From building a hive to harvesting honey, a top urban beekeeper shares how to care for bees the simple, mindful way. Global bee populations have been rapidly declining for years, and it’s not just our honey supply that’s at stake: the contribution of bees to the pollination of crops is essential to human survival. But even in industrial apiaries, bees are in distress, hiving in synthetic and hostile environments. Enter idle beekeeping: the grassroots, low-intervention system that seeks to emulate the behavior and habitat of bees in the wild—and it only requires two active days of beekeeping per year, one in the spring and another in the fall. In The Idle Beekeeper, Bill Anderson calls upon his years of applied curiosity as an urban beekeeper to celebrate these underappreciated insects and show how simple and rewarding beekeeping can be. In this entertaining, philosophical, and practical guide, Anderson shares why and how to build a hive system that is both cutting-edge and radically old. Maximum idleness is achieved through step-by-step directions to help the beekeeper gently harvest honey with minimum effort, make mead and beeswax candles, and closely observe and understand these fascinating and productive social creatures. For anyone interested in keeping bees, The Idle Beekeeper is the definitive guide to getting started, even in a city, and without effort. Includes information on: Building your idle hive Caring for your colony Harvesting honey Making mead Making beeswax candles Being mindful and empathetic while raising bees And more Praise for The Idle Beekeeper “Charming. . . . Anderson . . . lays out a low-maintenance approach to his hobby. . . . Readers keen on actually keeping bees themselves should find this information-packed book’s instructional component particularly useful, and Anderson’s fellow idlers will appreciate his laissez-faire personal ethos.” —Publishers Weekly “Anderson’s love of bees and beekeeping is apparent and creates an effective enticement for readers to become beekeepers. His minimalist approach provides an easy entry to a potentially intimidating pastime.” —Booklist

A journey into the weird, wonderful and truly astonishing lives of the small but mighty creatures who keep the world turning. Out of sight, underfoot, unseen beyond fleeting scuttles or darting flights, insects occupy a hidden world, yet are essential to sustaining life on earth. Insects influence our ecosystem like a ripple effect on water. They arrived when life first moved to dry land, they preceded - and survived - the dinosaurs, they outnumber the grains of sand on all the world's beaches, and they will be here long after us. Working quietly but tirelessly, they give us food, uphold our ecosystems, can heal our wounds and even digest plastic. They could also provide us with new solutions to the antibiotics crisis, assist in disaster zones and inspire airforce engineers with their flying techniques. But their private lives are also full of fun, intrigue and wonder -musical mating rituals; house-hunting for armies of beetle babies; metamorphosing into new characters; throwing parties in fermenting sap; cultivating fungi for food; farming smaller species for honey dew and always ensuring that what is dead is decomposed, ready to become life once again. Here, we will discover life and death, drama and dreams, all on a millimetric scale. Like it or not, Earth is the planet of insects, and this is their extraordinary story.

How do bees communicate? What does a beekeeper do? Did you know that Napoleon loved bees? Who survived being stung by 2,443 bees? This encyclopaedic book answers all these questions and many more, imparting masses of information with a light, humorous touch, and in scorers of vibrant illustrations. Piotr Socha tracks the history of bees from the time of the dinosaurs to their current plight, examining along the way the role bees have played in history and in the rest of the natural world.

Many coastal communities in Latin America and the Caribbean depend on the resources provided by reefs for their livelihoods. The Reefs at Risk in the Caribbean project is a response to an information need. The primary goal is to raise awareness and improve management by improving the knowledge base on the status of and threats to coral reefs.

Beekeeping is many things to many people. Maybe it's a hobby, a vocation, a commercial enterprise or your field of study. It will almost certainly become an obsession. For author Steve Donohoe, beekeeping was a form of therapy - an escape from the stresses of corporate life to something natural and healing. Steve decided to write the book that he wanted to read but couldn't find anywhere. Seeking out some of the most successful beekeepers in the world, Steve spent time with them, interviewed and got to know them. This book is a collection of the wisdom, experiences, opinions and stories of these legends of beekeeping. A rare insight into the lives of commercial beekeepers, warts and all, Interviews With Beekeepers is gold dust to anyone who wants to know more about keeping bees. A unique book on beekeeping, bee farming, raising queen bees, honey crops, dealing with swarming, finding apiary sites and much more.

A book for all beekeepers and those thinking of starting a bee hive. How to obtain information about bees, what to avoid and which hive type to obtain. Review locating an apiary and what bee stock to use. Reviews sustainable bee biology and bee management. Ends with a detailed review of the advantages and disadvantages of biodynamic beekeeping.

Russian honey bees are a stock of honey bees that were bred to be resistant to Varroa mites and have good beekeeping functionality for both honey production and pollination. This book describes the project to produce the Russian honey bee stock, conducted over 20 years of work by the combined efforts of scientists and beekeepers. Practical information on the management of Russian honey bees is combined with understandable summaries of the extensive scientific literature on Russian honey bees from a variety of scientific journals. Chapter headings include: Basic Varroa Biology, Early History of the Russian Honey Bee Stock, Stock Formation, Resistance to Varroa, Stock Certification, Management of Russian Honey Bees, The Russian Honey Bee Breeders Association and A Beekeeper's Perspective. Whether readers are looking for a comprehensive overview of scientific aspects of Russian honey bees or guidelines for the practical management of Russian honey bees, they will find it in "Russian Honey Bees".Thomas Rinderer received his PhD training in honey bee genetics and pathology from Walter Rothenbuhler at The Ohio State University in the early 1970's. In 1975, he joined the USDA's Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics and Physiology Laboratory in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He became the Laboratory's Research Director in 1977 and served in that role until his retirement in 2016. He is the author of nearly 350 research publications that address the topics of honey bee breeding, genetics, population genetics, behavior, biodiversity and pathology. His work has been recognized by numerous awards from national and international organizations. He has served as senior editor of both Honey Bee Science and the Journal of Apicultural Research. The last 20 years of his professional career were devoted to transforming the notion of having Russian honey bees in the U.S. from an interesting idea to a hearty and valuable honey bee stock that has excellent beekeeping functionality and is uniquely resistant to Varroa mites.Steven Coy is a second-generation commercial beekeeper who grew up in northeast Arkansas, where his family operated 10,000 hives for honey production and almond pollination. He earned a Bachelor's degree in Plant Science and a Master's degree in Biology from Arkansas State University. He moved to Mississippi in 2006 to manage the southern portion of Coy's Honey Farm and in 2014 he started Coy Bee Company, LLC to focus on producing purebred Russian queens and nucs.He has been an active member of state and local beekeeping organizations and has served as a member of the Executive Board of the American Honey Producers Association since 2010. He is one of the original members of the Russia Honey Bee Breeders Association and was President of the Russian Honeybee Breeders Association from 2012-2016 and currently serves on the board of directors.Steven currently produces and sells Russian queens and nucs throughout the country and produces honey from about 1500 Russian colonies.