Apiculture (beekeeping) Books

Book SynopsisBees are eusocial insects with highly successful cosmopolitan distribution. Honeybees contribute substantially to the worldwide healthy economy and food security as pollinators. On-going and well-documented declines and losses in managed honeybee colonies represent one of the current threats to insect crop pollination service. This book begins with a review on the genetic structure of dark European honey bee population in the Ural. Chapter two studies the use for feeding the honey bees by sugar syrup with ethanol extract from 15 medicinal plants. Chapter three focuses on three diseases causing enormous colony losses, and offers a wide range of management options mainly including organic acids, microbial metabolites, and bioactive phytochemicals derivate from plants. Chapter four examines findings on honeybee immunity. Chapter five describes the nutritional property of the honeybee larvae as foods or supplements and its medicinal property for some symptoms. Chapter six reviews the behavioral and physiological responses to the profitability of food sources in individual foragers and their consequences at a colony level. The last chapter examines the trends in categories of scholarly and professional journal articles written, and the likelihood of finding honeybee-related research articles.

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Book SynopsisWherever flowering plants flourish, pollinating bees, birds, butterflies, bats, and other animals are hard at work, providing vital but often unnoticed services. But many pollinators are in serious decline in the United States and worldwide. Preventing continued losses of our country''s pollinators requires immediate national attention, as pollinators play a critical role in maintaining diverse ecosystems and in supporting agricultural production. Some three-fourths of all native plants in the world require pollination by an animal, most often an insect, and most often a native bee. Pollinators, most often honey bees, are also responsible for one in every three bites of food we take, and increase our nation''s crop values each year by more than 15 billion dollars. Unabated, these losses of our pollinators threaten agricultural production, the maintenance of natural plant communities, and the important services provided by those ecosystems, such as carbon cycling, flood and erosion control, and recreation. This book discusses national strategies and research action plans to improve the health of honey bees and other pollinators.

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Book SynopsisAt the heart of every bee hive is a queen bee. Since her well-being is linked to the well-being of the entire colony, the ability to find her among the residents of the hive is an essential beekeeping skill. In QueenSpotting, experienced beekeeper and professional “swarm catcher” Hilary Kearney challenges readers to “spot the queen” with 48 fold-out visual puzzles — vivid up-close photos of the queen hidden among her many subjects.QueenSpotting celebrates the unique, fascinating life of the queen bee and chronicles royal hive happenings such as The Virgin Death Match, The Nuptual Flight — when the queen mates with a cloud of male drones high in the air — and the dramatic Exodus of the Swarm from the hive. Readers will thrill at Kearney’s adventures in capturing these swarms from the strange places they settle, including a Jet Ski, a couch, a speed boat, and an owl’s nesting box. Fascinating, fun, and instructive, backyard beekeepers and nature lovers alike will find reason to return to the pages again and again.

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Book SynopsisExpert beekeeper and swarm-catcher Hilary Kearney offers a unique window into the social lives and biology of these remarkable creatures, accompanied by the photos of world-renowned bee photographer Eric Tourneret. Readers will be awestruck by the hive as superorganism and how the individual bee lives and behaves within it, perfectly suited to each specific job it performs. From their intricate dances and information-rich pheromones to how they sense and respond to their environment, learn, and remember, this immersive journey into the world of bees offers an entirely new perspective on the wisdom of nature and our relationship to it.

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Book SynopsisHelp your hive thrive with this guide to beekeeping for new-bees. Wouldn''t it be great to raise your own bees, have a fresh supply of honey, and bring thousands of healthy pollinators into your yard? Beekeeping for Beginners is a simple, step-by-step guide that helps you learn the fundamentals of modern beekeeping. You (and your bees) will be buzzing with delight. From picking the right hive and bringing your bees home to surviving winter and collecting honey, experienced beekeeper Amber Bradshaw takes you on an easy-to-follow journey through your first year of beekeeping and beyond. Beekeeping for Beginners includes: Just the essentialsLearn everything you need to know to begin your first colonywritten with brand new beekeepers in mind. Modern beekeepingStart your colony off right with guides that feature the newest practices and current, natural approaches. Learn to speak beeClearly defined terms and a complete glossary will have you talking like a pro beekeeper in no time. Begin your beekeeping the right wayand avoid getting stung by mistakeswith Beekeeping for Beginners.

