Customer Reviews

Excellent book for someone considering beekeeping - By: Stephen Emm, 11 Jun 2008
I bought this book knowing virtually nothing about bees (they exist, they livein hives & they make honey was about the sum total of my knowledge).
I have been considering keeping bees for a while & thought that a little reading would help guide me to a decision.

From memory, the book covers: types of bees (not just honey bees), types of hives, the gear required by the beekeeper, where bee hives can be situated, how bees can be purchased, the maintenance of the colony & hive, pests & how to mitigate their impact, the social structure of the bee colony, the way honey is produced by the bees, the 'swarming' of bees, how to harvest honey from the hive & how to store the harvested honey. There's definitely more - my memory just isn't good enough.

The book material is pitched at the level of the layman/novice. In particular areas the book is usefully pratical & in-depth e.g. There are guides to setting up the hive & puttingin the colony, checking the colony's health after setting up your apiary, harvesting the honey, controlling swarming & spring-cleaning the hive. There are also little practical tips throughout that will obviously help you avoid common mistakes e.g. Approach your hive from the side, approaching the front entrance will only wind-up your bees!

To sum up. I thought the book was excellent & was written at exactly the right level for someonein my position. It increased my knowledge greatly (admittedly i started with none), it informed me that i have a more-than-reasonable environment for a hive, it convinced me that i'd be capable of performing the duties required to keep the bees happy & healthy, it told me how to go about performing the duties required, it told me what equipment i'd need to keep bees & finally it was a thoroughly pleasant read into the bargain.