I held the hat while the Deacon brought the board. Then with trembling care we slipped it under, and carefully carried the moth into the conservatory. First we turned on the light, and made sure that every ventilator was closed; then we released the Io for the night. In the morning we found a female clinging to a shelf, dotting it with little top-shaped eggs. I was delighted, for I thought this meant the complete history of a beautiful moth. So exquisite was the living, breathing creature, she put to shame the form and colouring of the mounted specimens. No wonder I had not cared for them!

Originally published in 1917, this is a wonderful early work on beekeeping and contains much information and many photos. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Home Farm Books are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork Contents Include: Beekeeping As An Occupation - How The Colony Is Organized - The Complete Hive - Accessory Equipment - Establishing The Colony - Spring In the Apiary - Summer In The Apiary - Fall And Winter Preparation - Queen Management - Diseases And Enemies - Honey Plants - Packing Honey For Market

1947. An encyclopedia pertaining to scientific and practical culture of bees. Everything a beekeeper needs to know about obtaining and keeping bee hives. The book is an encyclopedia of information and terms on the honeybee. If you keep bees or want to keep bees or simply want to know more about this unappreciated, but vital aid to our modern agriculture, you need this book.

1912. J.H. Fabre, as some few people know, is the author of half a score of well-filled volumes in which, under the title of Souvenirs Entomologiques, he has set down the results of fifty years of observations, study and experiment on the insects that seem to us the best-known and the most familiar: different species of wasps and wild bees, a few gnats, flies, beetles and caterpillars; in a word, all those vague, unconscious, rudimentary and almost nameless little lives which surround us on every side and which we contemplate with eyes that are amused, but already thinking of other things, when we open our window to welcome the first hours of spring, or when we go into the gardens or the fields to bask in the blue summer days. Contents: The Fable of the Cigale and the Ant; The Cigale Leaves its Burrow; The Song of the Cigale; The Cigale, The Eggs and Their Hatching; The Mantis. The Chase; The Mantis. Courtship; The Mantis. The Nest; The Golden Scarabaeus. Its Food; The Golden Scarabaeus. Courtship; The Field Cricket; The Italian Cricket; The Sisyphus Beetle. The Instinct of Paternity; A Bee-Hunter: The Philanthus Aviporus; The Great Peacock or Emperor Moth; The Oak Eggar or Banded Monk; A Truffle-Hunter: The Bolboceras Gallicus; The Elephant-Beetle; The Pea-Weevil; An Invader: The Haricot Weevil; The Grey Cricket; and The Pine-Chafer.

1916. J.H. Fabre, as some few people know, is the author of half a score of well-filled volumes in which, under the title of Souvenirs Entomologiques, he has set down the results of fifty years of observations, study and experiment on the insects that seem to us the best-known and the most familiar: different species of wasps and wild bees, a few gnats, flies, beetles and caterpillars; in a word, all those vague, unconscious, rudimentary and almost nameless little lives which surround us on every side and which we contemplate with eyes that are amused, but already thinking of other things, when we open our window to welcome the first hours of spring, or when we go into the gardens or the fields to bask in the blue summer days. This volume contains all essays on the Chalicodomae, or Mason-bees. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

1913. With a Preface by Maurice Maeterlinck. From the Preface: J.H. Fabre, as some few people know, is the author of half a score of well-filled volumes in which, under the title of Souvenirs Entomologiques, he has set down the results of fifty years of observations, study and experiment on the insects that seem to us the best-known and the most familiar: different species of wasps and wild bees, a few gnats, flies, beetles and caterpillars; in a word, all those vague, unconscious, rudimentary and almost nameless little lives which surround us on every side and which we contemplate with eyes that are amused, but already thinking of other things, when we open our window to welcome the first hours of spring, or when we go into the gardens or the fields to bask in the blue summer days. This volume focuses on the Spider.

