The Backyard Beekeeper An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Keeping Bees in Your Yard and Garden

by Flottum, Kim

• ISBN13: 9781592531189
• ISBN10: 1592531180
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-05-01
• Publisher: Quarry Books

Summary

This book isnAEt only a guide to beekeeping or a honey cookbook; itAEs both. No other book on the market provides an in-depth review of beekeeping and what honey is good for and how to use it.Beautifully illustrated,The Backyard Beekeeperis perfect for the health conscious person who wants to sweeten up their life by saying no to processed sugars and yes, to eating organic, natural healthy food.This book is the complete "honey bee" resource with general information on bees, a how-to guide to the art of bee keeping and how to set up, care for and harvest your own hives, as well as tons of fun facts and projects that are bee related. The second half of the book is the complete guide to honey. It reviews the different types of honey, health effects as well as provides 100s of ideas and recipes for using honey in recipes, cosmetically in facemasks and shampoos, and for medicinal uses.

Author Biography

After receiving a degree in horticulture from UW Madison, Kim Flottum worked four years in the USDA Honey Bee Research Lab, studying pollination ecology. After that, he spent two years raising acres of fruits and vegetables, where bees played a large role. He brings this experience, plus nearly 20 years of writing and editing articles for beekeepers in the monthly magazine Bee Culture. He is the publisher of books on honey bee pests and diseases, marketing, queen production, beekeeping history, beginning beekeeping, and the classic industry reference, The ABC & XYZ of Bee Culture.

Table of Contents

Introduction	10	(1)
A New Concept	10	(4)
In the Beginning	14	(18)
First Steps Where Will You Put Your Hives?	14	(3)
Equipment Tools of the Trade	17	(5)
Personal Gear	22	(3)
The Bees	25	(7)
About Bees	32	(34)
Overview	32	(1)
The Queen	33	(10)
The Workers	43	(8)
Foragers	51	(7)
Drones	58	(1)
Seasonal Changes	59	(5)
Summary	64	(2)
About Beekeeping	66	(46)
Introduction	66	(1)
Lighting Your Smoker	66	(2)
Installing a Package	68	(6)
Honey Flow Time	74	(1)
Keeping Records	75	(1)
Opening a Colony	75	(3)
Honeycomb and Brood Combs	78	(1)
Medication Use and Integrated Pest Management	79	(1)
Maladies	80	(13)
Summertime Chores	93	(1)
Late Summer Harvest	94	(10)
Fall and Winter Management	104	(4)
Early Spring Inspections	108	(4)
About Beeswax	112	(14)
Making Candles	112	(4)
Making Cosmetic Creams	116	(4)
Making Soap	120	(4)
Other Beauty Benefits from Your Hive and Garden	124	(2)
About Honey	126	(30)
Using Honey	126	(1)
Recipes with Honey and Your Garden Harvest	126	(30)
Glossary	156	(4)
Resources	160	(4)
Index	164	(2)
Illustration Credits	166	(1)
About the Author	167