Category: Book Collections

   

A World Without Bees – New Paperback Edition
Honeybees are dying. In this timely book, two keen amateur apiarists investigate all the claims and counterclaims with the help of scientists and beekeepers in Europe, America and beyond. They ask the question that will soon be on everyone’s lips: is there any possible way of saving the honeybees – and, with them, the world as we know it?

Now available in paperback – order your copy today

A Short History of the Honey Bee – New at NHBS
There are around 16,000 species of bee. Only seven of these are responsible for creating the world’s sweetest treat – honey. This book follows the journey from flower to hive to honey throughout history, starting with the story of the honey bee – why it is named Apis mellifera, how it has evolved from a solitary creature to one that travels in groups, why it stings, and how pollination really works.

Order A Short History of the Honey Bee – and save £1

Guide to Bees of Britain – NHBS Bestseller
Identify the bees in your garden with this handy 8-page folding chart showing 28 species of bee, most of which can commonly be seen in domestic gardens. As well as the ‘Big Six’ bumblebees, the chart includes species of mining bees, cavity-nesting bees and cuckoo bees. Silhouettes show the typical life-size for each species.

Get your copy today

 

Browse other new and bestselling Bees and Entomology titles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are pleased to announce the recent arrival of the new two-volume set Pitcher Plants of the Old World – now in stock at NHBS.

The pitcher plants include the largest and most spectacular of all carnivorous plants. So-called because they produce highly specialised foliage that takes the form of hollow, water-filled "pitchers", these extraordinary plants lure and prey upon arthropods and other small animals. The pitcher plants of the Old World also trap the largest prey of all carnivorous plants, including on rare occasions, vertebrates as large as frogs, mice and even rats. This two-volume work examines both genera of Old World pitcher plants (Nepenthes and Cephalotus) and documents the ecology and natural diversity of every known species for the first time and in unparalleled detail.

View some of the hundreds of glorious photographs in Volume 1 and Volume 2

Stewart McPherson, the author of Pitcher Plants of the Old World and the best-selling Lost Worlds of the Guiana Highlands, took time out from his international adventures to answer a few questions for NHBS. Learn more about Stewart’s experiences in the field!

Read the full interview with the author, Stewart McPherson

Browse Pitcher Plants of the Old World, Volume One
Browse Pitcher Plants of the Old World, Volume Two

Check out the author’s other book, Lost Worlds of the Guiana Highlands – a NHBS bestseller!

A sampling of the great reviews for The Vegetative Key to the British Flora: A New Approach to Plant Identification by John Poland and Eric Clement:

Here is a significant addition to flora-making literature. It would behoove botanists in areas other than the U.K. to check out Poland & Clement. I can see myself using this work to identify various weeds in California as 17.4% of its flora of 5,867 species is alien. Now I have another dilemma. Do I file Poland & Clement with my California floras or my British-European ones? Maybe I should just get a second copy.

– Rudolf Schmid, TAXON, August 2009

Due to the novel structure of the keys, it is possible to identify a plant in three turns of a page and in under 60 seconds!….A must-have standard text for all ecologists conducting any type of vegetation survey, including Phase 1 and assessing sites for UK BAP habitats.

– Clare O’Reilly, IEEM In Practice

This book sets out to help the enthusiast identify all native plants and even some alien species on vegetative characteristics alone. … Strongly recommended for the keen amateur and professional.

– Chris Bisson, Eden Project Plant Records Manager, on Plant-Talk.org

NHBS Environment Bookstore is pleased to be the distributor for The Vegetative Key.

What do you think of the Vegetative Key? Add your personal review as a comment on the Hoopoe.

The first systematic account of the natural and semi-natural plant communities of the British Islands was first published in 1911 under the title Types of British Vegetation. That book, for which the present author was largely responsible, gave an important new direction to field work; and since its initial publication the subject has grown so extensive that this much larger book became needed.

The British Islands and Their Vegetation, first published in 1939, gives a comprehensive account of the vegetation of the country, with an ample physical and historical and a full complement of maps, charts, diagrams and photographs. The book is written so as to be intelligible to everyone who is seriously interested in the subject and students of cognate branches of natural history as well as by plant ecologists.
Order your copy today

Other recent botany arrivals include New Trees, Palms of Southern Asia and Cotoneasters.

Browse more new Botany Titles

Brand New – Now in Stock at NHBS This detailed guide to the reptiles and amphibians of Britain, Ireland and the Channel Islands has been produced with the aim of inspiring an increased level of interest in these exciting and fascinating animals. It is designed to help anyone who finds a lizard, snake, turtle, tortoise, terrapin, frog, toad or newt to identify it with confidence.  

