Beekeeping can be quite challenging, especially for beginners. Even professionals are bound to forget a thing or two every once in a while. While websites could be a great source of information, books go far more in-depth and could connect to you on a personal level.
When looking for a good beekeeping book, there are several things to look at. These are things like how to solve hive problems, how to prevent and treat pests, when to harvest honey, how to harvest honey, how to protect yourself, and what to do when you can not. The list goes on and on.
With many publishers and authors in the beekeeping industry, you may find it difficult to know which one to choose. Rest assured, as this is a complete guide to all the best beekeeping books for beginner beekeepers.
Best Beekeeping Books For Complete Beginners
Beekeeping requires a relatively steep learning curve, and the last thing you want as a beginner beekeeper is to have your little bee friends as guinea pigs, trying out something you saw online that may or may not have been in context. It’s a lot more difficult to go wrong with books since publishers dislike failures or false information.
By the time a book is published, you will notice that it has accolades from industry leaders or journals. That is what we call a quality guarantee! Let’s get right into it. Listed below are some of the ten best beekeeping books for beginners, complete summaries, and just why it could benefit you! (because it is impossible to choose one)
First Lessons In Beekeeping: Keith S. Delaplane
First lessons in beekeeping introduce the complete basics of beekeeping to complete beginners. In writing the book, the author uses text that is easy to read, understand, and includes good quality color photos.
The author is a professor of Entomology. He has headed honey bee research at the University of Georgia. Keith Delaplane has had a long association with beekeeping, and he shares insightful information to give beekeepers a deeper understanding of their bees and how they work and think. He also goes into detail without using dumbed-down context, although the aim is to educate amateur beekeepers.
This book contains information about the biology of bees and contains bee management, equipment, honey production, honey processing, honey, and bee disease diagnosis and treatments.
First lessons in beekeeping will open the world of beekeeping and honeybees to any beginner beekeeper and is a helpful guide to your first difficult steps when owning a hive with bees. You could note that this book is often included in beekeeping starter kits and should definitely be used!
Homegrown Honey Bees: An Absolute Beginner’s Guide To Beekeeping Your First Year, From Hiving To Honey Harvest: Alethea Morrison
If you are completely new in the wonderful world of beekeeping, then stop everything you’re doing and grab yourself a copy of this amazing book! It is a complete gateway to the beekeeping world and is specifically formulated and designed for absolute beginners.
This book aids as a mentor for the first year of being a beekeeper, which is the most difficult year. It is very easy and common to lose your entire colony during the first year, and no beekeeper dreams of it.
This top beekeeping book will be your first companion, showing you what to look for when you open your hive, helping you to identify the different members in your colony and the roles they play.
This book will undoubtedly show you the ropes and make the experience of being a new beekeeper so much fun. It is easy to read and contains wonderful color photographs that will help you understand everything in the correct context.
Practical Beekeeping: Clive De Bruyn
This beekeeping guidebook is, in my opinion, one of the best of the bests. This beekeeping guidebook lays out all the containing information in an easy-to-digest way. Clive De Bruyn breaks down beekeeping into several separate topics throughout the book.
All the information in this book is given in small amounts that readers can easily study and absorb. The book is organized into topics that cover the necessary factors to produce honey, and all the information is gathered over 30 years!
This book looks at honey bees, different climates, weather circumstances, equipment, management, as well as different methods of marketing and packaging of beehive products.
Practical Beekeeping is set out to be a very insightful and useful book to beekeepers new to the craft and even to those who already have some experience. This book will surely make beekeeping more fun and is one of the best-selling books worldwide.
Backyard Bees: A Guide For The Beginner Beekeeper: Doug Purdie
Modern beekeeping only requires small amounts of space and a love for bees. This book is a beekeeping guide written to guide you on how to install your first beehive and how to maintain it over time. It also shows you how easy it actually is to have a healthy colony of bees in your hive and when to harvest honey.
It covers extensive research and advice on how to choose your first hive. It even educates you on the equipment you will need to run a successful beekeeping operation! The guide includes 20 recipes for honey, which can certainly come in handy!
This is a good beginner’s book for urban beekeeping. It highlights why more people should save bees and take up beekeeping as a hobby. It will give you insight into the life cycle of bees, diseases, and any neighboring issues.
This book may not be relied on solely as a guide but is definitely a good addition to your beekeeping resource books. It also contains vibrant pictures that clarify all the information. Any beginner beekeeper purchasing this book gets a book worthy of keeping!
