The Honey Bee and Climate Change

Description:

A honey bee colony is a community of interacting organisms continually adjusting their behaviours, both individually and collectively, in response to even the subtlest changes in the environment. It’s only logical, then, that the more significant changes and stressors due to climate change will push the colony to its limits, disrupting the delicate balance of the hive and threatening the survival of the colony. This book is the first and only book to examine the responses of honey bees to climate change and the threat it poses to their ability to thrive and survive. Drawing on systems science and the central theme that all outcomes are products of an interconnected system, the book will address how climate change is affecting honey bee nutrition, growth, and overwinter survival, which in turn threaten commercial beekeeping and crop production. Impacts on other pollinators will be touched on as well. Finally, potential mitigating strategies, key areas of action, and the future outlook will be covered.

Written by a leading scientist with over 40 years of experience studying honey bee physiology, nutrition, colony survival, and the impact of climate change on the colony, Honey Bees and Climate Change is crucial reading for students and researchers studying honey bees, especially those with an interest in the impacts of climate change on pollinators. The inclusion of key terms and definitions as well as case studies makes this work an excellent supplementary text for courses on honey bee biology, apiculture, pollinator conservation, or climate change ecology.

* Uses principles of system science to explain honey bee colony dynamics and behaviour.

* Discusses how climate change is impacting honey bee colonies and predicts how these impacts will evolve in the future.

* Provides possible solutions to mitigate the impacts of climate change on honey bees.