Springer Asian Beekeeping in the 21st Century

From the perspective of local scientists, this book provides insight into bees and bee management of Asia, with a special focus on honey bees. Asia is home to at least nine honey bee species, including the introduced European honey bee, Apis mellifera. Although A. mellifera and the native Asian honey bee, Apis cerana, are the most commonly employed species for commercial beekeeping, the remaining non-managed native honey bee species have important ecological and economic roles on the continent. Species distributions of most honey bee species overlap in Southeast Asia, thus promoting the potential for interspecies transmission of pests and parasites, as well as their spread to other parts of the world by human translocation. Losses of managed A. mellifera colonies is of great concern around the world, including in Asia. Such global colony losses are believed to be caused, in part, by pests and parasites originating from Asia such as the mite Varroa destructor, the microsporidian Nosema ceranae, and several bee viruses. Taking advantage of the experience of leading regional bee researchers, this book provides insight into the current situation of bees and bee management in Asia. Recent introductions of honey bee parasites of Asian origin to other parts of the world ensuresthat the contents of this book are broadly relevant to bee scientists, researchers, government offi cials, and the general public around the world. From the Back Cover This book provides insights to readers by local researchers on current bee diversity, bee flora, history of beekeeping, development of modern beekeeping and drawbacks especially bee diseases and parasite in different geographical areas in Asia. Asia is home to at least nine honey bee species, including the introduced European honey bee, Apis mellifera. Although the introduced European honey bee and the native Asian honey bee, Apis cerana, are the most commonly employed species for commercial beekeeping, the remaining non-managed native species have important ecological and economic roles on the continent. Species distributions of most honey bee species overlap in Southeast Asia, promoting the potential for interspecies transmission of pests and parasites, as well as their spread to other parts of the world by human translocation. The decline of honey bee populations is of great concern around the world, including Asia. Global colony losses of European honey bees are believed to be caused, in part, by pests and parasites originating from Asia such as the mite Varroa destructor, the microsporidian Nosema ceranae, and several bee viruses. Using the experiences of leading Asian bee researchers, this book provides insight to readers about bee diversity, flora, management, and stressors in Asia, with a special focus on honey bees. Bee scientists, researchers, government officer and general audience who have interests in beekeeping especially in Asia will find this an important account. About the Author Panuwan Chantawannakul (Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Thailand) Geoffrey Williams (Department of Entomology & Plant Pathology, Auburn University, USA) Peter Neumann (Inst. of Bee Health, University of Bern, Switzerland)