In his new preface Bernd Heinrich ranges from Maine to Alaska and north to the Arctic as he summarizes findings from continuing investigations over the past twenty-five years--by him and others--into the wondrous "energy economy" of bumblebees.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
This is a remarkable and rewarding book, complementary to, yet in some respects going far beyond, its predecessors. It is highly recommended.
--Caryl P. Haskins (New York Times Book Review 20041218)
Extraordinary...the implications of work such as Heinrich's seem to me more resonant than the promise of a rich harvest of new research.
--Fred Hapgood (Harper's Magazine )
A magnificent book that combines the best of both writing and science...Heinrich has performed a masterful job of sharing his personal research efforts and those of others in his field. He has written an extremely interesting book and in the process has shown how one kind of organism can be used as a model to investigate behavior, physiology, ecology and evolution. Bumblebee Economics should serve as a model for good scientific writing.
--Matthew M. Douglas (Quarterly Review of Biology )
Heinrich is the author of several notable books about nature. This one, first published in 1979, is a classic, a fascinating, readable study of life as organized (sort of) by a most endearing little creature. A new preface summarizes findings of the last quarter-century. A splendid work. (Globe and Mail )
--Caryl P. Haskins (New York Times Book Review 20041218)
Extraordinary...the implications of work such as Heinrich's seem to me more resonant than the promise of a rich harvest of new research.
--Fred Hapgood (Harper's Magazine )
A magnificent book that combines the best of both writing and science...Heinrich has performed a masterful job of sharing his personal research efforts and those of others in his field. He has written an extremely interesting book and in the process has shown how one kind of organism can be used as a model to investigate behavior, physiology, ecology and evolution. Bumblebee Economics should serve as a model for good scientific writing.
--Matthew M. Douglas (Quarterly Review of Biology )
Heinrich is the author of several notable books about nature. This one, first published in 1979, is a classic, a fascinating, readable study of life as organized (sort of) by a most endearing little creature. A new preface summarizes findings of the last quarter-century. A splendid work. (Globe and Mail )
About the Author
Bernd Heinrich is Professor Emeritus of Biology at the University of Vermont. He has written several memoirs of his life in science and nature, including One Man’s Owl, and Ravens in Winter. Bumblebee Economics was twice a nominee for the American Book Award in Science, and A Year in the Maine Woods won the 1995 Rutstrum Authors’ Award for Literary Excellence.
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Bernd Heinrich is a biologist and author of numerous books on the natural world. He lives in Richmond, VT, and in a cabin in the forests of western Maine.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
excellent meeting of biology and economics,
By Lillian Finley (Williamstown, MA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Bumblebee Economics (Hardcover)
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Heinrich presents relevant and well-considered research and experimental design in an accessible and easy-to-understand fashion. Having come off a bio class in which we did an extensive lab portion on population structure and evolution, I really enjoyed seeing such fascinating data on social insects. I was not, until having read Heinrich's book, familiar with the very major differences between honey and bumblebees. This book not only presents an excellent overview of how bumblebee's function (thermoregulation of flight muscles and suchforth) but also the economic factors (in pollen and nectar) that form the trade-offs that dictate behavior. Heinrich's observation that bumblebees develop 'major and minor' flower specialties that they exploit preferentially is a fascinating bit of information that synthesizes two commonly concieved as different fields.I'd highly recommend this book as not just beach reading for scientists but as a brilliant and accessible book on a very common pollinator.
26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliantly written, a classic,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Bumblebee Economics (Paperback)
The author explains that Bumble-bee queens (which are not accompanied by a swarm of workers as are Honey-bees), must by themselves select and furnish a nest site, lay eggs and brood the resulting larva and then forage for pollen and nectar - whose sugar provides the energy needed for flying and nest warming. Heinrich brilliantly contrasts the foraging strategies of the bumble-bees with those of the plants which provide nectar and pollen and are in return cross-pollinated. He also explains how the bees control the heat flow from their thorax which contains the flight muscles, depending on whether they need to fly which requires a relatively high thorax temperature, or need merely to crawl, which allows them to dissipate less energy. The book concludes with a large set of references to the entomological literature at the time of publication, and a set of color plates to help in identifying about fifty North and Central American species of Bumble bees.
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Science writing at its best,
By A Customer
This review is from: Bumblebee Economics (Paperback)
The bumblebee spends its days gathering the resources neededby the hive -- honey for energy and pollen for protein. This endeavor requires expenditure of nearly all the energy resources that the bee is capable of acquiring. Living on the edge as they do, energy requirements inform every aspect of the bees' lives -- from the way they choose flowers to harvest all the way to the way that blood flow may be redirected between the muscles of the thorax and the lower abdomen. It may sound as dry as an economics text when I tell it, but the author transports you to his summer home in Maine, where he sits and watches the bees and then devises simple but elegant experiments to tease out the subtle relationships between energy, anatomy and behavior, and the energy balances between the individual and the hive, and between the adults and the newborns.
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Inside This Book
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs):
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brood clump, abdominal pumping movements, thoracic temperature, hive economy, colony cycle, hive duties, abdominal temperature, bumblebee species, rewarding flowers, bumblebee colony, individual bumblebees, bumblebee flowers, blueberry blossoms, bumblebees visit, pollen loads, flight motor, foraging movements, other foragers, high air temperatures, nest temperature, solitary bees, foraging trips, social bees, complex flowers, low air temperatures Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Bumblebee Economics, Individual Initiative, United States, The Heat Transfer System, Economy of the Colony, North America, Heating the Nest, Lake Hazen, British Empire, Northwest Territories, Queen Worker, Foraging Optimization New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
brood clump, abdominal pumping movements, thoracic temperature, hive economy, colony cycle, hive duties, abdominal temperature, bumblebee species, rewarding flowers, bumblebee colony, individual bumblebees, bumblebee flowers, blueberry blossoms, bumblebees visit, pollen loads, flight motor, foraging movements, other foragers, high air temperatures, nest temperature, solitary bees, foraging trips, social bees, complex flowers, low air temperatures Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Bumblebee Economics, Individual Initiative, United States, The Heat Transfer System, Economy of the Colony, North America, Heating the Nest, Lake Hazen, British Empire, Northwest Territories, Queen Worker, Foraging Optimization New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
44
books
cite this book:
See all 44 books citing this book
- The Boilerplate Rhino: Nature in the Eye of the Beholder by David Quammen on page 193, page 196, and Back Matter
- Suburban Safari: A Year on the Lawn by Hannah Holmes on page 41, and Back Matter
- Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds by Bernd Heinrich in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- Animal Behavior: An Evolutionary Approach, Eighth Edition by John Alcock on page 206, and Back Matter
- Animal Behavior: An Evolutionary Approach by John Alcock on page 246, and Back Matter
See all 44 books citing this book
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