Bumblebees: Behaviour and Ecology
Dave Goulson
2003
$119.50 (hardcover); $64.50 (soft cover)
Oxford University Press, New York
ISBN: 0-19-852606-7 (hardcover); 0-19-852607-5 (soft cover).
Bumblebees (Apidae: Bombus) have been the subject of published
scientific observation since at least 1662 and were undoubtedly observed
by naturalists for centuries before that. They are a conspicuous element
of the native pollinator fauna of most northern temperate areas of the
world and can even be found in the tropics. In recent years with growing
recognition of their importance as pollinators for agriculture and
horticulture, they have become the focus of concern because of their
decline in several areas. In some parts of the world, they have become
invasive species—in the past century, when they were introduced to New
Zealand, and today, as colonies are shipped around the world for
commercial pollination in greenhouses.
The first two books on bumblebees were published in 1912 by Sladen and
Franklin; the latter was a treatise on the Bombidae of the New World,
published by the American Entomological Society. Since that time only a
few others have appeared (1958, 1975, a short natural history in 1991,
and 2001).
Goulson’s book is timely, given the recently renewed focus on bumblebees
as pollinators, and in the past few decades as the objects of studies
focusing on behavior, ecology, physiology, and parasitology (to name a
few). Their relatively large size makes it possible to mark or tag them,
even with transponders for use with harmonic radar, and their relatively
restricted foraging range facilitates relocation of individual bees for
extended studies (Charles Darwin enlisted his children to help follow
individual bees.) Their colonies are relatively small, so they can be
studied and moved around in nest boxes. They will forage readily on
artificial flowers and inflorescences in the laboratory, making them
useful subjects for studies of foraging behavior. Bumblebees are not
very aggressive, so handling and observing them are not risky endeavors
(their stingers are not barbed, however, so they can sting repeatedly).
The recognition of bumblebees as useful study organisms for a diversity
of research areas is reflected in the growth of publications citing them
(Fig. 1). There’s no sign that this trend is decreasing, and in at least
14 places, Goulson points out topics on which further research would be
productive. The book does a good job of covering most of the literature
on bumblebees through 2001, although it does miss some interesting
papers from the 1880s about nectar robbing, and it doesn’t cite Kearns
and Thomson’s 2001 book, The Natural History of Bumblebees. Relatively
few of the approximately 250 species of Bombus in the world have been
studied to any significant degree, so there is certainly the opportunity
for more work on them.
As the subtitle suggests, the book focuses on the ecology and behavior
of bumblebees. There are chapters on thermoregulation, social
organization, mating behavior, predators and parasites, foraging (six
chapters on various aspects), competition, and bumblebees’ significance
as pollinators. The final two chapters address conservation concerns,
such as the decline of bumblebee abundance and distribution and the
effects of bumblebees as introduced species. Probably the best data on
bumblebee diversity and distribution are from the United Kingdom, which
once had 25 species. It is disturbing that three species are apparently
extinct, a fourth has almost disappeared, and the future of six more is
precarious because they have “all but disappeared from most of their
range” (p. 144).
Given the advantages that bumblebees offer for studies of foraging and
the author’s own research interests in that topic, it’s not surprising
that a significant part (30%) of the book focuses on foraging. A short
(three-page) chapter introduces the idea of foraging economics and is
followed by chapters on foraging range, exploitation of patchy
resources, choice of flower species, intraspecific floral choices, and
communication during foraging. These chapters do a good job of
summarizing the techniques (ranging from homing experiments to harmonic
radar), theory (e.g., the marginal value theorem), and available
literature describing research on bumblebee foraging.
The book is illustrated with 27 graphs or line drawings, and a center
section with 16 color plates. American audiences may find a few spots
where the British origins of the author show through. I had to turn to a
dictionary to find the meaning of a “squirrel’s dreys” (nests, cited as
an example of a place where bumblebees might nest). The book could have
used the services of a copy editor, who might have caught about 40
typographical errors in the bibliography, about 50 in the text, and
perhaps suggested changing the many split infinitives, confusions in use
of “that” vs. “which,” etc. But these are minor distractions from what
is a readable, useful compendium of information about an interesting,
important, and attractive group of bees. Researchers interested in using
bumblebees as study organisms will find this a useful reference, and
naturalists will also enjoy reading it to learn more about this
important group of insects.
David W. Inouye
Dept. of Biology
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742-4415
American Entomologist
Vol. 51, No.2, Summer 2005
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