Resource List

Adapted from Boston Beekeepers Club/Beekeepers of Suffolk County & The Benevolent Bee Created for Organic Bee School 2014 (with some additions)

­­ Free Online Manuals:

Beekeeping Basics: various resources available, some free, some with associated cost on this online catalogue

A Practical Manual of Beekeeping: UK; focuses on IPM; has section on going organic (p.264); written in a very accessible, personable way, yet also academic in content

Tutorials on Beekeeping in Latin America and Beekeeping Manual in Spanish

­­ Places to Get Questions Answered:

Boston Beekeepers Club listserv

Organic Beekeeping Forum

Beekeeping Forum

International Beekeeping Forum

­­ Accessible, Informative Resources by Some of Treatment­ Free Beekeeping’s Best:
Beekeeping Books:

Guides to Beekeeping:

The Idiot’s Guide to Beekeeping Dean Stiglitz & Ramona Herboldsheimer (2010)

Natural Beekeeping: Organic Approaches to Modern ­Apiculture Ross Conrad (2007)

The Practical Beekeeper: Beekeeping Naturally Michael Bush (2011): much of this material is available for free on his website

The Barefoot Beekeeper Phil Chandler: ­guide to Top Bar Hive construction and management (see website for lots more from Chandler)

The Thinking Beekeeper: A Guide to Natural Beekeeping in Top Bar Hives (2013) Christy Hemenway

Keeping Bees with a Smile: A Vision and Practice of Natural Apiculture (2013) Fedor Lazutin (Warre hive info)

The Bee­friendly Beekeeper: A Sustainable Approach (2011) David Heaf (good resource for Warre hive tenders)

Observation Hives: How to Set Up, Maintain and Use a Window to the World of Honey Bees (1999) Thomas Webster & Dewey Caron

 

Traditional Focus:

Beekeeping Basics MAAREC (course book, purchase a PDF here)

The Beekeeper’s Handbook (a good go-­to manual for pretty much anything, now in 4th ed.)

The Backyard Beekeeper: An Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Keeping Bees in Your Yard or Garden Kim Flottum (2010 revised edition): focus on all­ medium hive bodies

The ABC and XYZ of Bee Culture: An Encyclopedia of Beekeeping A. I. Root Company (look for old versions for more natural management)

Hive Management: A Seasonal Guide for Beekeepers Richard Bonney

Beekeeping: A Practical Guide Richard Bonney

New Complete Guide to Beekeeping Roger Morse

The Beekeeper’s Bible Richard Jones and Sharon Sweeney­-Lynch

Beekeeping for Dummies Howland Blackston

 

Books That Take a Closer Look at Bees and Beekeeping:

Science/Behavior:

Honeybee Democracy Thomas Seeley (Cornell expert on swarming behavior) 2010

The Buzz About Bees: Biology of a Superorganism (information on bees biology, communication & more)

The Wisdom of the Hive: The Social Physiology of Honey Bee Colonies Thomas Seeley (1995)

Historical Science/Behavior:

The Dancing Bees: An Account of the Life and Senses of the Honey Bee Karl von Frisch (1953)  – written by the first person to interpret the meaning of the waggle dance

Langstroth’s Hive and the Honey Bee: The Classic Beekeeper’s Manual L.L. Langstroth (1878)  – written by the inventor of the Langstroth hive; more of a chapter book than a go-­to manual

 

Art/Creative Portrayal of Factual Info:

The Pollinator’s Corridor Aaron Birk – graphic novel on restorative ecology

Other Books:

The Queen Must Die and Other Affairs of Bees and Men William Longgood – an ethnography of the beehive

Robbing the Bees: A Biography of Honey ­The Sweet Liquid Gold That Seduced the World Holley Bishop (2005)

Beeconomy: What Women and Bees Can Teach Us About Local Trade and the Global Market Tammy Horn (2011)

The Beekeepers’ Lament: How One Man and Half a Billion Honey Bees Help Feed America Hannah Nordhaus (2011)

Life of the Honeybee Heiderose & Andreas Fischer-­Nagel – close­up photos, good for kids or educating

Journals:

Bee Culture published by A.I. Root Co.

American Bee Journal by Dadant Co.

License

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Radicalize the Hive by Angela Roell is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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