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Book SynopsisWith over 100 colour photographs and illustrations, Raising Resilient Bees is the comprehensive source for new and experienced beekeepers, offering a sustainable, natural and repeatable model of care for hive health and production. Global pests and diseases present an unprecedented challenge for the modern honey bee. Hobby and commercial beekeepers alike continue to experience troubling rates of mortality for their colonies, with potentially deleterious consequences for the stability of our wider ecosystems and overall food security. It is time for a global focus on restoring the health of the shared apiary by naturally rearing genetically diverse and resilient lines of bees. Raising Resilient Bees establishes these parameters and provides guidance for new and experienced beekeepers alike to translate these goals into real practice, thereby safeguarding the honey bee from the unknown threats of the future. Authors Eric and Joy McEwen take two decades worth of beekeeping experience, experiments and professional production to deliver groundbreaking methods in queen-rearing, varroa mite management and Natural Nest hive design. Inside, you’ll discover: Revived and adapted heritage Integrated Pest Management techniques How to naturally rear queens and select for resilient, mite-resistant genetic lines without relying on swarming or grafting Key tenets of apicentric beekeeping Advice for establishing a flourishing and sustainable business with beekeeping at the centre How to naturally rear bees with distinctive characteristics suitable to their locale As in large-scale agriculture, the trend toward genetic homogenization is having long-term implications for bees’ capacity to withstand diverse environmental stressors. With expert advice, enthusiasm and easy-to-follow instructions, Raising Resilient Bees delivers important and timely information for every beekeeper to create a healthier future.Trade Review"Right from the start, this book takes you on a journey that is fascinating and thought-provoking. . . The McEwens demonstrate creative, out-of-the-box thinking and challenge traditional ways of keeping bees."—American Bee Journal"Raising Resilient Bees challenges accepted practices in commercial beekeeping, based on decades of experience on an organic farm. . . [It's] inspiring. It will strike a chord with those who feel an instinctive love for the land and a desire to follow the most harm-free practices in agriculture."—Foreword Reviews“Beekeepers and the bee-curious alike will revel in this fresh offering from long-time honey bee stewards Eric and Joy McEwen. In a conversational and approachable fashion, this husband-and-wife team gracefully offers up solutions to some of the most difficult contemporary beekeeping problems. Beautiful photos and colorful illustrations provide vital basics for those new to the craft, as well as creative ideas for advanced beekeepers to mull over. Opening this book is opening a window into a resilient and regenerative beekeeping operation. Your bees will thank you for it.”—Sarah Red-Laird, founder and executive program director, the Bee Girl Organization (BGO); past president, Western Apicultural Society “Joy and Eric McEwen give a vivid, practical, evidence-based demonstration of how a commercial beekeeping enterprise of over 600 hives can work in a way that is more ecologically sustainable and bee-friendly, while remaining profitable enough to support a family and employees. Biodynamic and organic beekeepers will applaud the authors’ use of ‘Natural Nest’ hives with single-size boxes and vertically uninterrupted brood nests, populated with locally adapted bees and naturally reared queens.”—David Heaf, author of The Bee-Friendly Beekeeper; bee-friendly.co.uk“Raising Resilient Bees offered me a new way to consider honey bees. My previous framework was borrowed from Dr. Tom Seeley, who looked at the honey bee colony as a whole; something more than just individuals strung together. Eric and Joy McEwen have taken this a step further with their concept of the ‘hive bee-ing,’ which is not just the colony but also the environment in which it is housed and with which it interacts intimately. The McEwens look at every aspect of a honey bee’s life in this book—pest and disease issues, living space, the genetics of resistance and tolerance, qualities of successful queens, optimal feeding, and seasonal management that prioritizes the bee above the beekeeper. Resilience means being adaptable—finding new and better solutions to old problems. Adaptability. That is the best quality a honey bee, and a beekeeper, can have.”—Kim Flottum, author of The Backyard Beekeeper; host, Beekeeping Today Podcast “Raising Resilient Bees shares the McEwens’ quest and commitment to steward bees respectfully and responsibly. This guide is a mellifluous manifesto that touches upon the diversity and majesty of what it means to work in tandem with our honey bee relatives and Mother Nature. May stewards near and far find inspiration and motivation in the McEwens’ path of purpose, and may they learn to nurture their own beekeeping journeys through the Diggin’ Livin’ teachings.”