Apiology
Encyclopedia
Apiology is the scientific study of honey bee
s, a subdiscipline of melittology, which is itself a branch of entomology
. Honey bees are often chosen as a study group to answer questions on the evolution of social systems.
s, which comprise more than 17,000 species other than honey bees. Apicology is honey bee ecology. Apidology is a variant spelling of apiology used outside of the Western Hemisphere
, primarily in Europe
; it is sometimes used interchangeably with melittology.
Honey bee
Honey bees are a subset of bees in the genus Apis, primarily distinguished by the production and storage of honey and the construction of perennial, colonial nests out of wax. Honey bees are the only extant members of the tribe Apini, all in the genus Apis...
s, a subdiscipline of melittology, which is itself a branch of entomology
Entomology
Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of arthropodology...
. Honey bees are often chosen as a study group to answer questions on the evolution of social systems.
Related terms
Melittology is the study of all beeBee
Bees are flying insects closely related to wasps and ants, and are known for their role in pollination and for producing honey and beeswax. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea, presently classified by the unranked taxon name Anthophila...
s, which comprise more than 17,000 species other than honey bees. Apicology is honey bee ecology. Apidology is a variant spelling of apiology used outside of the Western Hemisphere
Western Hemisphere
The Western Hemisphere or western hemisphere is mainly used as a geographical term for the half of the Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian and east of the Antimeridian , the other half being called the Eastern Hemisphere.In this sense, the western hemisphere consists of the western portions...
, primarily in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
; it is sometimes used interchangeably with melittology.
List of notable Apiologists
- Charles ButlerCharles Butler (beekeeper)Charles Butler , sometimes called the Father of English Beekeeping, was a logician, grammarist, author, minister , and an influential beekeeper. He was also an early proponent of English spelling reform...
, (1560-1647), early English beekeeper and researcher. - Charles DadantCharles DadantCharles Dadant was a French-American beekeeper. Dadant is considered one of the founding fathers of modern beekeeping.-Biography:Dadant was born in Vaux-sous-Aubigny, in Haute-Marne, in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France....
, (1817-1902), Modernized beekeepingBeekeepingBeekeeping is the maintenance of honey bee colonies, commonly in hives, by humans. A beekeeper keeps bees in order to collect honey and other products of the hive , to pollinate crops, or to produce bees for sale to other beekeepers...
. - Jan DzierzonJan DzierzonJohann Dzierzon, in Polish Jan Dzierżon or Dzierżoń , also John Dzierzon , was a pioneering apiarist who discovered the phenomenon of parthenogenesis in bees and designed the first successful movable-frame beehive.Dzierzon came from a Polish family in Silesia...
, (1811-1906), Discovered parthenogenesis among bees, proposed first sex determining mechanism for any species. - Savannah Foley, studies genetics and communication over long distances at the University of Southern Florida, leading a team investigating recent dropping numbers of honey bees.
- Karl von FrischKarl von FrischKarl Ritter von Frisch was an Austrian ethologist who received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1973, along with Nikolaas Tinbergen and Konrad Lorenz....
, (1886-1982), Nobel Prize winner, studied honey bee communication. - Robert A. HolekampRobert A. HolekampRobert August Holekamp was a businessman and apiarist from the St. Louis suburb of Webster Groves, Missouri. Holekamp was significant in the development of Webster Groves, and had state and national influence in the field of beekeeping.-Childhood in Germany:Holekamp was born the son of a Lutheran...
, (1848-1922), Early urban apiculturalist and advocate - Jay HoslerJay HoslerJay Hosler is the author and illustrator of science-oriented comics. He is best known for his graphic novels Clan Apis, The Sandwalk Adventures, and Optical Allusions. Clan Apis follows the life of a honey bee named Nyuki; the story conveys factual information about honey bees in a humorous fashion...
, Professor at Juniata CollegeJuniata CollegeJuniata College is a private liberal arts college located in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. It is named after the Juniata River — one of the principal tributaries of the Susquehanna River. In 1876 it became the first college founded by the Church of the Brethren and has been co-educational since...
, Author of the award-winning comic Clan ApisClan ApisClan Apis is a graphic novel created by neurobiologist Jay Hosler. It concerns the life of the honey bee Nyuki....
. - Karl KehrleKarl KehrleKarl Kehrle was a Benedictine monk, beekeeper, and an authority on bee breeding, developer of the Buckfast bee. "He was unsurpassed as a breeder of bees. He talked to them, he stroked them...
(aka "Brother Adam") (1898-1996), Benedictine monk, beekeeper, and an authority on bee breeding, developer of the Buckfast bee. - Warwick Estevam KerrWarwick Estevam KerrWarwick Estevam Kerr is a Brazilian agricultural engineer, geneticist, entomologist, professor and scientific leader, notable for his discoveries in the genetics and sex determination of bees. The Africanized bee in the western hemisphere is directly descended from 26 Tanzanian queen bees Warwick...
, (b.1922), Studies genetics and sex determination in honey bees. Responsible for introduction of Africanized bees to America. - William Kirby, (1759-1850), Author of the first scientific treatise on English bees.
