how pollinators perceive, memorize, and react to floral signals and rewards; how they work flowers, move among inflorescences, and transport pollen. These new findings have obvious implications for the evolution of floral display and diversity, but most existing publications are scattered across a wide range of journals in very different research traditions. This book brings together outstanding scholars from many different fields of pollination biology, integrating the work of neuroethologists and evolutionary ecologists to present a multidisciplinary approach.

James D. Thomson

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