Further Reading
“THE HUMBLE BEE”
F.W.L. SLADEN
In 1892 at a place near Dover called Ripple Court a young man of thirteen years, Frederick Sladen, roamed around the beautiful natural surroundings of his home studying wild bees and bee keeping. By the time he was sixteen he had written and produced his first publication on bees, selling these copies for sixpence.
Sladen was a self-taught naturalist, educated at home with private tutors,
“It was one of the pleasures of boyhood…..to find nests of humble-bees… and transfer them to suitable places in the garden where their workings can be watched…”
In 1912 Sladen wrote and published “The Humble Bee: It’s Life History and How to Domesticate it” this gave us the beginnings of the first monograph on bumblebees to appear in the English language.
The opening paragraph to this wonderful and sensitive book begins:
“Everybody knows the burly, good natured bumblebee. Clothed in her lovely coat of fur, she is the life of the gay garden as well as of the modestly blooming wayside as she eagerly hums from flower to flower, diligently collecting nectar and pollen from the break to the close of day”
Sladen’s book, re-printed by Logaston Press in 1989, contains a Publishers Foreward written by John B Free, Bee Research Unit, University of Wales College of Cardiff outlining Sladen’s life and work.
Sladen’s book is as important now as it was just over a hundred years ago and for many who have read and enjoyed Sladen’s writing, is a beautiful way to be introduced to the bumblebee and to the study of their egology.
“The Humble Bee” F.W.L. Sladen Logaston Press 1989 ISBN 0 9510242 3X
F.W.L. SLADEN
In 1892 at a place near Dover called Ripple Court a young man of thirteen years, Frederick Sladen, roamed around the beautiful natural surroundings of his home studying wild bees and bee keeping. By the time he was sixteen he had written and produced his first publication on bees, selling these copies for sixpence.
Sladen was a self-taught naturalist, educated at home with private tutors,
“It was one of the pleasures of boyhood…..to find nests of humble-bees… and transfer them to suitable places in the garden where their workings can be watched…”
In 1912 Sladen wrote and published “The Humble Bee: It’s Life History and How to Domesticate it” this gave us the beginnings of the first monograph on bumblebees to appear in the English language.
The opening paragraph to this wonderful and sensitive book begins:
“Everybody knows the burly, good natured bumblebee. Clothed in her lovely coat of fur, she is the life of the gay garden as well as of the modestly blooming wayside as she eagerly hums from flower to flower, diligently collecting nectar and pollen from the break to the close of day”
Sladen’s book, re-printed by Logaston Press in 1989, contains a Publishers Foreward written by John B Free, Bee Research Unit, University of Wales College of Cardiff outlining Sladen’s life and work.
Sladen’s book is as important now as it was just over a hundred years ago and for many who have read and enjoyed Sladen’s writing, is a beautiful way to be introduced to the bumblebee and to the study of their egology.
“The Humble Bee” F.W.L. Sladen Logaston Press 1989 ISBN 0 9510242 3X
Photo used under Creative Commons from orangeaurochs