When many people think of bees, they are likely to picture the western domesticated honey bee, insects that live in large, socially complex societies inside a hive with a single queen and thousands of workers. But this familiar bee is just one of more than 20,000 species of bees—and almost none of the others is anything like it. In Bees of the World, Laurence Packer, one of the world’s foremost experts on wild bees, celebrates the amazing diversity of bees—from size and appearance to nests and social organization.
Providing clear, accurate accounts of the seven bee families, Bees of the World presents all the key information on generic characteristics, habits, and habitat, illustrated with incredible and often rare photographs that show bees in their natural habitats—foraging, nesting, raising their young, and more. The book reveals the secrets of these extraordinary insects as well as their importance in the global ecosystem and the ways humans can help protect them.
- Provides a richly illustrated exploration of bees from around the world
- Examines more than 100 genera of bees, giving a taste of the remarkable breadth of bee appearance and biology
- Explores bee anatomy, behavior, classification, evolution, life cycle, and habitats
Laurence Packer is one of the world’s leading experts on wild bees and the author of Keeping the Bees: Why All Bees Are at Risk and What We Can Do to Save Them. He is Distinguished Research Professor of Melittology at York University in Toronto and founder of the Packer Lab at York, a central global hub for wild bee research that has one of the fastest-growing bee collections in the world, with specimens from more than 100 countries.
"Exploring bees though the eyes of melittologist Professor Laurence Packer in Bees of the World is an extravaganza of astounding photography and detailed accounts of the seven living species of bee known today."—Ann Chilcott, BeeListener
"The book provides clear, accurate accounts of the seven bee families, presenting all the key information on generic bee characteristics, habits, and habitat, illustrated with lovely photographs that how bees in their natural habitats."—Pest Magazine
"This is a fine book, stacked with information, and it should be on the shelf of everyone who cherishes the natural world and its captivating diversity."—David M. Gascoigne, Travels With Birds
"This is a delightful, handsome book to keep or give to another. It has already been tremendously useful to me (I’ll be citing it on many of my pages!), and I am sure it will be of great value and interest to many more bee enthusiasts all over the world."—Amanda Williams, Buzz About Bees
"This is certainly no mere ‘coffee table book’ but I will thoroughly enjoy using spare moments to flick through the sumptuous photographs and expand my knowledge of these fascinating insects via the informative text."—Adrian Knowles, British Journal of Entomology and Natural History
