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
International Beekeeping Forum
Accessible, Informative Resources by Some of Treatment Free Beekeeping’s Best:
Beekeeping Naturally by Michael Bush (Nebraska)
Leominster, MA bee experts Dean and Ramona
Beyond Langstroth – Online Resources for Top Bar, Warre, Observation Hives:
Photos & Introduction to different types of hives
Top Bar Hives:
Top Bar Hives on Beekeeping Naturally
Extensive resource and forum for natural and top bar hive beekeeping
Sam Comfort’s anarchist approach to top bar hive beekeeping (NY, FL)
Observation Hives:
Warre Hives:
Miscellaneous Informational Sites:
Bad Beekeeping – links to various topics on beekeeping
Swarm catching videos and information on foundation-less beekeeping
Information on all beekeeping topics
Beekeeping through the eyes of a biologist
Basic Beekeeping blog and Basic Beekeeping podcast
Websites for Organic Control of Pests and Diseases:
Lab that accepts dead bees or comb with brood to be tested for disease (free)
Organic, natural/small cell beekeeping
Drone trapping (varroa control)
Mid-Atlantic Apicultural Research & Extension Consortium (not organic but many leads)
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.
Feedback/Errata