Beekeeping: A Practical Guide

by Richard E. Bonney

Overview

Keep your own bees and enjoy delicious golden honey from your own backyard. With his respect and admiration for bees evident on every page, Richard E. Bonney describes how to acquire bees, manage a hive, prevent and treat diseases, and extract a crop of honey. Enthusiastic beekeepers of every stripe and experience level will benefit from Bonney’s astonishing knowledge of the craft — from beekeeping history and honeybee biology to the complex social structure of the hive.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781603421737
Publisher:	Storey Books
Publication date:	09/24/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Veteran beekeeper Richard E. Bonney, author of Hive Management, Beekeeping, and co-author of Storey’s Guide to Keeping Honey Bees, was the longtime owner of Charlemont Apiaries in Charlemont, Massachusetts. 

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

1. BEFORE WE START

The Beekeeper's Commitment

Dimensions of Beekeeping

Stings

Legal Considerations

History of Beekeeping

How to Get Started

2. THE BEES

What Is a Honey Bee?

Occupants of the Hive

Development

Activities and Behavior

Life of a Worker Bee

Cycle of the Year

Colony Reproduction: Swarming

Nutrition and Feeding

Communications

3. GETTING STARTED

Hive Location

Equipment and Supplies

Acquiring Bees

Working with Bees

Installing Bees

Initial Management

4. ONGOING MANAGEMENT

The First Summer

Fall Management

The Coming Year

5. REMOVING THE CROP

Methods for Clearing Bees and Removing Supers

Extracting and Handling Honey

Comb Honey

Other Hive Products

6. DISEASES, PESTS, AND PREDATORS

Diseases of Honey Bees

Parasitic Mites

Nonproblem Creatures for Honey Bees

Problem Creatures for Honey Bees

The Africanized Bee

Pesticides

APPENDICES

Appendix A: Publications about Beekeeping

Appendix B: Sources

Appendix C: Glossary