Which book next?

[Tdod]

Hi
after starting beekeeping and reading as much as I can get hold of, which book would you recomend as a next step after the beekeeping for beginners type books, I have read bees at the bottom of the garden, haynes bee manual etc and are looking for a book which goes a bit more into detail.

what would you recomend as a good read

many thanks

 

[Beauhawk]

Without doubt the book I keep referring to now is Guide to Bees & Honey by Ted Hooper.

Highly recommended to experienced and newcomers alike

 

[psafloyd]

Without doubt the book I keep referring to now is Guide to Bees & Honey by Ted Hooper.

Highly recommended to experienced and newcomers alike

 

[madasafish]

Ted Hooper in my view is full of information very badly presented - and in my copy at least - lousy B&W pictures. Grossly over-rated..

A Practical Manual of Beekeeping: Cramp
is good.

Local Library is even better.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Without doubt the book I keep referring to now is Guide to Bees & Honey by Ted Hooper.

Highly recommended to experienced and newcomers alike

Also Practical Beekeeping by Clive de Bruyn - I've read cramp - O.K. but Hooper and de Bruyn I can't rate highly enough. (I prefer to read the words not the pictures BTW )

 

[sipa]

Listened to a talk on queen rearing at our local bka by Clive De Bruyn.

I was very exited when I learned he was coming, boy what a letdown !!

It was like he was talking to a bunch of school kids, he was scruffy and looked unclean, the content and delivery of his talk was very poor. I truly was surprised.

There was a lot of "you should do it this way" and but of course "I don't do it this way myself".

Rubbish

 

[buzz lightyear]

Hooper is the one for me.
On presentations: they are not books and we all have our off days.

 

[itma]

Hooper is very good.

BUT
- it is dated, even the latest "varroa" edition has only had a few pages added. The rest of the sacred text has not been revised, so everything presumes solid floors, as one example.
- the writing style itself is a bit dated, with long sentences and lots of subordinate clauses! This can make it a hard read at times!
- the pictures aren't good, and look very dated.

That said, he is good on what bees do and how they are likely to respond to what you do and thus how you should approach things.



I've seen two of Cramp's books and didn't like them or find them particularly useful. (Thanks to the library, I didn't lose money. I advise borrowing before buying any bee book, if at all possible.)



There's a lot of opinion and personal preference in beekeeping. Lots of different things can work, some definitely won't.
While it is simpler to say "do it like this" rather than confuse students with myriad options, that one way ain't always the best way for everyone. And some disciples will interpret the lesson as saying that it must be done that way and that way only.
So my advice is to borrow books from/through the local library (most association 'libraries' seem woeful) --- and to read many of them - even if you think they are rubbish they will help you form your own opinions, which is what its really all about.

 

[MonseigneurBienvenu]

Hooper comes highly recommended around here, certainly.

I have recently read Snelgrove's one on swarming (only a thin thing) and found it very, very interesting, but I think people tend to find it boring/prescriptive, so I'd probably say: borrow, don't buy. Manley's book is too centred around commercial beekeeping and in that is out of date, but is a great starting overview and just general read. William Herrod-Hempsall's one on anatomy, etc I personally found not very engaging (few pages started only), although it goes through the basics nicely. I much prefer old books to new, so that will always be my bias; I like the old photos, too. I guess it's because perspective and detail are important to me (e.g. if I see an old macro - I know how it was done and find that fascinating; when I see them describing an now old-fashioned hive - I like thinking about the evolution and reasoning to apply their text to new equipment).

 

[Black Comb]

Listened to a talk on queen rearing at our local bka by Clive De Bruyn.

I was very exited when I learned he was coming, boy what a letdown !!

It was like he was talking to a bunch of school kids, he was scruffy and looked unclean, the content and delivery of his talk was very poor. I truly was surprised.

There was a lot of "you should do it this way" and but of course "I don't do it this way myself".

Rubbish

Well I heard him speak last year and he was very good.
What has his appearance got to do with beekeeping?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Snelgroves 'The introduction of queen bees' is a damn good read as well. I enjoyed Manley's 'Beekeeping in Britain' especially as he describes the cycle of cr*p winter and summer weather followed by a bumper harvest we've had the last few yearsdown to a tee for 1943 and 1922 (I think)

And of course, purely for bedtime reading Tom Seeley's 'Honeybee Democracy'

 

[pargyle]

Ted Hooper in my view is full of information very badly presented - and in my copy at least - lousy B&W pictures. Grossly over-rated..

A Practical Manual of Beekeeping: Cramp
is good.

Local Library is even better.

Its got lots of information but its a really hard read and not well laid out.

At the Hive Entrance by Storch - good read - available as a free download. You'll find the pdf version on biobees site.

 

[Elaine]

If you are interested in bee behaviour - then Tom Seely's books are fascinating - Honybee Democracy and Wisdom of the HIve.

 

[enrico]

No amount of reading can beat personal hands on experience. Read a little and then get stuck in and learn from the bees!
E

 

[itma]

No amount of reading can beat personal hands on experience. Read a little and then get stuck in and learn from the bees!
E

Seeing lots of different colonies (and the same colonies at different times/seasons) is a great educational experience.
As is hearing about masses of other folks problems and solutions on here.

But it does help to have a foundation onto which you can attach the individual nuggets of experience. Build a picture from all the individual data points. And books do that foundation-building very well.

 

[sandysman]

No amount of reading can beat personal hands on experience. Read a little and then get stuck in and learn from the bees!
E

I'm with Enrico's on this. I've got most of the books mentioned here but I find the simple Bees at the Bottom of the garden and a bit of Enrico's comments AND the great advice on here get me through.
Andy

 

[Cie]

Bees and Honey, from Flower to Jar by Michael Weiler is a good read, written from the observer's point of view rather than the beekeeper's it covers everything based on the year rather than the hive.

[ame="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bees-Honey-Flower-Michael-Weiler/dp/0863155758/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374153697&sr=8-1&keywords=bees+and+honey+from+flower+to+jar"]Amazon link[/ame]

 

[ROACHMAN]

Ive got about 50 bee books, Hooper is alway the first book I pick up when I want to find something out

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Ive got about 50 bee books, Hooper is alway the first book I pick up when I want to find something out

And Cramp if the desk keeps wobbling

 

[tidymeup]

I have just read honey by the ton by Oliver field and found it rather interesting, it's a bit more of an insight to him but never the less a good read with some information you can take away with you.