1913. With a Preface by Maurice Maeterlinck. From the Preface: J.H. Fabre, as some few people know, is the author of half a score of well-filled volumes in which, under the title of Souvenirs Entomologiques, he has set down the results of fifty years of observations, study and experiment on the insects that seem to us the best-known and the most familiar: different species of wasps and wild bees, a few gnats, flies, beetles and caterpillars; in a word, all those vague, unconscious, rudimentary and almost nameless little lives which surround us on every side and which we contemplate with eyes that are amused, but already thinking of other things, when we open our window to welcome the first hours of spring, or when we go into the gardens or the fields to bask in the blue summer days. This volume focuses on the Spider.

Now in paperback--a fascinating work of popular science from a world-renowned expert on mosquitoes and a prize-winning reporter.
In this lively and comprehensive portrait of the mosquito, its role in history, and its threat to mankind, Spielman and D'Antonio take a mosquito's-eye view of nature and man. They show us how mosquitoes breed, live, mate, and die, and introduce us to their enemies, both natural and man-made. The authors present tragic and often grotesque examples of how the mosquito has insinuated itself into human history, from the malaria that devastated invaders of ancient Rome to the current widespread West Nile fever panic. Filled with little-known facts and remarkable anecdotes that bring this tiny being into larger focus, Mosquito offers fascinating, alarming, and convincing evidence that the sooner we get to know this pesky insect, the better off we'll be.

Along the San Marcos River, in and surrounding Palmetto State Park in south central Texas, lie two square miles of relict ecosystem named the Ottine Wetlands. This area of swamps, marshes, and ponds is especially notable for its geographic isolation from other wetlands in southeastern Texas and for its fascinating intermixture of eastern North American plants and animals and western flora and fauna. The scientific importance of the Ottine Wetlands in the surrounding, relatively dry region was first recognized as early as 1928, yet the swamps and marshes have not been thoroughly studied. This is the first examination of the invertebrates - insects, crustaceans, molluscs, and others - that depend directly or indirectly on the abundant moisture of the wetlands. With nearly 290 full-color illustrations, this book describes and illustrates 241 species of flies, beetles, grasshoppers, wasps, ants, bugs, spiders, scorpions, snails, crustaceans, and millipedes that inhabit the Ottine waters, wetlands, and woodlands. In a brief introduction the authors describe the geological formation of the region and discuss the plant life of the area. They also provide a description of Palmetto State Park, with its easily accessed hiking and nature trails. Following the species descriptions, the book concludes with a glossary and a thorough bibliography of other relevant works on invertebrates. Scientifically thorough, yet readable, this book will appeal to nature lovers of all kinds.

1908. A charming volume on the history, lore and how-tos of beekeeping. Contents: The Ancients and the Honey-Bee; The Isle of Honey; Bee-Masters in the Middle Ages; At the City Gates; The Commonwealth of the Hive; Early Work in the Bee-City; The Genesis of the Queen; The Bride-Widow; The Sovereign Worker-Bee; A Romance of Anatomy; The Mystery of the Swarm; The Comb-Builders; Where the Bee Sucks; The Drone and His Story; After the Feast; The Modern Bee-Farm; and Bee-Keeping and the Simple Life.

Does the insect know beforehand the sex of the egg which it is about to lay? When examining the stock of food in the cells just now, we began to suspect that it does, for each little heap of provisions is carefully proportioned to the needs at one time of a male and at another of a female. What we have to do is to turn this suspicion into a certainty.

The notion has always very generally prevailed that the queen of the bees is an absolute ruler, and issues her royal orders to willing subjects. Hence Napoleon the First sprinkled the symbolic bees over the imperial mantle that bore the arms of his dynasty; and in the country of the Pharaohs the bee was used as the emblem of a people sweetly submissive to the orders of its king. But the fact is, a swarm of bees is an absolute democracy, and kings and despots can find no warrant in their example. The power and authority are entirely vested in the great mass, the workers.

Modern Entomologic book of the early twentieth century by the physicist and botanist Jean-Henri Fabre. He is considered by many to be the father of modern entomology.

Introduces over 300 of the most common species of Orthoptera in this first guide to one of the most abundant, colorful, and ecologically significant insect groups in North America.

