The fast and easy way to start and maintain a hive Beekeeping For Dummies is a practical, step-by-step beginner's guide to beekeeping. It gives you plain-English guidance on everything you need to know to start your own beehive, from buying the right equipment, sourcing bees, and locating your hive to maintaining a healthy colony and harvesting honey. Plus, you'll get the latest information on the causes and effects of bee disease, colony collapse disorder, and the impact the sudden disappearance of the honeybee has on our environment and economy. Here, you'll get trusted information on beekeeping in the UK, specifically written to address climate, buying equipment, locating hives, the local impact of colony collapse disorder and ways to avoid or minimise the risk to your hive, seasonal beekeeping tasks, local beekeeping associations, and updated content on urban beekeeping. Understand the anatomy of your bees Learn techniques and tips for harvesting, bottling, packaging, and selling honey Discover the benefits of beekeeping Learn techniques on obtaining and hiving your bees If you're a beginner beekeeper, taking a beekeeping course, or just have an interest in the plight of the honeybee, Beekeeping For Dummies has you covered!

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.

Building Beehives For Dummies (9781119544388) was previously published as Building Beehives For Dummies (9781118312940). While this version features a new Dummies cover and design, the content is the same as the prior release and should not be considered a new or updated product. The easy way to build your own beehives and beekeeping equipment Building Beehives For Dummies is the follow-up book to the bestselling Beekeeping For Dummies. It provides everything you need to learn how to build some of the world's most popular hives and beekeeping accessories. For each design the book includes a detailed materials list (what lumber, hardware and fasteners you'll need), step-by-step building instructions, and illustrative drawings that show how the components all fit together. There are over a dozen plans in all, including the traditional Langstroth hive, the eight frame garden hive, designs for elevated hive stands, the Warre hive, screened bottom board, the Kenya top-bar hive, four-frame observation hive, hive top feeders, and more. The book contains introductory chapters that teach you the basic carpentry skills necessary to build any of the plans in the book. Whether you are a new beekeeper or a seasoned ol’timer, Building Beehives for Dummies provides you with the information you need to plan and succeed at building beehives (and other cool accessories). You'll discover what type of hive to build, hints on how to maintain your equipment, what bees need to stay happy and healthy, where to locate your hive, and much more. Covers "bee space," the critical technical measurement within a beehive that's crucial for easy inspection of your colonies Offers guidance on keeping both urban and suburban neighbors happy, getting proper permissions, and understanding regional laws and regulations Provides creative ideas for dressing up hives for fun and profit In today’s world of self-sufficiency, back-to-basics and sustainability, building beehives is a fun hobby that both you and your bees will appreciate and benefit from.

I wouldn't be surprised if your interest in beekeeping stems from a need to protect the bees. For the last decade or so, horror stories of a world without food have been forced down our throats. Bees are pollinators--the best of their kind--so without them buzzing about, we can't grow our crops. As the world watched the number of honey bees drop to an all-time low, we were forced to prepare for the so-called "bee apocalypse". "Save the bees!" everyone cried out, as humanity retaliated en masse with picket signs, bee feeders, and fingers violently pointed at beekeepers for their role in the destruction of humanity. To this day, I still see the odd poster or fervent rant on social media describing how if the bees die, we die with them. It's a noble cause, but one that was born of misunderstanding. We will die off if we lose our pollinators, but the problem is that humanity worries about (and tries to save) the wrong bees. Hawaiian yellow-faced bees and bumblebees are endangered. Honey bees aren't, weren't, and never have been. Beekeepers--largely blamed for the bee apocalypse in the first place--play a significant role in keeping them off that list. I'd love to paint us as the superheroes this world needs, but let it be said that beekeepers--though we aren't the problem--aren't always the solution. Wild honey bees in the United States are at risk of endangerment, but it's mostly due to the destruction of their habitat. Some industries that cause this are too big and bad for humble beekeepers to stop. Still, to give credit where credit is due, beekeepers maintain honey bee populations and are therefore responsible for keeping the true bee apocalypse at bay. This awareness has caused beekeeping as both a hobby and an industry to flare. It's excellent that more people are taking an interest in bees and raising them, but I worry that the road to Hell truly is paved with good intentions. What happens when all the good souls looking to help the honey bees realize that their efforts weren't needed? Will they abandon their hives in favor of the next hyped cause? I hope not. The threat remains, though, and that's why I must give you this warning: Beekeeping is not for everyone. Before you commit to it, ask yourself why you're interested in it. If saving the bees is your answer, I'm sorry, but you might not have what it takes. Beekeeping has existed since as far back as 2500 BCE. Back then it was destructive and caused the downfall of many a colony. The ultimate goal was to harvest honey; no more, no less. It was only thousands of years later, in the 18th century, that designs for harmless hives made an appearance. It took a while for beekeepers to acknowledge their efficiency, but by the 19th century, these structures became the norm. Even so, harvesting honey was still the top priority. Our hives weren't designed to protect bees. They were accepted as a way to get what we want from them without killing them. That's what beekeepers do. Naturally, there will be exceptions to the rule, but at its core, beekeeping is a branch of agriculture. It may be one of the kinder forms of husbandry, but it's reaping nonetheless. Immersing yourself in the fascinating world of honey bees and hives could be the most rewarding journey you embark on. But it will only satisfy you if you understand that you can't fix something that's not broken. Honey bees don't really need your help, but you sure need theirs. If you can respect them as the intelligent, even dangerous creatures that they are, instead of treating them as the helpless bugs the world insists they've become, you'll do just fine.

