Here are Best Beekeeping Books

No matter if you are new or have experience in beekeeping, it is always important to educate yourself by reading beekeeping books. Technology has changed and so have diseases, including problems such as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Learn how to practice apiculture without using pesticides, how to identify and solve common problems and understand the importance of the queen and the dynamics of bees in the hive. Many will want to buy their hives or equipment, while others will want to make their own. These beekeeping books can teach you all of that and more!

The Beekeeper’s Bible: Bees, Honey, Recipes & Other Home Uses

This beekeeping book was written by Richard Jones and Sharon Sweeney-Lynch in 2011. It is a beautiful almanac with a very thick hard cover and glossy color pages with photos that will make a great addition to any collection. This is not a book for beginners since it dives into many subjects ranging from mythology to history. It covers general information on beekeeping, colony care and bee biology.

The Beekeeper’s Bible also goes into details of what plants produce what kinds of honey. Once you have honey, this book provides plenty of ideas on how to use it including cooking, making candles, beauty products, and furniture polish.

Beekeeping for Dummies

This beekeeping book (on its 4th edition) is the best for beginners! It tells you everything you need to know in order to start a backyard bee colony. Readers will learn step by step instructions on initial stages of beekeeping, starting with how to acquire bees and install them safely into rural and city locations. Learn how assemble your own hive and sustain it for years.

Beekeeping for Dummies helps beginners identify and purchase tools and beekeeping attire. You will learn to identify and fix common problems, including how to preserve your colony if disaster should strike. This book teaches how to manage the first season and beyond. Phases of honey production are detailed so it is successful. Howland Blackiston, author of the book, has been keeping bees since 1981 and is a renown writer and public speaker. The “For Dummies” series also has another book exclusively on building beehives.

Beekeeping for Beginners: How To Raise Your First Bee Colonies

This book for beginners teaches the essentials in a simple, step-by-step guide that was written for brand new beekeepers. Learn how to start your first colony with the newest practices and current, natural approaches. Amber Bradshaw, the author, has a passion for teaching how to make things from scratch in an eco-friendly manner. She will teach you all the correct terms you will need to know to “speak bee”.

Those who are trying to find specific answers to questions can use the page number references in this beekeeping book. Readers will learn how to pick the right hive and how to make sure their bees survive winter. It also teaches how to collect honey. All the tools and beekeeping attire needed are explained and detailed in the book.

The Beekeeper’s Handbook

Even though this book was written in 1973, it is still considered to be the best overall beekeeping book. Thousands of first time and experienced beekeepers have relied on The Beekeeper’s Handbook throughout the years. This fourth edition was updated in 2011 to include things such as Colony Collapse Disorder, which made small scale beekeeping more important than ever to ensure food safety. It also touches on green integrated pest management tactics to manage diseases and pest such as as African honey bees and bee mites. Regional overwinter protocols are explained as well.

For those looking to practice beekeeping as a hobby or a profitable business, this handbook has about 100 illustrations showing techniques, equipment and bee biology. Step-by-step instructions will teach you everything, from how to set up an apiary to how to harvest honey. The current edition is user friendly, since it was thoroughly redesigned, expanded, updated, and revised to highlight instructions and important features.

Top-Bar Beekeeping: Organic Practices for Honeybee Health

Excess use of pesticides have caused a devastating phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Learn how to deal with this challenge, as well as pests such as varroa and tracheal mites with Top-Bar Beekeeping. Beekeepers who prefer to be organic are using top-bar hives, which have hollow log shapes in their interior. This alternative is long lasting and completely biodegradable.

Top-bar hives are made of untreated wood that allows bees to naturally build combs, rather than filling prefabricated foundation frames. They yield a bit less honey but they produce more beeswax than a typical Langstroth box hive. These hives explained in this beekeeping book must be inspected regularly and old combs need to be removed so bees are healthier and disease free.

Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping

This beekeeping book is for advanced keepers. It is used to teach college students and beekeepers the science and practice of bees and apiculture. It is considered by many to be the most complete beekeeping textbook covering many topics such as bee biology and colony management. The author, Dr Dewey Caron has sixty years of practical experience in beekeeping. He taught for 40 years as a professor of entomology, focusing on honey bees.

The Beekeeper’s Problem Solver: 100 Common Problems Explored and Explained

This beekeeping book is more suitable for people who already have some experience in the matter. Practicing this hobby requires understanding, commitment and attention to detail. Bees often disguise problems, making it more difficult to recognize trouble in the crucial, initial stages. This book helps nip the problems as they start, or avoid them altogether. Learn how to lay the groundwork for a successful hive, how to pick the correct breed and the health requirements needed by bees.

100 common problems are explained by author, entomologist and apiary expert, James E. Tew. He explains in depth the causes and how to solve each problem with photographs and diagrams. Solutions come from both personal and professional experience. The Beekeper’s Problem Solver covers equipment, queen production, pest control, and producing honey.

Build Your Own Beekeeping Equipment

Author, Tony Pisano, runs his own business producing and selling honey and byproducts from beeswax. In this beekeeping book he explains how to build 35 different projects with step-by-step instructions. All you need is a table saw and a few other common tools and materials to build hive bodies to supers and covers. The book also includes a section on installing electric fencing and plans for building jigs that makes it easy to assemble frames and install foundations. This can save you time and money by building your own craft equipment that is tailored to your particular climate and needs.