—Melanie M. Kirby, founder and director, Adaptive Bee Breeders Alliance “Raising Resilient Bees is a comprehensive guide to beekeeping that emphasizes sustainable and ethical practices. Drawing on their years of experience as beekeepers and farmers, the McEwens offer practical advice on everything from setting up a hive to harvesting honey. This isn’t just a how-to manual. This book also explores the important roles bees play in our ecosystems and the threats they face, as well as guidance on how to support and protect these crucial pollinators. Raising Resilient Bees is a must-read for anyone interested in beekeeping, sustainability, and the natural world.”—Penny Livingston, permaculturist, beekeeper, and educator “Eric and Joy are a rare breed; professional beekeepers taking a creative and nuanced approach to commercial beekeeping. In Raising Resilient Bees, they consider the entire cycle of the professional beekeeper’s life and work with a sustainable focus, from sourcing salvaged timber for beehives to breeding locally adapted bees, modifying conventional hive designs to crafting high-value bee products. Eric and Joy’s hard work and deep commitment to learning from their bees and the local environment will be an inspiration to any aspiring beekeeper and to those wishing to transition to more sustainable practices.”—Tim Malfroy, owner, Malfroy’s Gold and Natural Beekeeping Australia“Much akin to the wondrous distillation that honey bees perform while alchemizing nectar from flowers into concentrated pearls of sweet, nutritious, and healing honey, Joy and Eric have distilled decades of earnest, caring, and arduous work tending their apiaries into pearls of valuable wisdom. As a seed grower, I have long marveled at the unique cosmic dance between bee and flower that gives rise to the seed, and this book amplifies this sense of wonder. If you are holding this book in your hands, then I presume that you too will be grateful for this valuable contribution to the art and science of natural beekeeping.”—Don Tipping, farmer and seedsman, Siskiyou Seeds“In Raising Resilient Bees, Eric and Joy not only provide us with a bee-centric approach to beekeeping but also a human-centric one. As farmers, our desire to practice a method of agriculture that seeks to regenerate our natural systems and resources rather than exploit them requires us to consider how to bring our whole human selves to the task. Raising Resilient Bees is not just a how-to manual on holistic beekeeping for hobbyists and professionals alike, but a manifesto on how we, as humans, can practice respect, humility, and love, in service to the earth and each other.”—Beth Hoinacki, farmer, Goodfoot Farm; president of Demeter Advisory Board, Biodynamic Demeter Alliance“Few relationships are as complex, and indeed as agonized over, as that between humans, honey bees, and our shared environment. This lovely book—a detailed guide, an homage, and a story all in one—offers huge insight to anyone currently beekeeping or considering entering into that great interspecies relationship with a view beyond the purely economic. Rich in detail, photos, diagrams, and the authors’ learnings—often from their own challenging experiments in bee breeding and care—Raising Resilient Bees conveys the McEwens’ love for bees and their admirable desire to ensure that the lessons learned from their good and bad times help others. We never do stop learning, and this book, part of a great beekeeping canon, will contribute immensely to your own learning journey.”—Vicki Hird, writer and campaigner; author of Rebugging the Planet “In this important new handbook, Eric and Joy McEwen provide a comprehensive approach to the extraordinary world of beekeeping and honey production. These two long-time practitioners offer detail and instruction for both the commercial farm enterprise as well as the homestead producer. It is authoritative, delightfully readable, and will be a lifelong reference.”—Garry Stephenson, professor emeritus, Center for Small Farms & Community Food Systems, Oregon State University“A Jacqueline Freeman journey through some super solid information. Eric and Joy McEwen cover all the bee basics and the challenges one should expect when getting started with the species. They offer a very genuine depiction, through real-life experiences, of what it takes to manage bees sustainably. Raising Resilient Bees is a testament to regenerative beekeeping by way of responsible practices, understanding of place, and most of all, the appreciation of deep bee ecology.”—Rob Keller, Napa Valley Bee Co."Simply stated, Raising Resilient Bees: Heritage Techniques to Mitigate Mites, Preserve Locally Adapted Genetics, and Grow Your Apiary is essential reading for anyone who aspires to keep bees, and has a great deal of practical value as a resource for even the more experienced beekeeper. Nicely illustrated with color photographic images, informatively comprehensive, exceptionally 'reader friendly in organization and presentation, Raising Resilient Bees is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, college, and university library bee keeping collections and as a textbook for supplemental Animal Husbandry and Entomology curriculum studies lists."—Midwest Book Review