1925. The essential genius of this eminent French scientist, Fabre, lies in his ability to humanize a great phase of Nature that has long been a sealed book to the layman. The insect world, to all but the scientist, has always seemed unimportant, uninteresting and hitherto hidden in a maze of technical expressions and technical thought. But with the advent of Fabre another sun has risen to light up this little-known branch of human knowledge and human interest. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.

1922. The essential genius of this eminent French scientist, Fabre, lies in his ability to humanize a great phase of Nature that has long been a sealed book to the layman. The insect world, to all but the scientist, has always seemed unimportant, uninteresting and hitherto hidden in a maze of technical expressions and technical thought. But with the advent of Fabre another sun has risen to light up this little-known branch of human knowledge and human interest. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.

CONTENTS: The Sacred Beetle The Spanish Copris The Onthophagi A Barren Promise A Dung-Beetle of the Pampas The Geotrupes: The Public Health Minotaurus Typhous The Two-Banded Scolia The Ringed Calicurgus The Old Weevils Leaf-Rollers The Halicti The Languedocian Scorpion

1908. From the Preface: In preparing the following pages the author has been more and more impressed by the fact that for the control of most of the worst insect pests of our staple crops, the farmer must depend very largely upon general methods of farm practice. This being the case, it is essential that he have a correct knowledge of the pest to be combated; such a knowledge of its life history as will make plain the reason for the effect of any given procedure against it. Contents: Injury Done Staple Crops by Insect Pests; Structure and Development of Insects; General Farm Practice against Injurious Insects; Beneficial Insects; Insects Injurious to Grains and Grasses; Insects Injurious to Wheat; Insects Injurious to Indian Corn; Weevil in Grain; Insects Injurious to Clover; Insects Injurious to Cotton; Insects Injurious to Tobacco; Insects Injurious to the Potato; Insects Injurious to the Sugar-Beet; and Insects Injurious to the Hop-plant.

When Maurice Maeterlinck, with a poet's sensibility and sensitivity, turned his attention to a bee hive, his observations turned into a masterpiece. In "The Life of the Bee," Maeterlinck illuminates the whole life and society of the bee, from the structure of the hive, to the movement and meaning of the swarm, to the role and activity of the queen. "The Life of the Bee" is for all readers curious about a brilliant thinker's mediation on a force of nature that, ultimately, holds lessons about the human race and our universe. Maurice Maeterlinck (1862-1949) won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1911. His plays, prose, and poems touched on philosophy, the natural world, and mysticism.

Butterflies have always served as a metaphor for resurrection and transformation, but as Sharman Apt Russell points out in this lyrical meditation, butterflies are above all objects of obsession. She reveals the logic behind our endless fascination with butterflies and introduces us to the legendary collectors and dedicated scientists who have obsessively catalogued new species of Lepidoptera. A luminous journey through an exotic world of passion and strange beauty, this is a book to be treasured by anyone who has ever experienced the enchantment of butterflies.

Great French entomologist's charming essays on insect life combine scientific rigor with the style of a literary classic. Beautifully written passages reveal the intricate, fascinating worlds of the beetle, cicada, praying mantis, glow-worm, wasp, grub, cricket, locust, and other creatures as they hunt, build nests, feed families, and more. Rare volume will delight any naturalist.

Every autumn, the monarch butterflies east of the Rockies migrate from as far north as Canada to Mexico. Memory is not their guide — no one butterfly makes the round trip — but each year somehow find their way to the same fifty acres of forest on the high slopes of Mexico’s Neovolcanic Mountains, and then make the return trip in the spring.

In Four Wings and a Prayer, Sue Halpern sets off on an adventure to delve into the secrets behind this extraordinary phenomenon. She visits scientists and butterfly lovers across the country, offering a keenly observed portrait of the monarchs’ migration and of the people for whom they have become a glorious obsession. Combining science, memoir, and travel writing, Four Wings and a Prayer is an absorbing travelogue and a fascinating meditation on a profound mystery of the natural world.