Saturday, March 14, 2009

Bee Books I've Read


As part of my research for the children's book about honey bees that I'm writing/illustrating I've been doing all kinds of research in an attempt to become as knowedgeable about bees as I can ...well bee...

The internet has proven to be a treasure trove of information and photographs and I'm grateful to each and every person who took the time from their busy life to post their expereinces, information, research, photos, funnies, stories and comments about bees and beekeeping.

I've also read a selection of books which I've done reviews for on amazon.com which I thought I'd mention here:


  • Beekeeping for Dummies

  • The ABC and XYZ of Bee Culture

  • Natural Beekeeping

  • Hive Management

  • DVD - Bees - Tales from the Hive
(http://www.amazon.ca/gp/community-content-search/results/ref=cm_srch_q_col_rpli/?query=beekeeping&search-alias=rp-listmania)

If you're completely new to beekeeping I would recommend Beekeeping for Dummies. I found this book interesting and easy to read. The author doesn't assume you understand all the bee related terminology and explains the terms well. He takes you through from the very beginning step by step.

Natural beekeeping is a very interesting and informative read as well. The information on this topic (and all books for that matter) is changing fairly rapidly as more and more studies and tests are done, but this book will bring you up to date on natural beekeeping techniques.

There is a presentation in the spring 2009 in Niagara Falls NY and I believe the main speaker is someone who is doing natural beekeeping--I'll post more info on this when I get it. The problem with the treated hives, among many things, is that the mites grow resistant to the treatment. The argument is also that the bees can't very well develop their own mite resistant genetics if we keep stepping in with treatments. If you're involved in beekeeping even a little you'll be familiar with this argument that goes round and round.

I try to stay open so I can hear from all sides. One thing this has shown me is that beekeeper's are certainly passionate about the topic of bees.

1 comment:

The Beneficial Bee said...

I have heard that Beekeeping for Dummies is a good book. We have The Backyard Beekeeper and I think it is a bit over my head. I will have to look into getting a copy of the dummies book. I can't wait to seee your book! Jess