book recommendation for new beekeeper

[Grif]

Hello.

I am about to start my beekeeping hobby and would like a book recommendation please.

If you were going to recommend just one book, which would it be?

P.S. I already have the ladybird book from years ago.

Thankyou in advance

 

[Galaxy55]

Hi Grif and welcome

If I was to mention just one book it Ted Hoopers - Guide to Bees and Honey although very comprehension it is very hard going. An introductory book would be The Haynes Bee Manual - lots of pictures and very informative.

Mark

 

[pargyle]

Been round this topic a few times over the years ... Try a search using the searrch function for 'Books for Beginners' ...

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=26188&highlight=books+beginners

Will give you a start ... But:

Hoopers for the Bookshelf and reference for the rest of your beekeeping days.
The Haynes Bee Manual for a step by step guide through your first year and probably more.
Bees at the Bottom of the Garden to get you started.

Then there's just dozens that you could read - some good, some bad - also depends on what sort of beekeeper you want to be - but you won't know that until you've read a few books and been beaten to death on here a few times.

Good luck - it doesn't really matter WHAT you read about bees - they haven't read the book anyway !

 

[alldigging]

Haynes because it is a nice book with a good mix of words and pictures.

Hooper because is good.

Buy both these.

Ask what the library has and borrow everything they have.

 

[itma]

Sadly, no one book has a monopoly of wisdom.
Same goes for authors!

Hence, sadly, it is necessary to 'read around' a bit.

The Haynes Manual makes an excellent starting place for what beekeeping is about.
Hooper is excellent on what bees do, but (except for a few posthumously added pages) has nothing about varroa - which nowadays comes into so many aspects of 'bee management'. Nevertheless, an excellent reference that deserves the place it has on most informed beekeepers' bookshelves! (Despite the rather old-fashioned writing style, with longer sentences than mine, it is good stuff.)
Expect to buy a few books.

Sadly, I cannot recommend the BBKA Guide to Beekeeping, which should do what you are looking for. But isn't.

Do take a look through the 'Books & Media' section of this forum, where many books have been reviewed/discussed.

Good advice to check out your County library catalogue (not just the local branch). See what you think might be useful to buy before you splash the cash.


However, don't expect to learn beekeeping purely from books (let alone one book).

 

[Dishmop]

One that is understandable and seems logical. Any book which mentions matchsticks........., give it to the local charity dhop.

 

[fatshark]

"Get started in beekeeping" by Adrian and Clare Waring (ISBN 1444101188) at less than £8 is a good guide. For a beginner it's better than Hooper … though you'll need/want/read Hooper in due course if you continue.

The Waring book is nearly identical to the earlier "Teach Yourself Beekeeping" so buy that if you can find a 2nd hand copy.

 

[ratcatcher]

beekeeping for dummies easy to understand

 

[Father Fox]

Hooper and Haynes

 

[Edwardking]

The BBKA Guide to Beekeeping - excellent (now sit back and watch the full-scale attacks on my recommendation - it'll give you a taste of life on here!). Enjoy.

 

[Dishmop]

I read three books.

Rather like variations on a theme.

Then I found the forum.

 

[rayt]

I agree with edwardking. Bbka book was useful. Found Ted Hooper a bit dull, ponderous and confusing until AFTER I read bbka book. Then things started to make sense.
Saves coming on here and getting sarcastic put downs and admonishment.

 

[sail819]

I agree, both good books, the Haynes in particular for the good coloured pictures.

 

[alanf]

No one book suits everybody. I think a lot depends on what your own background is, that is the style of textbooks you're used to. Hooper has been recommended ever since it appeared in the 1970s. There's a lot in there, however it's very dense text and by modern standards the indexing is poor. The Haynes manual is good, lots of pictures which give a better idea of what you're getting into. However it is usually a few pounds more expensive than other general beekeeping guides. If you're used to modern textbooks and reports, David Cramp has a more "bullet point" style that those more recently in education might find easier to follow, it's also more of an international perspective.

Local beekeeping associations often have a small library you could look through. Even if they don't, members are usually willing to show you what they use.

As a free starter and illustrated glossary of the equipment and some terminology you can do a lot worse than start with the supplier's catalogues. Thornes and Maisemore both do PDF versions you can download. Their hives tend more to the traditional wooden versions they make, there are several suppliers of poly versions if that appeals but the variations are a topic in itself.

 

[itma]

The BBKA Guide to Beekeeping - excellent (now sit back and watch the full-scale attacks on my recommendation - it'll give you a taste of life on here!). Enjoy.

There is a thread in the Books section discussing that book. http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=20944


In that thread I posted

Well, I did buy The BBKA Guide in the end (it is actually now on the exams book list).

Sorry. NOT recommended.


There are indeed rather a lot of text editing mistakes. As though when re-phrased, not all the original words had been deleted. I'm not talking here about facts or information, I'm referring to whether or not the words as printed make a meaningful sentence.
The book needs the services of a proper proof-reader.

The index is pitifully inadequate. People need to be able to look things up.
The book needs the services of a proper indexer.


And when it comes to content, there is a lot of standard uncontroversial stuff.
BUT it does quite frequently veer off into personal quirks (smoker between the knees), as well as stuff that many people might nowadays think wrong (warm way keeps the bees warmer, cold way gives them more ventilation), and stuff that you'd think that the BBKA ought to be specifically warning AGAINST rather than endorsing (letting the bees clean out your extractor!) --- without any indication whatsoever of a departure from general orthodoxy!
The book really needs to be peer reviewed; to be a BBKA Guide it needs to be more than one chap's opinions.

But the graphic design and page layout is actually quite attractive.
Which may result in it selling well. And all manner of bad practices being perpetuated.

 

[BeeJayBee]

I am about to start my beekeeping hobby and would like a book recommendation please.

If you were going to recommend just one book, which would it be?

P.S. I already have the ladybird book from years ago.

As you've already got the Ladybird book I'd recommend you get the Haynes Bee Manual. The style suits most learning models, with images and graphics alongside text.

Prices vary, it's worth checking ebay for the cheapest.

Hooper has been recommended ever since it appeared in the 1970s. There's a lot in there, however it's very dense text and by modern standards the indexing is poor.

Indexing for the edition I have is appallingly bad, cross referencing to the wrong pages.

It's a book to read when you have time, but the pages of solid text means it can take too long to find the information you want. Most people using the internet (for example to find and read threads like this one) are likely to find more up-to-date information online than in Hooper.

 

[enrico]

Bees at the bottom of the garden.....easy nighttime read!
E

 

[Tomo]

Haynes Manual first. Great photos, then "Bees at the bottom of the garden". Well written book for beginners and experienced bee keepers.