Diana Sammataro and Alphonse Avitabile have revised and expanded their clear and comprehensive guide to cover changes in beekeeping. They discuss the crisis created by the parasitic bee mites. In less than a decade, for example, Varroa mites have saturated the North American honeybee population with disastrous results, devastating both managed and wild populations. The new edition of The Beekeeper's Handbook covers mite detection and control as well as the selection and testing of bees that may have some tolerance to mites.*Serves as a comprehensive well-illustrated introduction for beginners and a valuable reference for the experienced beekeeper.*Outlines options for each operation within beekeeping, listing advantages and disadvantages of each alternative.*Provides easy-to-follow directions and diagrams.*Includes glossary and updated bibliography suggesting more detailed information on the topics discussed.

Save time and money by building your own beekeeping equipment. Learn to craft equipment that is tailored to your particular climate and setup. Full of insightful tips and covering a variety of hive types, Pisano includes all the basic infrastructure you need to keep your bees happy and active — and your pantry full of honey.

Beginning Beekeeping is a simple, straightforward approach that gives you the basics to get started with beekeeping, while following a balanced, objective approach that weighs the pros and cons of conventional and organic methodologies. Featuring more than 120 beautiful color photos, this guide will help you will learn how to foster and maintain healthy, vibrant hive colonies, as well as to incorporate the various techniques and practices for keeping bees using conventional as well as more natural practices. In addition, you will learn how to troubleshoot and treat potential hive issues such as swarming, combating common pests, and alleviating other potentially destructive hive conditions. This helpful guide also explores how to create hives that are self-sustaining, with minimal intervention from the keeper. Additional content also covers how to maximize the benefits of a backyard hive for a more vibrant garden as well as rich, bountiful honey harvests.

The Backyard Beekeeper, now in its revised and expanded third edition, makes the time-honored and complex tradition of beekeeping an enjoyable and accessible backyard pastime that will appeal to gardeners, crafters, and cooks everywhere. This expanded edition gives you even more information on "greening" your beekeeping with sustainable practices, pesticide-resistant bees, and urban and suburban beekeeping. More than a guide to beekeeping, it is a handbook for harvesting the products of a beehive and a honey cookbook--all in one lively, beautifully illustrated reference. This complete honey bee resource contains general information on bees; a how-to guide to the art of bee keeping and how to set up, care for, and harvest honey from your own colonies; as well as tons of bee-related facts and projects. You'll learn the best place to locate your new bee colonies for their safety and yours, and you'll study the best organic and nontoxic ways to care for your bees, from providing fresh water and protection from the elements to keeping them healthy, happy, and productive. Recipes of delicious treats, and instructions on how to use honey and beeswax to make candles and beauty treatments are also included.

Discover the joys of harvesting honey from your own backyard. Alethea Morrison outlines what you’ll need to know to make it through the first year, while stunning macrophotography by Mars Vilaubi brings the inner workings of the hive to life. With in-depth discussions of allergies, colony hierarchy, bee behavior, and more, this approachably informative guide bursts with enthusiastic encouragement. Keep your own bees, and enjoy the sweet buzz.