The Bee Manual offers a clear and concise introduction into the fascinating world of the honey bee and the addictive craft of beekeeping. For various reasons, the number of bee colonies has been declining and there is great interest in trying to aid their recovery. Anyone wanting to keep bees needs to learn about the individuals, how colonies operate and how the beekeeper can work with these insects to help them thrive, carry out their pollination activities and produce a satisfying honey crop. Full of color photos and clear step-by-step text, this book offers practical advice for anyone planning to take up this absorbing hobby.

The buzz on beekeeping. The Complete Idiot's Guide® to Beekeeping has all the information a begin­ning beekeeper needs to know to start a hive and keep it buzzing. Expert beekeepers Dean Stiglitz and Laurie Herboldsheimer, owners of Golden Rule Honey, take readers step by step through the entire process-from information on the inhabitants of a hive and how it works to collecting bees, keeping them healthy, raising a queen, harvesting honey and wax, and stor­ing hives for the off-season.

The complete book of beekeeping, from setting up a colony to hive management and harvesting the honey, shown in more than 400 photographs.

The Bee Book shows you step-by-step how to create a bee-friendly garden, get started in beekeeping, and harness the power of honey for well-being. Fully illustrated with full-color photographs throughout, this beautiful guide covers everything you need to know to start your own backyard hive, from setup to harvest. Practical beekeeping techniques are explained with clear step-by-step sequences, photos, and diagrams so you'll be prepared to establish your own colony, deal with diseases, collect a swarm, and much more. A comprehensive gardening chapter features planting plans to fill container and border gardens, bee "hotel" and habitat projects, and an at-a-glance flower gallery of bees' favorite plants. The Bee Book also shows you how to harvest honey, beeswax, and propolis from the hive and use these ingredients in 38 recipes for home remedies, beauty treatments, and candle-making. Discover the wonder of bees in nature, in your garden, and in the hive with The Bee Book.

A clear and comprehensive guide to beekeeping. The number of people interested and active in keeping bees at an amateur level has continued to increase over the past few years in both rural and urban situations. This guide, aimed at beginning beekeepers, and the only one to be endorsed by the BBKA provides an authoritative text, along with clear photographs and illustrations. The book introduces the reader to beekeeping, including such areas as the workings of the colony, the structure of a hive, how to acquire bees and keep them healthy and what happens in each month in a beekeeping year. Each chapter is accompanied by anecdotes, answers to frequently asked questions and fascinating facts about bees and honey. The new edition includes new step-by-step sequences to illustrate procedures such as containing a swarm, identifying the queen, using a smoker and cleaning a hive as well as more information on different kinds of hives, disease management and many other key areas.

Everything you need to 'bee' a successful backyard beekeeper If you've ever thought about becoming a backyard beekeeper—or have already tried a hand at it and want to be better one—then this is the book for you! In Beekeeping for Dummies, 4th Edition you'll find everything you need to know in order to start your own colony, including how to assemble and maintain beehives, handle every phase of honey production, purchase and use all the latest tools, and what to do beyond your first season. This hands-on guide provides all the tools, tips, tricks, and techniques needed to become a real backyard beekeeper. You'll learn to identify the queen from her workers and drones, properly open and close the hive, distinguish one type of honey from another, and preserve your colony if disaster should strike. Keep bees on a small urban rooftop or in a large country yard Assemble your own hive and sustain it for years to come Safely inspect and manage your colony Harvest and sell your own honey Becoming a backyard beekeeper isn't as hard as people think—and with this hands-on guide, you'll be able to create one honey of a colony that will have the neighbors buzzing.

A fascinating hobby; a remunerative business; or a globetrotting career? Which type of beekeeper do you want to be? It is entirely up to you: beekeeping can provide it all.Beekeeping can provide anyone with an interesting and useful hobby or a lucrative and rewarding business. It is recognised as a vital agricultural industry and can therefore also offer you a globe trotting career. The whole subject is, however, often shrouded in mystery and loaded with jargon, leaving many people unaware of its true potential or how to start. This book strips away all the mystery and explains step by step how - from day one - you can start beekeeping as a hobby; how you can progress to running a beekeeping business; or how you can start a career as a beekeeper which can quite easily take you all over the world. No other guide explains in such detail the true potential and accessibility of beekeeping or of being a beekeeper. Contents: List of illustrations; List of photographs; Introduction; Acknowledgements; 1. Honey-bees and human beings; 2. Understanding the honey-bee colony; 3. Using the products of the hive and bees; 4. Obtaining equipment and bees; 5. Starting with bees; 6. The active season: spring; 7. The active season: summer and autumn 8. Dealing with problems; 9. Overwintering your bees: autumn to spring; 10. Controlling diseases and pests; 11. Rearing queens and breeding bees; 12. Exploring products and career possibilities; Weights and measures ready-reckoner; Further reading; International beekeeping organizations; Beekeeping charities; Beekeeping journals;Beekeeping supply companies; Index.

This comprehensive guide will give beginners all they need to start and maintain a healthy bee colony, while experienced beekeepers will find advice on expanding into new areas of the business and how to refine their skills. Subjects covered include: . Buying a colony of bees . Managing bees throughout the seasons . Selecting equipment and a good apiary site . Preventing swarming . Extracting, processing, and selling honey . Controlling pests, predators, and diseases . Rearing queen honey bees Photographs and technical drawings illustrate the text, and appendixes define technical terms, list sources of supplies, and tell you where to go to find more information.