- L. L. LangstrothL. L. LangstrothRev. Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth , apiarist, clergyman and teacher, is considered the "Father of American Beekeeping."L. L. Langstroth was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
, (1810-1895), Modernized American beekeeping. - Martin LindauerMartin LindauerMartin Lindauer was a German behavioral scientist. Lindauer studied communication systems in various species of social bees including stingless bees and honey bees. Much of his work was done in collaboration with Warwick Kerr in Brazil.-Biography:Martin Lindauer was born in Upper Bavaria...
, (1918-2008), studied communication systems in various species of social bees including stingless bees and honey bees. - Sir John Lubbock (the 1st Lord and Baron Avebury) (1834–1913), wrote on hymenoptera sense organs.
- Robert E. Page, Jr., Studies population genetics and the evolution of complex social behavior at Arizona State UniversityArizona State UniversityArizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
. - Petro ProkopovychPetro ProkopovychPetro Prokopovych was the founder of commercial beekeeping. He introduced a number of novelties in traditional beekeeping that allowed significant progress in the practice. Among his most important inventions was a frame in separate honey chamber of his beehive...
, (1775–1850), UkrainianUkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
beekeeperBeekeeperA beekeeper is a person who keeps honey bees for the purposes of securing commodities such as honey, beeswax, pollen, royal jelly; pollinating fruits and vegetables; raising queens and bees for sale to other farmers; and/or for purposes satisfying natural scientific curiosity...
, founder of commercial beekeeping. - Moses QuinbyMoses QuinbyMoses Quinby was one of the first commercial beekeepers in the United States, a native of St. Johnsville, New York.Quinby established his business in his early 20s and expanded it to own about 1,200 hives in the Mohawk Valley, New York....
, (1810-1875), Early American commercial beekeeper. Invented modern bee smoker. - Gene E. Robinson, Studies mechanisms of behavior at the University of Illinois.
- Amos Ives Root (1839 – 1923), Innovator in honey harvesting techniques. Published first account of Wright brothersWright brothersThe Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur , were two Americans credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903...
flight in his beekeeping journal. - Justin O. SchmidtJustin O. SchmidtJustin Orvel Schmidt is an American entomologist, co-author of Insect Defenses: Adaptive Mechanisms and Strategies of Prey and Predators and creator of the Schmidt Sting Pain Index...
, Studies bee nutrition, chemical communication, physiology, ecology and behavior. Created Schmidt Sting Pain IndexSchmidt Sting Pain IndexThe Schmidt Sting Pain Index is a pain scale rating the relative pain caused by different Hymenopteran stings. It is mainly the work of Justin O. Schmidt, an entomologist at the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Arizona...
. - Thomas D. Seeley, Studies group organization using the honey bee as a model system at Cornell UniversityCornell UniversityCornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
. - Robert Evans SnodgrassRobert Evans SnodgrassRobert Evans Snodgrass was an American entomologist and artist who made important contributions to the fields of arthropod morphology, anatomy, evolution, and metamorphosis....
, (1875-1962), Author of one of the first comprehensive books on honey bee anatomy and physiology. - Stephen Taber IIIStephen Taber IIIStephen Taber III. was an American apiologist, noted authority and author in the field of artificial insemination of queen bees for the purpose of developing disease resistant and gentle bee colonies.-Biography:...
, (1924-2008), Innovator in the practice of artificial insemination of queen bees for the purpose of developing disease resistant and gentle bee colonies. - Mark Winston, Studies life history, caste structure, and reproduction in social insects and pheromonePheromoneA pheromone is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting outside the body of the secreting individual to impact the behavior of the receiving individual...
s of honey bees at Simon Fraser UniversitySimon Fraser UniversitySimon Fraser University is a Canadian public research university in British Columbia with its main campus on Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby, and satellite campuses in Vancouver and Surrey. The main campus in Burnaby, located from downtown Vancouver, was established in 1965 and has more than 34,000...
.
See also
- BeeBeeBees are flying insects closely related to wasps and ants, and are known for their role in pollination and for producing honey and beeswax. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea, presently classified by the unranked taxon name Anthophila...
- Honey beeHoney beeHoney bees are a subset of bees in the genus Apis, primarily distinguished by the production and storage of honey and the construction of perennial, colonial nests out of wax. Honey bees are the only extant members of the tribe Apini, all in the genus Apis...
- BeekeepingBeekeepingBeekeeping is the maintenance of honey bee colonies, commonly in hives, by humans. A beekeeper keeps bees in order to collect honey and other products of the hive , to pollinate crops, or to produce bees for sale to other beekeepers...
- EntomologyEntomologyEntomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of arthropodology...
- Ecological importance of bees
- MelissopalynologyMelissopalynologyMelissopalynology is the study of pollen contained in honey and, in particular, the pollen's source. By studying the pollen in a sample of honey, it is possible to gain evidence of the geographical location and genus of the plants that the honey bees visited, although honey may also contain...