Britain’s Reptiles and Amphibians includes superbly illustrated introductory sections on the biology and conservation, taxonomy, life-cycle and behaviour of each species group; profiles of the 16 native reptiles and amphibians that breed in Britain, Ireland and the Channel islands and the 5 marine turtles that visit our seas; profiles of 7 established non-native species; distribution maps; hints and tips on where, when and how to watch reptiles and amphibians. Order your copy today

See internal scans from this book

Other recent arrivals include Lizards of Sri Lanka, Las Tortugas y los Cocodrilianos de los Paises Andinos del Tropico and Black Python: Morelia Boeleni.

Browse more new Reptile and Amphibian titles

Browse Recent Reptile & Amphibian Bestsellers

This month has seen several new insect titles fly into NHBS, including the instant bestseller Volume 2: Damselflies (Zygoptera), the companion to the bestselling Volume 1: Dragonflies (Anisoptera) in the Field Guide to the Larvae and Exuviae of British Dragonflies series.

Other books of note include Arthropod Fauna of the UAE, Volume 2 , A Pocket Guide to the Shieldbugs and Leatherbugs of Britain and Ireland and Common Spiders & Other Arachnids of the Gambia, West Africa.

Browse more New Entomology Titles – July 2009

Birds of South America: Passerines has now arrived at NHBS! This is the first single-volume guide to South American passerines, based on a two-volume work first published in 1989 and 1994. For the new edition, the text has been condensed, most of the missing species that were not illustrated before have now been painted, and brand new maps have been compiled for every species.
This is a major identification guide to the songbirds of South America. No other single volume guide exists for passerines (though there is a single-volume guide for non-passerines from Collins). There are still large areas of South America without a comprehensive field guide, so this book will become essential for anyone birding in these areas (e.g. Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay).

Order your copy today – and save 15%!

Browse other New Ornithology Titles – July 2009

Browse Helm Field Guides

Browse our full range of birding titles in Ornithology

Great news – Dartmoor, Volume 111 in the legendary New Naturalist series, will be published in September 2009. 

In Dartmoor, Ian Mercer sets out to explore every aspect of this important area of southern Devon. Focusing not only on its extensive history and physical landscape, but also its cultural place within Great Britain, this volume is a comprehensive and engaging look at the wild and rugged landscape that has inspired so many poets, painters and musicians over countless centuries.

We are pleased to offer great savings on this book – order your copy today and save 22%! 

This autumn also brings a special addition to the New Naturalist stable – The Art of the New Naturalists, due to be published in October 2009.
With over 100 volumes published over the last 60 years, the New Naturalist series is the longest-running and arguably the most influential natural history series in the world. Throughout the years, the distinctive dust jacket illustrations have become a trademark of the series. The earlier cover designs were created by Clifford and Rosemary Ellis, while Robert Gillmor has been responsible for the design of the more recent volumes. The Art of the New Naturalists will prove to be a fascinating read for everyone interested in the complex story behind the development and production of the artwork.

Save 22% on The Art of the New Naturalists – order your copy today!

Browse the New Naturalist series

Set up a Standing Order for future volumes in the New Naturalist series

The bestselling Insects of Britain and Western Europe by Michael Chinery has just been reprinted and is now back in stock at NHBS! Order your copy today.

Over 2000 of the most commonly observed and most distinctive insect species of Britain and western Europe, from all orders and most families, are illustrated in this essential pocket guide. The text summarises key identification points, and introductory sections for each group covered give useful guidelines on the characteristics of the orders, families and genera covered. This is the most comprehensive guide available on the insects of this region and will be of great use to all naturalists with an interest in insect life.

Order Insects of Britain and Western Europe today

Browse other Arthropods & Insects titles

Plankton: A Guide to their Ecology and Monitoring for Water Quality is now in stock at NHBS – this practical book is a key reference for environment managers, water authority ecologists, coastal engineers and research libraries.

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the biology and ecology of plankton and describes its use as a tool for monitoring water quality. All the major freshwater and coastal phytoplankton and zooplankton groups are covered and their associated environmental issues are discussed. A chapter on best practice in sampling and monitoring explains how to design, implement and conduct meaningful phytoplankton and zooplankton monitoring programs in marine and freshwater habitats, as well as how to analyse and interpret the results for effective management decision-making.

Browse other new and bestselling Plankton and Aquatic Ecology titles at NHBS, including A Mechanistic Approach to Plankton Ecology, Common Freshwater Algae of the United States and the CD of the classic Marine Plankton.

Browse our full range of marine biology titles in Aquatic Fauna and Flora and Marine Fauna & Flora

Browse our full range of algae titles in Fungi and Algae