Sting in the Tale Paperback – April 28, 2015

A Sting in the Tale would frustrate Dragnet's Sergeant Joe Friday. Author Dave Goulson recounts more than "just the facts" about bumble bees in his engaging and highly informative book. He confesses to much formative pet-keeping and nature-collecting during his youth. He conveys the reader through revealing field studies in England, Scotland, New Zealand, and Tasmania. He introduces colorful doctoral students who collaborate with him on interesting experiments. Throughout, Goulson accessibly explains fascinating aspects of the biology and conservation of bumble bees.Dr. Goulson, a scientist and professor who has taught at universities in England and Scotland, continues a century-long British tradition of affection for bumble bees and leadership in research about them. In his first book, the scientific treatise Bumblebees: Behaviour, Ecology, and Conservation, Goulson documents the current worldwide body of research. With A Sting in the Tale, he appeals to non-scientists to understand and appreciate his favorite animal.Goulson devotes chapters to especially notable bumble bee characteristics. In "The Bumblebee Year" chapter, plant enthusiasts will see parallels between bumble bee colonies and annual plants. Analogous to a seed, a mated queen overwinters alone in loose soil or leaf litter. In the spring, she emerges, finds a nest site, lays a first batch of eggs, and provides pollen and nectar to the larvae, all of which develop into female workers. The workers take over foraging and nest duties, while the queen lays more eggs. When the worker population becomes sufficiently large, the colony produces new queens and males. After a new queen mates with a male, usually from another colony, and builds up fat reserves, she finds a place to overwinter alone, repeating the cycle. The old queen, workers, and males all die. In contrast, analogous to perennial plants, honey bee colonies use their sizable honey stores to sustain their queen and thousands of workers throughout the winter.In "The Hot-Blooded Bumblebee" chapter, Goulson summarizes the research of American Bernd Heinrich, author of Bumble Bee Economics, into endothermy. A bumble bee's thorax temperature must be at least 86 degrees Fahrenheit for the bumble bee to fly. Bumble bees raise their internal temperature by shivering their flight muscles.In the "Ketchup and Turkish Immigrants" chapter, we learn that bumble bees can "buzz pollinate", vibrating as they grasp a flower, unleashing a shower of pollen. This ability makes bumble bees exceptionally effective pollinators of nightshades, like tomatoes. Greenhouse growers now employ commercially-reared bumble bee colonies. But shipping colonies spreads disease and introduces species outside of their native ranges. Many researchers believe that commercially-reared colonies transported to the U.S. in the 1990's spread exotic diseases to wild populations, causing dramatic declines in once common U.S. species like the Western Bumble Bee (Bombus occidentalis).In 2006, Dr. Goulson founded the Bumblebee Conservation Trust in Great Britain to promote preservation and restoration of suitable habitat as well as celebration of this amazing animal. The Xerces Society supports similar goals in the U.S. for all invertebrates.While British fauna and flora predominate Goulson's account, the biology and substance apply to North America. A Sting in the Tale offers a stirring chance to listen to one of the world's leading authorities candidly describe his life's work and essentials of what we know about this wonderful creature. I heartily recommend it.

I'm a dedicated gardener, and I bought this book, because I've seen many a bumblebee in my gardens and wanted to know more about them. The author is a Brit and is an academic whose life and career have been devoted to studying bumblebees in Great Britain and all over the world. I did learn many things about bumblebees that I didn't know, and the book has given me some ideas of things I can do in my garden to perhaps attract more and help them in their short lives. The book doesn't just describe and explain bumblebees. It also has chapters with bumblebee-related topics. For example, the author tells us about his purchase of a farm in France, where he rehabs the house and slowly rehabs the land so it will be a better bumblebee habitat. The author started a bumblebee conservation society in Great Britain, and there is a chapter devoted to that tale. The book is easy to read, and the author writes well. There is, of course, some bumblebee-related science, but it is not intimidating and it is easily understandable. I liked it a lot.

