A Guide to Native Bees of Australia

Reviews

"Terry Houston’s new book on Australia’s native bees is a masterpiece. Only a specialist who has spent a lifetime working on a topic could have written such an insightful and comprehensive tome."
Tim Heard, Metamorphosis Australia magazine, December 2018

"We have all been waiting for Terry Houston’s book to provide a holistic, all-encompassing and detailed review of native Australian bees – and, it has been worth the wait... I would thoroughly recommend this book to curious naturalists and all the way to seasoned melittologists like myself. Everyone will learn something, perhaps many new things, from Terry's 50 years of "simply messing about with bees"."
Ken Walker, Victorian Entomologist, August 2018

"Terry Houston’s deep and enduring passion for Australia’s bees has resulted in an original, perceptive, accessible and highly informative book which will be used widely. It displays the entrancing diversity of these insects, and should do much to increase awareness of the variety of native bees and of their ecological importance."
Tim R. New, Journal of Insect Conservation, August 2018

"After many years in the making, the long-awaited first definitive guide to Australia’s native bees is here, authored by one of the most erudite of Australia’s native bee experts... Dr Houston has written a thorough, detailed guide to the wonderful diversity of native bees in Australia, and is a must have for anyone interested in native bees—from the amateur natural historian to the professional entomologist. I only wish this valuable resource had been published prior to the commencement of my PhD on native bees!"
Kit Prendergast, The Naturalist News (newsletter of the WA Naturalists' Club), September 2018

"An excellent reference for identifying and learning more about native bees."
Entomological Society of Queensland News Bulletin 46(6), September 2018

"This detailed guide will tell you all you need to know (and lots more) about Australia’s 1500-plus bee species and their attributes, which include the ability to pollinate tomatoes, something the blue-banded bee can do, and the honeybee cannot. So maybe the honeybee isn’t the bee’s knees after all."
Simon Webster, Organic Gardener, August 2018

"Once you find out about native bees, you'll be amazed how often you see them in the garden and elsewhere, and might even be inspired to help them in any of a number of ways... This in-depth guide to the different families is studded with close-up photos of all the relevant bee parts as well as detailed descriptions to help identify the bees."
Grass Roots magazine, August/September 2018

"This lovely new book will surely stimulate more interest in Australia’s great diversity of bee species... A beautiful new guide."
Bees for Development Journal 128, September 2018

"Dr Houston has produced a superb and timely addition to the literature concerning bees and provides a wealth of information to stimulate the bee enthusiast and beekeeper alike. Enriched by some of the finest and most impressive macrophotographs and photomicrographs of bees and their anatomy taken by a cohort of talented photographers, this book offers a fascinating insight into many of the species that comprise Australia’s native bee genera and five families."
Paul Kucera, Australasian Plant Conservation 27(3), December 2018-February 2019

"Terry has a great insight to the 58 genera of all these native bees we have here in Australia."
Ken Gell, Australian Bee Journal 99(10), October 2018

"Terry Houston’s book on native bees is an essential guide to the continent’s fauna and one that will delight both the seasoned and the beginner bee-naturalist. It not only gives a solid coverage of the ecology of bees but also reveals the uniqueness of the Australian elements. No doubt, it will raise much interest in these fascinating insects over the years to come."
Kelvyn Dunn, Calodema 737(1-4), 2019

Features

• Discover the extraordinary diversity of Australia’s native bees, their natural history and fascinating behaviours
• Includes identification keys and diagnoses for all five families and 58 genera of Australian bees
• Extensively illustrated with photographs of live bees from expert wildlife photographers as well as photomicrographs of diagnostic features for each family and genus

Contents

Preface
Acknowledgements

Part I: Overview of bees and their biology
What is a bee?
Form and function
Origin and evolution of bees
Australian bee fauna
Importance of native bees
Bee life-cycle
Sexing bees
About males and mating
Stings
Bees’ glandular products
Size range
Colour patterns, mimicry and crypsis
Sociality
Nests and nesting behaviour
Cuckoo bees
Flower visitation and feeding
Seasonality and flight times
Associated organisms
Conservation of bees
Historical account
Collecting and preserving bees
Encouraging native bees in the garden

Part II: Identification of bees
Identifying bees
Is it a bee?
Native bee or honeybee?
Regarding names: scientific versus common
Identification of Australian bees to family
Family Colletidae
Family Stenotritidae
Family Halictidae
Family Megachilidae
Family Apidae
Bees introduced to Australia

Glossary
Further reading
Bibliography
Index

Authors

Dr Terry Houston has studied Australian native bees for more than 50 years, both in the field and in state museum collections. He served as Curator of Insects at the Western Australian Museum, Perth, for 34 years and, although retired, he continues his bee research there in an honorary capacity.