Best Entomology

• step-by-step directions for all stages from setting up an apiary to harvesting honey; • approximately 100 illustrations featuring techniques, equipment, and bee biology; • information about how to manage new pests and diseases including Colony Collapse Disorder; • coverage of new trends and changes in beekeeping including green IPM techniques and new laws for urban beekeeping; • the most up-to-date bibliography and list of resources on the topic; and. • a new user-friendly book design that clearly highlights instructions and other important features. "The text is presented in a very readable way, and the diagrams are some of the clearest I have seen for a long time. The book outlines options for each operation within beekeeping, listing advantages and disadvantages of each alternative. "Since the publication of the first edition of the handbook in 1973, many thousands of novice and experienced beekeepers have relied on this book as the preferred single-volume guide to bee keeping. The fourth edition has been redesigned, revised and expanded to incorporate the latest findings on Colony Collapse Disorder, green integrated pest management techniques, overwintering protocols and ways to control bee mites .

Descriptive text includes measurements, diagnostic details, and information on habitat, range, feeding habits, sounds or songs, flight period, web construction, life cycle, behaviors, folklore, and environmental impact.

Honeybees make decisions collectively--and democratically. The text is abundantly illustrated with figures that are cleverly simplified in comparison to how they might appear in scientific journals. He also provides a few pointers on how rules of honeybee democracy may be applied to decision-making in human groups, with minimal dependence on a leader, vigorous competition among a diversity of viewpoints, and a method for determining a majority-based resolution." "Seeley's work--extended over years and summarized clearly and engagingly here--is a model of biological research that builds bridges to the social sciences, and to the practical arts of institutional design for humans." Honeybee Democracy offers wonderful testament to his career of careful investigation of a remarkable natural phenomenon. "To illustrate bee decision making, Seeley details how swarms choose a new home. "In Honeybee Democracy , Seeley carefully narrates his many seasons of experiments using plywood next boxes that could be moved and modified at will. He discovered what bees like in a home, how scouts measure the dark interiors of these boxes and most of all, how the swarm 'votes' to decide which nest to occupy. Within its pages we find out about an important aspect of the life of the honeybee (with some practical implications for beekeepers), how researchers work both in the field and in the laboratory, the objective way in which the experiments are carried out but, most of all, how in the seeking of a new home bees provide us with a model of true democratic behaviour which any group could use to its advantage. "Rather than presenting a dry review of his findings, Seeley intertwines them with his thought processes, anecdotes and generous appraisals of students and fellow scientists.

Aquaponics is a revolutionary system for growing plants by fertilizing them with the waste water from fish in a sustainable closed system. Starting with an overview of the theory, benefits, and potential of aquaponics, the book goes on to explain: System location considerations and hardware components The living elements--fish, plants, bacteria, and worms Putting it all together--starting and maintaining a healthy system. This isn't just another book for dummies; this is a comprehensive handbook on how to grow real food...so meticulously documented, that failure is not an option. I have always wanted to put my money where my mouth is and figure out how to do sustainable aquaculture in the context of my home garden. Now the thousands of people who are discovering aquaponics every day have a resource for moving from the dream to the step-by-step reality of raising fish and food in their homes, yards, and even businesses. --John Thompson Sr. VP Sales and Marketing (and Basement and Backyard Aquaponist) AeroGrow International, Inc.

Essential Cell Biology provides a readily accessible introduction to the central concepts of cell biology, and its lively, clear writing and exceptional illustrations make it the ideal textbook for a first course in both cell and molecular biology. Molecular detail has been kept to a minimum in order to provide the reader with a cohesive conceptual framework for the basic science that underlies our current understanding of all of biology, including the biomedical sciences. Bruce Alberts received his PhD from Harvard University and is Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco. Alexander Johnson received his PhD from Harvard University and is Professor of Microbiology and Immunology and Director of the Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Genetics, and Developmental Biology Graduate Program at the University of California, San Francisco.

In this groundbreaking and prophetic book, Taleb shows in a playful way that Black Swan events explain almost everything about our world, and yet we—especially the experts—are blind to them. Bestselling author Nassim Nicholas Taleb continues his exploration of randomness in his fascinating new book, The Black Swan , in which he examines the influence of highly improbable and unpredictable events that have massive impact. Now consider the typical stock market report: "Today investors bid shares down out of concern over Iranian oil production." Nassim Nicholas Taleb first made this argument in Fooled by Randomness, an engaging look at the history and reasons for our predilection for self-deception when it comes to statistics. The problem, Nassim explains, is that we place too much weight on the odds that past events will repeat (diligently trying to follow the path of the "millionaire next door," when unrepeatable chance is a better explanation). Nassim argues that most of the really big events in our world are rare and unpredictable, and thus trying to extract generalizable stories to explain them may be emotionally satisfying, but it's practically useless. Our assumptions grow out of the bell-curve predictability of what he calls "Mediocristan," while our world is really shaped by the wild powerlaw swings of "Extremistan."