Storey's Guide to Keeping Honey Bees

by Sanford, Malcolm T.; Bonney, Richard E.

• ISBN13: 9781612129839
• ISBN10: 1612129838
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2018-07-10
• Publisher: Storey Books

Summary

This trusted handbook is a must-have for novice and seasoned beekeepers alike. Now totally redesigned and featuring color photos and graphics, the second edition also includes up-to-date information on honey bee health. The go-to reference presents comprehensive yet accessible information on everything from planning hives and installing a colony to preventing disease and managing productive hives that will bear bountiful honey harvests year after year.

Author Biography

Dr. Malcolm T. Sanford is professor emeritus at the University of Florida. He has been published extensively in the apiculture press including the journals Bee Culture and American Bee Journal. He has been the author of The Apis Newsletter for more than 20 years at Ohio State University and the University of Florida, writing on beekeeping management, and is the coordinator of the Apis Information Resource Center. He has been a beekeeping management consultant in Egypt, Italy, France, Chile, Ecuador, Iraq, and Mexico. He lives in Gainesville, Florida.

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

Acknowledgments
Preface      

1 Beginning Beekeeping
Seven Basic Tips for Getting Started • Dimensions of Beekeeping • The Beekeeper’s Commitment • Financial Considerations • Stings • Legal Considerations • Finding Resources

2 Origin and History of Beekeeping 
Honey Bee Evolution • History of Beekeeping

3 A Bee’s Life        
What Is a Honey Bee? • Inside the Colony • The Queen • The Worker • The Drone • The Varroa Mite • Activities and Behavior • Patterns of Behavior

4 Choosing Hive Location   
The Colony and Your Community • Weather Issues • Forage Availability

5 Getting Equipped             
Hive Design and Dimensions • Hive Materials • Supers • Frames and Foundation • Bottom Board • Queen Excluder • Covers • Hive Stand • Hive Scale • Feeders • Pollen Trap • Tools of the Trade • Beekeeper Garb

6 Enter the Bees  
Smoker Basics • Package Bees • Installing a Nucleus Colony • Starting with an Established Colony • Swarm! • A Wild or Feral Colony

7 Managing Honey Bee Colonies       
Working a Colony • The Beekeeper as Manager • A Colony’s Yearly Life Cycle • Population Cycle • The Apicultural Calendar • Late-Season Management • Requeening • Managing Nutrition • Cooking for the Bees

8 Taking the Crop
The Honey Crop • Harvesting the Crop • Processing the Crop • Storing the Crop • Chunk and Comb Honey • Other Bee Products

9 Pollination         
Unique Challenges • Small-Scale Pollination • Is Pollination for You?

10 Diseases and Pests of the Honey Bee          
Innate Defense Mechanisms • Brood Diseases • Adult Diseases • Parasitic Mites • Integrated Pest Management • Tolerant or Resistant Stock • Colony Collapse Disorder • Wax Moth • Small Hive Beetle • Black Bears • For More Information

11 Additional Strategies
Beehive Design • Alternative Management Practices • Toward a Honey Bee–Friendly Future

Glossary     
Model Beekeeping Ordinance           
Sample Pollination Contract
Resources  
   A Sampling of U.S. Beekeeping Supply Houses • Sources of Beekeeping Information
Metric Conversion Charts
Index