This is a quite superb book. Written by a scientist who has that rare ability not only to impart knowledge about an at times complex subject, but also to do it in an interesting and often very amusing manner. A great fan of bumblebees myself, I learned a great deal more about them, particularly those in Britain and the serious reduction in species numbers in both Britain and the United States. As a New Zealander I found the account of Goulson's sojourn in New Zealand looking for short haired bumble bees (and sampling the country's pies) quite priceless. The only criticism I have is that Goulson wrote that foxes had been introduced to New Zealand. I'm pleased to say that despite introducing a plethora of species including (but by no means restricted to) pigs, goats, deer,rabbits, stoats, weasels and ferrets, foxes by some happy mischance were not included. Never mind, with all the alien species we are now host to, what's a missing fox or two between friends? If you are interested in insects in general and Bumble Bees in particular, get a copy of this book. It will hopefully act a spur for you to do what you can to help the survival of these fascinating little beasts and you'll get a good laugh into the bargain. We need all the bumble bees we can get and authors as talented as Goulson to write about them.

I have many bees in my garden and wanted to know the difference among these. This book is extraordinary and also very funny. I had a good laugh in almost all the chapters. If you like nature, it is highly recommended.

A compelling book describing the amazing and complex lifestyle of bumble bees.You will also learn about their importance, their needs and how to help them. The author is the No 1 expert and writes beautifully.

Il prodotto è come speravo, è arrivato impaccato bene, il problema è che la descrizione era estremamente scarsa (o addirittura assente), per cui non sapevo bene se il libro fosse davvero come mi aspettavo in termini di dimensioni, caratteri, rilegatura, ma questo non sarebbe grave. I motivi per cui lo valuto con solo 3 stelle sono: è arrivato dopo tantissimo tempo, anche se ancora nel range indicato da amazon, mentre altre ordinazioni che ho fatto dopo pochi giorni erano già a destinazione; non c'era tracciabilità di pacco; il pacco è arrivato per posta normale per cui se il postino non avesse avuto la gentilezza di avvisarmi l'avrebbe lasciato a livello delle cassette della posta (in cui non entrava), alla mercè di chiunque lo volesse prendere!

Well, I do really really really love this book, too. Why add more words? Well, this extraordinary book simply deserves many many more. Because it is not only a fabulous book about bumblebees, mirroring the author's passion and enthusiasm as well as exceptional knowledge gained out of practical work and playing and trying, with an outstanding scientifical background. But in the first place the author's aptitude to share all this with you in a thrilling and easily understandable, witty and enjoyable language does make this book a real gem. Dave Goulson's art of writing takes you with him - even as far as Tasmania - and lets you take part and increasingly get involved in all his adventures with any kind of bumblebees. Getting out - be it to my garden or a real meadow - will never be what it was. My eyes are attracted by special flowers and always eager to discover one of these furry humble bees, in reality so specialized and absolutely fascinating. Dave knows how to broaden your horizon and give you a better understanding of how things are connected, how these tiny animals are interwoven with our life. No crime ore fiction thriller can be more enthralling, it's a nail-biter. Have a lot of laughs and get fairly wiser!

It is hard to categorise this wonderful book: a mixture of autobiography, ecological field guide and experimental science account.I do not think it an exaggeration to say that Professor Dave Goulson probably knows more about bumblebees than any other living person, but he writes with an engaging blend of humility, candour and humour. Other reviewers have done an excellent job of precising the book contents which I will not repeat here. I enjoyed every page but I was eager to get to the final chapters where Goulson talks about founding the Bumblebee Conservation Trust and initiating the project to reintroduce the Short-Haired bumblebee to England.On this last aspect, it is deeply irritating that the publisher's dust-jacket editor could not be bothered to read the book thoroughly enough to comprehend that these Short-Haired bumblebees are actually being sourced from Sweden and not New Zealand. The latter, sadly, turned out to be an ecological dead-end. The myth that New Zealand is these bees' last remaining habitat is perpetuated by Amazon and other online suppliers in their descriptions of the book and it nearly deterred me from buying as I knew it was blatantly untrue.Notwithstanding this gross error however, the book should appeal to anybody who wishes to learn more about bumblebees in an entertaining and well-rounded account.