The Beekeepers Problem Solver- 100 Common Problems Explored And Explained: James E. Tew
As we all know, there are many problems, and challenges beekeepers encounter. This book looks at all these problems that beekeepers encounter and explores the solutions to these problems.
This beekeeping book gives beekeepers a deeper and more clear understanding of what exactly is required for successful beekeeping. It also explores all the critical areas of beekeeping, including hive management and health and safety requirements.
This book is a true and accurate reflection of the commitment beekeeping takes, even if you are a beginner. Each of the problems encountered in the book is approached in an in-depth way.
Diagrams and photographs are used alongside text to share a wide array of visual studies and practical tips.
Best Backyard: The Backyard Beekeeper: Kim Flottum
If you want to start a bee colony in your backyard to complement your garden, you will benefit most from this guide! This excellent and well-written book aims to make beekeeping an enjoyable and accessible backyard pastime.
It is targeted toward absolute beginners, containing lots of practical and fun tips and techniques to get you started. It features expert advice on different topics like setting up your colonies and caring for them. It also helps you set a location for your hives, swarm control, harvesting honey, common diseases, and much more!
This book is the 4th edition of the worldwide known title. New additions to the text include information on pest management, providing adequate and consistent food for your colony, and even tips for urban beekeepers.
Reviewers say that this is the guide to use and is worth having if you’re new to beekeeping, and it all comes with a reasonable price!
Build Your Own Beekeeping Equipment: Tony Pisano
With a fairly self-explanatory title, this book provides you with step-by-step instructions on how to craft all the basic structures you will need to keep bees. If you’re handy, you will easily be able to make all the infrastructure you need with the help of this book.
The book consists of 35 building projects, including essentials like frames, nucs, feeders, covers, swarm catchers, and many more. It even contains a special section for installing electrical fencing.
This book does require a basic knowledge of woodworking, so if you have never used a saw in your life, this book may not be for you. However, if you know your way and are comfortable in a workshop, you will be able to use this book and not only save money but learn loads of new things along the way!
Beekeeping For Dummies: Howland Blackiston
This beekeeping book is excellent for backyard beekeepers. It gathers all the information you need when getting started with your first colony. It also guides you when assembling your hives, as well as the maintenance.
The beekeeping for dummies book enables you to breeze through the various stages of honey production readily. Additionally, please don’t mind the title; the dummies thing is just the publisher’s thing. This book is actually well-suited for all skill levels.
This book uses both text and pictures and is adequately described as a guide. There are six areas of beekeeping covered in this book, such as management, maintenance, keeping bees in the suburbs and city, and how to get bees and keep them safe.
The book also delves deep into your general beehive inspections. It gives you perspective information about identifying and fixing common problems within your beehive and bees.
Beginning Beekeeping: Everything You Need To Make Your Hive Thrive: Tanya Philips
The author of this beautifully written book is a prolific beekeeper with a large apiary in Texas, USA. She shares not only her burning passion for bees but as well as her remarkable knowledge and skills about the practice.
With 192 pages, this book contains more than 100 color photos that make the understanding of the contents very straightforward. It is also a great overall guide for amateur beekeepers, as the book is well researched and detailed.
This book will be the difference between a beginner and an intermediate beekeeper. As you gain your experience, this book will still benefit you for reference purposes.
Additionally, this book will make you love bees and beekeeping even more than you already do. The information is relevant, pertinent, and has a clear and easy layout.
Natural Beekeeping: Organic Approaches To Modern Apiculture, 2nd Edition: Ross Conrad
The author has put together 304 pages of excellent information suitable for both beginners and experienced beekeepers. The author is also a prolific writer in beekeeping circles and has been leading several bee-related presentations.
This book includes mostly up-to-date information and also incorporates information about a more organic approach to beekeeping. The book is a great guide on chemical-free beekeeping and how to manage your bees organically.
The book also includes great content about urban beekeeping, the marketing of honey and beehive products, including a comprehensive and educational glossary. Another reason this book is so useful is that you get contact numbers and email addresses for beekeeping equipment, relevant agencies, and beekeeping supplies.
Conclusion
Books are great, and no one will ever be able to change my mind. However, I will admit that there is a limitation to them. The limitation is that you will have to wait possibly years before an updated version of your favorite beekeeping book is available. Meanwhile, the beekeeping practice is ever-changing.
There is no doubt in my mind that there are daily developments, studies, and challenges that you should know about. This is why I, along with reading books, subscribe to daily beekeeping magazines that can help me fill any knowledge gaps I might have!
