Best Book

[Poly Hive]

I recently saw the Haynes book being extolled. Now I would sort of trust them for a car but.. so I do not own a copy.

Which book do you think the best for a total beginner who wants to keep bees?

I should add I am encountering people who are not members of anything, do not have a mentor, do not have a book and are totally relying on the WWW. Brave souls, I think swimming in a pool of disinformation.

PH

 

[domino]

The Haynes bee manual book is excellent.

 

[roche]

Clive de Bruyn - Practical Beekeeping

 

[Millet]

The First book i read around 7 years ago got me kick started and guess which book it was....it was the Haynes bee manual personally i think it has a good bit of information in there for anyone wishing to take beekeeping up on his jack jones.. i have no mentor and i am not a member of any club but that book helped me loads and so did this forum.
I own two more books.. The Buzz About Bees which is a cracking book and The Beekeepers Problem Solver by James E Tew which is not good imo... as you may have gathered i'm not really a book person..

 

[user 6228]

A beginner needs to think things through and appreciate the level of sophistication of the honeybee colony and how to sort through the disinformation.So a first book to read I would suggest the Honeybee democracy. It does not tell you how to do anything, but it tells you what the bees do. Particularly on, that worrying to some, subject of swarming.

 

[fatshark]

Whatever Teach Yourself Beekeeping is now called, by Clare Waring.

Of course, it should be entitled, Get a mentor for better beekeeping. Whatever, the content is good.

 

[mbc]

Bees at the bottom of the garden to begin with followed by Ted Hooper imho

 

[Uncle Betty]

I like Roger Patterson's book for explanation of swarming, and increase. And I like his style of writing anyway.

Haynes for the visual representation of how to deal with queen cells (nuc method/artificial swarm/can't find the queen. A nicely presented book, but overly-reliant on big glossy pictures, IMO.

Clive de Bruyn's 'Practical Beekeeping' also.

 

[wightbees]

I think it's the big pictures that make it good for beginners. My first book was hard going with little in the way of pictures and knowing nothing at the time, it was hard work. Those pictures are a thousand words to a total beginner.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Bees at the bottom of the garden to begin with followed by Ted Hooper imho

 

[Millet]

If i buy that boooooooooooooooook will it make me a better bee wrangler.. ? .

 

[madasafish]

If i buy that boooooooooooooooook will it make me a better bee wrangler.. ? .

One possible answer to your question is:" Could you be any worse"? but I could not possibly agree as I am sure you are "perfect in every way"/....


Apologies: could not resist it...A New Year's Resolution...

 

[roche]

Thinking about it again, for an absolute beginner who might be thinking about keeping bees, but hasn't actually got any yet, the Ladybird book on beekeeping might not be bad. It introduces most concepts, but doesn't go into the same depth as Hooper or De Bruyn.

 

[linoleum bonypart]

Haynes is ideal..... very well set out

 

[Millet]

One possible answer to your question is:" Could you be any worse"? but I could not possibly agree as I am sure you are "perfect in every way"/....


Apologies: could not resist it...A New Year's Resolution...

 

[Spikedog]

Our association recommends for beginners - Bees at the bottom of the garden followed by (the intense) Hooper.

 

[Jambo]

I found Bees at the bottom of the garden was ok to whet the appetite, but I wanted something more substantial (details on varroa for example) so got de Bruyn which I find excellent.

 

[Webby]

The Haynes bee manual is a great beginners book.

 

[SDM]

A beginner needs to think things through and appreciate the level of sophistication of the honeybee colony and how to sort through the disinformation.So a first book to read I would suggest the Honeybee democracy. It does not tell you how to do anything, but it tells you what the bees do. Particularly on, that worrying to some, subject of swarming.

By accident rather than by design, this was my first bee book, before in fact I had my first bees. It sealed the deal on my fascination as well as providing the understanding of why future practical manuals were asking me to do what they instructed. It was.followed by Hooper and De Bruyn together, but I think virtually anything would have been fine.
Its an unusual route but one that's always left me feeling Beekeeping is easy. My first nuc had become 7 colonies by the end of season 1, all with queens I'd grafted and raised myself.
I should emphasize that a really good mentor played no small part( Cheers Tony), but I'd like to think, I was no real burden. Seeing him to tell him what I'd done or was about to do rather than needing to be constantly told.
Would it work for everyone? Someone should find out.

 

[REDWOOD]

If you buy one book then it's plane sailing, just follow the book so to speak, but with two books you start getting conflicting beekeepers, by three books it all starts getting very messy, four any you're done for good.
If you don't want too much scientific facts and figures and just want to know how to become a beekeeper then go for Haynes and Ted Hooper as they are pretty much on par