Binding: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 638.1 EAN: 9780764554193 ISBN: 0764554190 Label: For Dummies Manufacturer: For Dummies Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 336 Publication Date: March 01, 2002 Publisher: For Dummies Sales Rank: 12741 Studio: For Dummies
Product DescriptionBelieve it or not, bees are one of the oldest species of domesticated animals. Archeologists have found evidence of beekeeping, or apiculture, in the Middle East dating back more than five thousand years. If you’ve ever tasted good clover honey, it’s not hard to understand why. But it’s not just for the honey that more than 125,000 people (and growing) in the United States, alone, keep hives. Anyone interested in nature can’t help but be fascinated by those buzzing yellow bundles of energy and the exotic world they inhabit, with all its weird rituals and incredible efficiency. Also, dedicated gardeners appreciate the extra bounty that pollinating bees bring to their fruits, flowers, and vegetable gardens.
In this easy-to-follow guide, Howland Blackiston, one of the nation’s most respected authorities on the subject, takes the mystery (and the sting) out of beekeeping. Taking a step-by-step approach to successful backyard beekeeping, he gets you up and running with all the information you need to:
Build a hive
Establish your first colony
Inspect your hives with confidence
Maintain healthy colonies
Deal with pests and fix common problems
Harvest and enjoy fresh homemade honey
Bottle and market your honey
Howland Blackiston covers all the bases, from bee anatomy, society, and behavior, to identifying and healing common illnesses afflicting bees. He also offers inventive solutions to most common and many uncommon problems you’re likely to run into. Among other things, you’ll discover:
Where to put your hive, basic equipment you’ll need, and how to assemble a hive
The best and safest way to inspect and enjoy your bees
Year-round tasks a beekeeper must perform to maintain a healthy colony
How to recognize and deal with common problems with brood production and the precious queen
How to harvest honey and decide what kind of honey you’d like to make
Making products from beeswax and propolis
For both fun and profit, beekeeping has become a booming enterprise. A real honey of a book, Beekeeping For Dummies gets you on the road to enjoying this ancient, highly-rewarding, and oh-so-tasty hobby.
What Others Say
Bible for beekeeping
We've learnt almost everything we know from Beekeeping for Dummies! Really offers complete coverage of all areas of beekeeping and the fun stuff too like recipes using honey, wax, etc.
A Great Place To Start
This is an excellent resource for the aspiring beekeeper. No prior knowledge of the subject of beekeeping is necessary. Beekeeping for Dummies is jam packed with great information, and does a great job of recommending other books if you are interested in learning about specific topics such as queen rearing, and observation hive building.
great beginners book
Beekeeping for Dummies was very easy to understand, straight forward, great pictures! It took a lot of guess work out of beginning bee keeping. It is a must for anyone interested in apiculture! Great reference for years to come.
Detailed, Easy to Understand, Hopeful
If you're thinking of raising bees, this is the book to get. I had purchased three other "recommended" books, but this one leaves them in the dust. EVERYTHING is included: a little bit of bee biology, the parts of the hive, advantages and disadvantages of equipment materials and types, techniques for caring for the bees, and reassurances that your fears are experienced by all new beekeepers. I had already decided what equipment to get and have now revised my purchase order based on the information in the book. I suspect the quality of the book is a tribute to the author and not the publisher. The author's web site is full of useful information also.
Great learners guide.
Beekeeping for Dummies is probably the most important book for anyone new to the hobby. Lots of great information on the entire aspect of beekeeping. It isn't for the person who already knows the general idea of beekeeping though.
It was the first book I read about beekeeping and have found that the only other beekeeping books I would need would be books on detailed information on either medicating or raising queens or something of that nature.
