The Backyard Beekeeper, 5th Edition An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Keeping Bees in Your Yard and Garden – Natural beekeeping techniques – New Varroa mite and American foulbrood treatments – Introduction to technologies for recordkeeping and maintenance

by Flottum, Kim

• ISBN13: 9780760385821
• ISBN10: 0760385823
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2024-02-27
• Publisher: Quarry Books

Summary

Enjoy the time-honored tradition of beekeeping in your own backyard or urban rooftop with this accessible resource for beekeepers of all skill levels, now in its 5th edition.

More than a guide to beekeeping, The Backyard Beekeeper features expert advice for:

• Setting up and caring for your own colonies
• Selecting the best location to place your new bee colonies for their safety and yours
• The most practical and nontoxic ways to care for your bees
• Swarm control
• Using top bar hives
• Harvesting the products of a beehive and collecting and using honey
• Bee problems and treatments

New in this edition:

• Natural beekeeping techniques like insulating hives for the winter to mimic the advantages of bee homes in the wild
• Important new treatments for and updated info on the battle with Varroa mites
• How to deal with the new antibiotic recommendations for American foulbrood
• Introduction to new recordkeeping technology to consider

In addition to content updates to reflect the most recent research and technology in beekeeping, the book features a new design with larger, easier-to-read text, many new photos, and a more easily navigable structure.

With this complete reference and the expert advice of Bee Culture editor emeritus Kim Flottum, your bees will be healthy, happy, and more productive.

Author Biography

Kim Flottum brings a rich background of plant science, honey bee research, and basic farming to his 30 years as the editor of Bee Culture magazine, where his main occupation has been finding the answers to the multitude of questions that beginning, intermediate, and even advanced and experienced beekeepers bring to the table. He teaches beginning and advanced beekeeping courses, travels extensively to educate and lecture, and contributes to a variety of other publications on the basics of honey bees and beekeeping biology, the business of bees and pollination, producing and using varietal honeys, and a host of other subjects. He is the author of The Backyard Beekeeper, First Time Beekeeping, In Business with Bees, and Common Sense Natural Beekeeping. His books, magazine articles, interviews, and blogs are widely read for both their fundamental and advanced contribution to beekeeping knowledge. He is beekeeping’s leading advocate for fundamental honey bee safety, including ensuring excellent honey bee health, providing extraordinary forage, and minimizing the use of agricultural pesticides.

Table of Contents

Preface
New Challenges
To Sum It All Up
Introduction
In the Beginning
Evolution: Moving On

CHAPTER 1: Starting Right
Getting Started
Beeyards Other Than Your Backyard
Extreme Urban Beekeeping
The Right Tools of the Trade
And Yes, the Right Bees
CHAPTER 2: About Those Bees
Queens
Workers
Drones
Seasonal Changes
CHAPTER 3: About Beekeeping
Review and Preparation
Lighting Your Smoker
Package Management
Summertime Chores
Keeping Records
Opening a Colony
Honeycomb and Brood Combs
Summertime Chores
Fall and Winter Management
Early Next Spring Inspections
CHAPTER 4: About Honey
Honey Flow Time
Honey Harvest Time
Comb Honey and Cut-Comb Honey
CHAPTER 5: Maladies, Problems, and Solutions
IPM Fundamentals
Varroa
Nosema
Chalkbrood
European Foulbrood
American Foulbrood
Wax Moth
Small Hive Beetle
Other Pests
CHAPTER 6: Beeswax
Be Safe
Melting Beeswax
Using Beeswax
CHAPTER 7: 25 Rules of Modern Beekeeping
Queen’s Rules
Bees’ Rules
Beekeeping Rules
Varroa Rules
Beekeeper Rules                

Glossary
Resources
Photographer Credits
About the Author
Acknowledgments
Index