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  • From: Randall Austin <ra41717 AT gmail.com>
  • To: ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] 2nd year in beekeeping book advice... 2nd year in beekeeping book advice...
  • Date: Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:23:48 -0500

For folks who have only read one basic beginners book, regardless of how good it is, I highly recommend that you read at least a couple more. If nothing else they'll teach you that for every beekeeper (or beekeeping book writer) there are several different ways to do things. Many times the advice of one respected writer will directly contradict the advice of another equally respected writer. Both may be correct, in the context of what works for them. Or maybe not.
Jim Tew's beginners' book, "Backyard Beekeeping" (free download --- Google it) is a nice one and is the only one that comes to mind that is specifically targeted to Southern/Southeastern beekeepers.

For books that give more attention to sort-of specific topics, check out Larry Connors' books such as "Increase Essentials" and "Bee Sex". Larry is an renowned expert with both academic and commercial credentials, yet his writing is very clear and understandable by ordinary folks.
 
Different people have different learning styles & different objectives. If you want to learn from what others have done, not necessarily what techniques they've employed but what their goals were, how they approached problems and what they learned from their experiments & experiences, then I recommend reading books by the Ancient Masters of Beekeeping. These include Langstroth's original "Hive and the Honey Bee" (the 1859 edition or similar vintage), C.C. Miller's "50 Years Among the Bees", A.I. Root's "Autobiography of A.I. Root" and Brother Adam's "Bee-Keeping at Buckfast Abbey".

If you want to know a little about how modern big-scale commercial beekeeping works, I recommend Douglas Whynott's "Following the Bloom: Across America with the Migratory Beekeepers". Commercial beekeeping is as different from backyard beekeeping as a 5000-acre Mississippi cotton operation is from your little tomato patch out back. This book will give you a little bit of perspective on that. It is also written as a very interesting & often amusing story that just about anybody should be able to enjoy, not just beekeepers. Remember the recent listserv post about the dilemma facing beekeepers in North Dakota? Read this to understand what that's all about and why it doesn't affect us in the least.

If you want to stray even farther into tangential topics let me know & I may have other recommendations for you. That's one thing that makes beekeeping so interesting and popular --- it has connections to lots of random interests. In fact Claire Preston's book "Bee" is a fascinating survey of connections to religion, government, architecture, poetry etc.

Oh --- and I agree with Watty's recommendations too!

Randall Austin


On 2/23/2012 10:55 AM, Watson Bowes wrote:
CADCRU3-10Y8d4C521PiKn+JhASt2Mc1MUsCJ+RRbqysMjxf4cA AT mail.gmail.com" type="cite">As an amateur, novice, almost beginning beekeeper (12 years - 4  hives) the following are three volumes that I have found very helpful.  They are all available from Amazon.com at the prices listed.

Watty Bowes

The Beekeeper's Handbook, Fourth Edition by Diana Sammataro and Alphonse Avitabile (May 13, 2011)  (New) $17.63

Authoritative text and excellent illustrations.

The ABC & XYZ of Bee Culture: An Encyclopedia Pertaining to the Scientific and Practical Culture of Honey Bees by Kim Flottum and A. I. Root (May 1, 2007)  $34.06

Sort of an encyclopedia of beekeeping information, arranged alphabetically. Kim Flottum is the Senior Editor of Bee Culture.

The Hive and the Honey Bee by multiple contributors (Extensively revised Jul 1992) (new) $82.99; (used) 49.99

A long-standing classic, first published in 1946.  Lots of good stuff, though some of it is a bit out of date.  I believe OCBA owns a copy of this book or they donated one to the public library in Hillsborough.



On Thu, Feb 23, 2012 at 10:05 AM, Blair Christian <blair.christian AT gmail.com> wrote:
I'll second Tom's request.  Suppose I have a hive or two, what are
best practices for bringing in new hives, eg when is it appropriate to
move frames of brood around; when/why would I want to split, what
factors should I consider; what is the big picture about queen
rearing; hopefully have some chapters about bee biology in each
season/each stage of a colony interleaved with hive management.

All my books are either year 1 or special topics.  I'm missing the
middle of the road book that tells me when/what I need to read in the
special topics books.

Best,
Blair
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--
Watson A. Bowes Jr., M.D.
Emeritus Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
211 Huntington Drive
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
919-929-3323


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