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Book SynopsisBeekeeping is nothing new—the ancient Egyptians were well versed in the benefits of living with bees—but in recent years, there has been a surge of folks struck with the desire to build and nurture a hive of their own. Beekeeping has become the passion of farmers in rural Vermont, urbanites with rooftops in LA, and thousands of people in between. This book is for beginners and experts alike, with all the basic information you need to get started, as well as stories and tips that will inspire and instruct the most seasoned beekeeper.In this guide, you will learn how to:Choose a spot for your hiveBuild a hive with simple tools and materialsBuy bees or attract them to your hiveHarvest the fruits of the bees’ laborMake beeswax candles and lip balmUtilize honey, wax, and propolis for medicinal purposesAnd much more!Cummings offers readers something truly unique—a book that comes alongside you like a wise friend, offering sage advice as well as humorous anecdotes and fascinating interviews with beekeepers across the country. Equally good for reading while curled up inside during the long winter as for carrying with you to the hives mid-summer, this will be a welcome addition to any bee enthusiast’s library.

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Book SynopsisThis multifaceted book offers insight into everything bee-related: pollination, gardening, beekeeping and recipes. Whether you’re a first-time beekeeper or looking to improve and expand your backyard beekeeping, this book is a must-have. Beekeeping might seem exotic or old-fashioned, but around the world it is becoming more and more common to find a hive or two in urban spaces and suburban backyards. Some modern beekeepers are inspired by the desire to help out the frequently beleaguered creatures, others simply enjoy fresh honey from the most local of sources—the backyard garden. This book discusses your options for setting up a hive almost anywhere, how to plant a bee-friendly garden, and how to harvest and use your very own honey. Not only is it a great hobby, you’ll also be rewarded with a plentiful supply of honey that you can use in tea as well as for cooking, baking and perhaps even lip salve and skin cream. Everything the modern day beekeeper needs and more: Becoming a Beekeeper Setting Up Your Hive Getting the Right Gear Planting a Bee-Friendly Garden Trouble-Shoot Your Hive Harvest the Honey Plan for the Winter The honeybee is one of our greatest natural resources; bees work hard to pollinate our gardens and do an important job that we couldn’t do without. But bees are finding it increasingly difficult in the world that they share with us. States are reporting a hive of activity in the ‘backyards’ of rural and urban beekeepers. In fact, many states are beginning to alter preexisting ordinances in order to encourage more individuals to start beekeeping.   No other hobby can simultaneously help save the world and bring sweet treats to your table!

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Book SynopsisAll the Buzz for Beekeeping Beginners“The book oozes with bee facts and trivia….Bees do make good pets and this book is a gentle introduction to the world of backyard bee keeping.” —Patsy Bell Hobson, writer and master gardener emeritus#1 New Release in Entomology and Insects & SpidersWhat happens when a writer sets up a backyard beehive? You get a beekeeping book full of fun and fascinating facts about honey bees and our other favorite pollinators.A nature guide book for beekeeping beginners. Full of trivia, tips, legends, and lore—this quirky bee book swarms with interesting information, so you can have fun, learn stuff, grow your farm, or just relax. Writer and beekeeper Jack Mingo lives with half a million bees, and has picked up a thing or two at his bee farm. In this collection of humorous and often unusual observations, Mingo shows us a glimpse of the mystical and matriarchal world of bees.The save the bees sign you’ve been looking for. How many legs do bees have? Enough not to crowd your bed at night. They don't track mud or bugs into your house, and they won’t bark and whine. They even greet you with raw honey and beeswax. And these are just some of the reasons bees make the best pets of all. Whether you’re a beekeeping beginner, looking to save the bees, or interested in fun nature facts about bugs and insects, there’s something here for every nature lover.Step into Mingo’s hive for tidbits like: Fun and interesting tips and tricks for beekeeping beginners Knowledge about the color, quality, and benefits of local honey The history and legendary stories of bees, like the role they played in the Civil War and the Legend of the Caroling Bees If you liked Beekeeping for Dummies, The Beekeeper’s Handbook, or Beekeeping for Beginners, you’ll love Bees Make the Best Pets.Trade Review“In between musings both sacred and silly, Mingo provides facts about honeybees and how to raise them…. This is a lovely little book.”—Daily Local News, Pennsylvania “The book oozes with bee facts and trivia…. Bees do make good pets and this book is a gentle introduction to the world of backyard bee keeping.”—Patsy Bell Hobson, writer and master gardener emeritus

