Beekeeping: Self-Sufficiency

by Joanna Ryde

Whether it’s moving to the country and starting over on a whim or just making city- living a little simpler and easier, the “Green” movement is changing the way we live our day- to-day lives. Skyhorse's Self-Sufficiency handbooks are meant to help—offering advice on what to do, how to do it better, and how to save money as well. This is a beautifully illustrated series made even more beautiful, because its goal is to help everyone live in a more earth-friendly fashion.

While beekeeping is about managing, controlling, and under- standing the honey bee, there is also the pleasure that can be found in harvesting and eating your own honey—a true delight! All aspects of beekeeping are explained inside this book: the basic tools and equipment needed, detailed advice on when to harvest honey, and the many tasty things you can make. This is an essential guide for anyone interested in learning more about beekeeping.

Genres: Nonfiction

128 pages, Hardcover

First published May 11, 2010

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

An overview of beekeeping, this book reads like a magazine on Beekeeping. It's a mix of a few facts, fun tidbits, and lots of graphics. The book also includes several recipes in the back.

The book only covers "Modified National" hive, which most of us know as the Langstroth Hive. There is no mention of alternate hives, such as the top bar.

I'm sad by the overall tone that swarms are bad and hives should be gentle. But this comes from a person that has benefited personally from swarms, and would rather have a disease resistant hive. Yes, I like sharing my space with a hive that is gentle, but there are other reasons for a hive expressing defensiveness. Low food sources and predation may make your hive feistier than usual. And in these cases: your bees are trying to tell you something worth listening to!

Disease, something that most of us beekeepers spend a great deal of time considering and discussing is only granted four pages out of 128 in this book. For treatment, no organic or herbal methods are discussed, and integrated pest management only gets the tiniest of nods with a mention of screened bottom boards.

The intro is one of the best parts of the books. It asks the same questions that I often ask someone interested in beekeeping for the first time. Do you have the space? time? community support? a mentor? a local club or guild?

Overall, this book is a nice one to flip through for someone curious about beekeeping, but I'd hope a serious beekeeper would pursue more information well before purchasing hives or bees.

[Arminzerella · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good introduction to beekeeping – detailed and informative without being too overwhelming. It covers the basics of beekeeping, the equipment you need, how to set up your hive, introducing your bees, information on honeybee lifecycles, the honey business, common bee ailments/diseases, and more. As Joanna suggests, you will probably want to join a local beekeeping association or at least meet with some other beekeepers if you are just starting out – they will be able to provide a wealth of information (not to mention enthusiasm) about their hobby/business, and many are more than happy to do a little show-and-tell with their own apiaries, so you can get some hands-on experience before deciding if beekeeping is for you. There is a wealth of information available online and some of it is conflicting, so be sure to check with experienced beekeepers if you have questions/concerns. As a beginning beekeeper myself, I’m looking forward to putting some of Joanna’s suggestions into practice this spring!

[Heather Morrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

This books offers a perfect introduction to someone who is thinking about beekeeping or just wants to learn more about beekeeping. It gives you enough information to determine if beekeeping is going to be for you but I will be reading a few other, more in-depth, books before actually starting my journey.

[John Papeika · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives you a quick overview of beekeeping at a level that I would say is sufficient for you to decide whether or not it is for you. Definitely not detailed enough for you to use to start. After reading I would agree with the author in that you need a mentor of sorts to keep bees.

[Kylie Abecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative. A bit overwhelming for a newbie like myself, but certainly a book I’m glad to have on the shelf.

[Chris Andrews · Rating 3 out of 5]

A small quick read with basic information. I would recommend to someone thinking about getting started or just getting started.

[M D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Small enough to read in one sitting. Not nearly detailed enough, but a great overview to give an idea of what beekeeping consists of.
Took away a few helpful tips.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good basic book. Enough to be helpful for a beginner without being overly confusing. It only touches the surface of most of the things mentioned though.

[Thomasin Propson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not yet ready to run out and catch a swarm, but my interest is growing!