Bees, Wasps, and Ants: The Indispensable Role of Hymenoptera in Gardens [Hardcover]

Eric Grissell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 30, 2010

Few insects are more important than bees, wasps, and ants. They maintain the garden’s biological balance, fertilize vegetables, fruits, and flowers, and recycle nutrients within the soil. It’s no exaggeration to say that a garden can’t be understood without an understanding of its insects.

Bees, Wasps, and Ants explores the importance of the Hymenoptera and explains how gardeners can encourage (or discourage) them in the garden. Part One includes a summary of their biology and a tour of what role they play in each part of the garden. Part Two takes a closer look at the individual groups within the family, including sawflies, horntails, woodwasps, parasitic wasps, predatory wasps, bees, and ants.

Bees, Wasps, and Ants is sure to persuade even the most insectphobic reader to invite these fascinating creatures into their gardens.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

If ever a group of garden creatures gets a bad rap, it’s bees, ants, and wasps. Yet, as Grissell so strikingly points out, most of the time their negative reputation is either grossly overstated or decidedly undeserved. Although the role of the order Hymenoptera in garden settings is of vital importance, most homeowners and quite a few gardeners do whatever they can to remove nests, hills, and hives at first sight. It’s a knee-jerk reaction that can have devastating results, for these creatures are essential for pollination, fertilization, and even pest-control. Reviewing their impact, revealing their habits and habitats, and profiling them via such inventive terms as the garden’s “cows,” “wolves,” and “police,” Grissell strikes a fine balance between scientific examination and anecdotal evidence. Although not sufficiently illustrated to serve as a field guide, Grissell’s extensive exploration of this insect order is highly informative and genuinely useful. --Carol Haggas

Review

"Grissell brings years of study and an infectious enthusiasm to this beautifully illustrated volume."

(SciTech Book News )

An introduction to the myriad species of these insects and all they do in your garden. (Viveka Neveln The American Gardener )

From the impact of insects on our lives to their biology and families, this is packed with detailed information tailored to gardener and growing interests, and thus is recommended for home and garden collections as well as any science library. (The Bookwatch )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Timber Press (June 30, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881929883
• ISBN-13: 978-0881929881
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #255,622 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great introduction to a feared and misunderstood group of insects, September 23, 2010

By 

Afan of Sitagyl Manor (Brooklyn, New York United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Bees, Wasps, and Ants: The Indispensable Role of Hymenoptera in Gardens (Hardcover)

I absolutely love this book and find it to be a most valuable guide to a much-feared group of insects. As a shutterbug new to macro photography of insects, I have become immersed in a world most people ignore unless they are frightened by an aggressive Hymenopteran. The photos in this book are first rate and have helped me with identification of my own tiny subjects. As the author points out, this is not a field guide per se, but a sound introduction to the natural history and biology of these insects. Their roles in nature are complex and fascinating. This book is aimed at serious students of insect life and garden enthusiasts. The writing is clear albeit somewhat technical at times, which is to be expected as it is a science book. The author is especially good on the Parasitoid Wasps, the main focus of his own professional work in the field. If you enjoy above average science books and have an interest in gardening or insect photography you should get yourself a copy of this book.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative and entertaining, December 21, 2010

By 

Barbara Pleasant - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Bees, Wasps, and Ants: The Indispensable Role of Hymenoptera in Gardens (Hardcover)

To an amateur entomologist like me, this book is a dream come true. Eric Grissell uses enough scientific lingo to keep topics clear, but often wanders into personal territory as he explores the lives of bees, wasps and ants. Some of his stories are surprisingly funny!

As head garden writer for Mother Earth News, I initially picked up this book to learn more about wasps and hornets -personal passions for years. Now Grissell has me interested in ants. Although I don't have room for more books, I'm making room for this one next to Whitney Cranshaw's Garden Insects of North America. If you're fascinated by insects, you need both.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Essential Book for the Organic Gardener and Bug Watcher, April 30, 2011

By 

David B Richman (Mesilla Park, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bees, Wasps, and Ants: The Indispensable Role of Hymenoptera in Gardens (Hardcover)

Eric Grissell was one of my instructors in a short course in parasitic Hymenoptera that I took at the University of Maryland a number of years ago. All of my instructors were excellent and Eric was particularly good. It was thus with some interest that I picked up his book "Bees, Wasps, and Ants: The Indispensable Role of Hymenoptera in Gardens" at the local library. I was not disappointed as his book is a gem! With well-written chapters and beautiful color photographs it is just what the home organic gardener and insect watcher would want to understand an important component of the ecosystem. As it turns out the Hymenoptera contains among its members numerous natural enemies of insect pests and a plethora of pollinators. While ants may sometimes invade our homes and bees, wasps and ants my sting us, they more than make up for their faults (from our point of view) by the numerous services that they provide. One could easily get lost just in studying their behavior, but the fruit and vegetable crops that they protect and pollinate are a great bonus. Eric Grissell has provided a fascinating glimpse of their secret life within our backyards and has in the process provided the home gardener with essential knowledge for the production of a bounty of pesticide-free crops.

I recommend this volume without reservation!