BeeKeeping Book Review

[SamgeeGamwise]

Hi All!  I was surprised to see after doing a search that there isn't a thread on the various beekeeping books/videos out there.  I figured I would get one started right away!

I recently read "Beekeeping for Dummies."  I thought it was a GREAT book!  Very easy to read and quite informative.  I would highly recommend!  One thing I want to say here as well as that the writer is a big proponent of encouraging newbees to get out and start.  I've see a lot of folks on here who are waiting years to get started in beekeeping because they think they need to be experts to get started.  I like that the author advocates interested people to inform themselves but also to get started in PRACTICING beekeeping instead of waiting until they know everything.

Please share your own opinions about other beekeeping resources out there!

[FRAMEshift]

I am currently reading "The Hive and the Honeybee" which is an update of an old classic.  Each chapter is written by an expert on that subject.  It is a giant tome of about 1300 pages.  This book probably goes much more in detail than most bee books, but still not too much for me.  It may be a bit weak on some practical beekeeping techniques, but is strong on background information you won't find anywhere else.  I would say that this is an important reference work for someone who wants to understand not just beekeeping.... but the bees themselves.  Good chapters on bee anatomy and behavior.  Good descriptions of dances and pheromone communication.  And this book presents the research of many bee researchers in a monograph format that covers the best research going back to the 1800s.

My favorite research result from the behavior chapter is a study of pollen packing behavior.  When the pollen forager returns with pollen baskets full, she heads to a cell and starts unloading and packing down the pollen.  One researcher detained the foragers at the entrance and removed the pollen from the baskets.  But the foragers continued on into the hive and went through the motions of unloading and packing the pollen, even though there was no pollen left.  This was offered as an example of the complex programmed behavior sequences that guide bee behavior.  The author was intent on showing that much of what looks like intelligent behavior on the part of bees is a result of these chained instinctual sequences.