So many bee-books, and so little time!
What are the good books to read? Where is best to get them?
Hopefully this roadmap will help clear up some of the choice-confusion.
The first section has recommendation based on experience level,
the second section suggests a reading roadmap,
and the third section lists sources for obtaining bee books.
1. Classifying bee books by experience level:
These categories are separated not by difficulty level, but by the amount of unique information within them. Most beginners books tend to resemble the other beginners books, while advanced books will hold more specialized and unique information. Not everyone will agree with my categorization, but what is important is that you recognize that there are categories. Draw the lines where they make sense to you.
I classify bee books into these loose categories: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and Bee-related.
a) Beginners books: Primarily Focused on equipment, terminology, and basic concepts.
Unfortunately, the majority of bee books published since 2007 fall into my "Beginner's" category. The CCD-era gold rush that started in 2007 lead to a proliferation of beginners books, most of which duplicate each other. I suggest reading one or two, but don't get stuck here.
Examples of Beginners books:
* Beekeeping for Dummies, by Howland Blackiston* The Complete Idiots guide to Beekeeping, by Buzz Bissinger and Dean Stiglitz* The Backyard Beekeeper: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Keeping Bees, by Kim Flottum
b) Intermediate Books: These moving the focus beyond equipment and terminology, into techniques.
These books have both breadth and depth, yet still require foundational knowledge from the reader.
Examples of Intermediate books:
Examples of Intermediate books:
* The beekeepers Handbook, by Sammataro/Avitabile* Hive Management, by Richard Bonney* The Practical Beekeekeeper, Vols I,II,II, by Michael Bush.* At the hive entrance, H. Storch.
c) Advanced beekeeping books: Books from the bee masters, or dealing with specialized topics.
These books deal with specialized topics, and require both knowledge and experience in order to derive the most benefit.
Examples of Advanced beekeeping books:
* Honey farming, by R.O.B. Manley* 50 Years Among The bees, by Dr. C.C. Miller* Honeybee Democracy, by T. Seeley* The Joy of Beekeeping, Richard Taylor.
d) Bee related: Books about the culture, politics, or philosophy of beekeeping.
There's a lot of books out there that LOOK like beekeeping, but will not teach you beekeeping. Some are merely interesting, some are sensationalist, and some are magnificent. These are often mistaken for actual beekeeping books. Recognize the difference, and know that these can still be rewarding. (And you will find hidden gems of beekeeping knowledge).
As we are Calgarians, I'll limit my recommendation to one:
As we are Calgarians, I'll limit my recommendation to one:
* Bad Beekeeping, by Ron Miksha.
2) A suggested reading roadmap:
Don't know where to start? Here's some of my favorites, and an order to read them in. Each of these build and complement the others.
1. Beekeeping for dummies, Blackiston2. Backyard beekeeping, Flottum3. The beekeeper's handbook, Sammotoro.4. At the hive entrance, Storch.5. The practical beekeeper Volume III, Bush.6. 50 Years among the bees, Miller.7. The Joy of beekeeping, Taylor.
3) Where to obtain Bee books.
Whether you are looking for a mass published book, something a little less common, or even a rare and out of print book, you'll been able to find what you need from one of the following four sources. There is overlap between these sources, but each has a unique enough catalog to warrant mention. There are many other possible sources, but I'd be surprised if they have any titles not available from one of the four below.
These are ordered from most-mainstream to most-niche.
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com
We all know Amazon. Competitive prices and helpful reviews. A broad selection of current books, but a limited selection of older and niche beekeeping books.
Amazon also sells books by Nabu Press, who are noteworthy for scanning and reprinting out of print books that would otherwise be unavailable. It was thanks to Nabu Press that I was able to obtain a reprinted copy of the USDA's 1912 manual on comb honey production.
Search Amazon for the keywords "Nabu Beekeeping" for some very novel titles that you won't come across anywhere else.
Northern Bee Books: http://www.northernbeebooks.co.uk/
Northern bee books is the only source I know of that specializes in bee books. They also resurrect and reprint out-of-print titles. They've helpfully broken their catalog down into categories, the most helpful of which is the "Bee Masters" category. You simply can't go wrong reading any of these books. I've even ordered a few books off of their site that I'd never heard of or seen elsewhere, and been very pleased by the original material. They are like your own beekeeping-book concierge.
International Bee Research Association: http://www.ibrabee.org.uk/index.php/our-shop
The IBRA has an online shop with an incredible selection of high quality books. A lot of their catalogue is unique to them, and not available elsewhere.
Many books on tropical beekeeping, or beekeeping in deveoping countries. They also have some *AMAZING* Children's bee-books.
Ebay: http://www.ebay.ca
On the rare occasion that you're seeking a book that's out of print, and unavailable from other sources, you may be lucky enough to find it on ebay. Lots of older books are listed on Ebay, but finding a particular book at a reasonable price requires patience. After having exhausted all other sources, I was able to find a 1948 copy of E.B. Wedmore's "Manual of beekeeping". (It has since become available as a reprint, thanks to Northern Beek Books).
Google books: https://books.google.ca/
If for whatever reason, you can't find the book you want anywhere else, try Google Books. Google books has many out-of-print titles that are unavailable elsewhere, thanks to Google's efforts to scan and digitize....Everything. If you find yourself needing books from this category, it's probably time to put down the bee books and go do something else for a change.
/Created 2015, updated April 2017, Updated and published online May 2024.
These are ordered from most-mainstream to most-niche.
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com
We all know Amazon. Competitive prices and helpful reviews. A broad selection of current books, but a limited selection of older and niche beekeeping books.
Amazon also sells books by Nabu Press, who are noteworthy for scanning and reprinting out of print books that would otherwise be unavailable. It was thanks to Nabu Press that I was able to obtain a reprinted copy of the USDA's 1912 manual on comb honey production.
Search Amazon for the keywords "Nabu Beekeeping" for some very novel titles that you won't come across anywhere else.
Northern Bee Books: http://www.northernbeebooks.co.uk/
Northern bee books is the only source I know of that specializes in bee books. They also resurrect and reprint out-of-print titles. They've helpfully broken their catalog down into categories, the most helpful of which is the "Bee Masters" category. You simply can't go wrong reading any of these books. I've even ordered a few books off of their site that I'd never heard of or seen elsewhere, and been very pleased by the original material. They are like your own beekeeping-book concierge.
International Bee Research Association: http://www.ibrabee.org.uk/index.php/our-shop
The IBRA has an online shop with an incredible selection of high quality books. A lot of their catalogue is unique to them, and not available elsewhere.
Many books on tropical beekeeping, or beekeeping in deveoping countries. They also have some *AMAZING* Children's bee-books.
Ebay: http://www.ebay.ca
On the rare occasion that you're seeking a book that's out of print, and unavailable from other sources, you may be lucky enough to find it on ebay. Lots of older books are listed on Ebay, but finding a particular book at a reasonable price requires patience. After having exhausted all other sources, I was able to find a 1948 copy of E.B. Wedmore's "Manual of beekeeping". (It has since become available as a reprint, thanks to Northern Beek Books).
Google books: https://books.google.ca/
If for whatever reason, you can't find the book you want anywhere else, try Google Books. Google books has many out-of-print titles that are unavailable elsewhere, thanks to Google's efforts to scan and digitize....Everything. If you find yourself needing books from this category, it's probably time to put down the bee books and go do something else for a change.
/Created 2015, updated April 2017, Updated and published online May 2024.
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