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Book SynopsisCornell university estimates that 14 billion dollars' worth of seed in the USA is pollinated by bees. Therefore, an extinction of bees would cause an economic and food security catastrophe. With this kind of emphasize on the need for bees in the ecosystem the study of bees (apiculture) is quite important. This apiculture book helps the reader understand bees in detail and using diagrams ad illustrations explains beekeeping. The book shows the bee parts, bee types and beehive types. The book further explores and discusses safety precautions and bee equipment. The book also tackles apiary management, in regards to general management practices, maintenance and colony management. In addition, bee nutrition is discussed per season with proper tips on bee nutrition requirement and best honey plants and pollen plants. Another aspect that is well covered is bee's pest and diseases, here a the most economically important pest and diseases are well discussed, there symptoms and their biological, chemical and physical control. To finalize, the book looks at beekeeping with common bee species, end products, management and marketing. This book is a good source of information for all levels of beekeepers from professional to beginner and smallholder to large scale bee farming.Table of Contents Chapter 1 Introduction to Apiculture Chapter 2 Honeybees Chapter 3 Beekeeping Equipment Chapter 4 Apiary Management Chapter 5 Bee Nutrition Chapter 6 Bee Pest and Diseases Chapter 7 Beekeeping with Common Species

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Book SynopsisBees make honey; we all know that. But what happens between the bee buzzing around our garden, and the sticky knife in the jar, is a mystery to most of us. How many bee-hours does it take to make just one jar of honey? What do the honeybees' waggling dances really mean? Why do bees swarm? What is a 'house bee'?From exploring their life cycle and development, to revealing their societies and behaviour, expert biodynamic beekeeper Michael Weiler answers these questions and many more.Combining poetic observations with scientific detail, The Secrets of Bees uncovers the incredible world of these remarkable insects.Trade Review'If you want to know about the lifecycle and development of the bee, this is the book for you. Written by an expert biodynamic beekeeper and combining scientific detail with poetic insight into this extraordinary and important insect.'--Paradigm Explorer'The author is not only an experienced beekeeper who looks after fifty colonies but also a committed teacher who possesses a great passion for bees and a deep understanding of their behaviour and nature...The text conveys the reader smoothly through this refreshing insight into the bees' world, the photographs, various biological illustrations, line drawings and tables are all designed to enhance the learning process from this book. On a literary note, there are also two delightful poems...to add to the reader's pleasure...Good value for money.'--Bee Keeping'Michael Weiler is an experienced beekeeper who looks after fifty colonies. He is a teacher with a great passion for bees and deep understanding of their nature. I had already begun to apply organic principles within my own beekeeping and I am now convinced that the biodynamic route is the one I shall take.'-- Philip Chandler of the Wholesome Food Association, in Star and Furrow, after participating in a day-course on 'The Nature of Bees and Biodynamic Beekeeping' with Michael Weiler organised by the BDAA'Informed by a Goethean perspective, this fascinating book about the life cycle of a bee tells the reader all they need to know about the subject.'--Scientific and Medical Network Review'This delightful and detailed little book takes us on a wonderful journey through the beekeeping year...The outline of the Demeter Beekeeping Guidelines at the back of the book will be especially useful to beekeepers considering how they can best work with their bees.'-- Sue Peat, The Anthroposophical Society in Great Britain Newsletter'If you're an experienced bee-keeper wishing to know your bees better, and more so if you're one that likes to share the art of bee keeping with fellow human beings, then this little book shows how!! The writer, Co-director of the Demeter association in Germany, takes us by the hand on a wonderful journey through the beekeeping year.'--Star and Furrow'From poetic opening lines to a royal jelly finale this wonderful book has been written from the heart-mind of a man who truly loves his bees. Readers may feel themselves transported to stand beside the beekeeper, accompanying him as he tends to his hive. Which is of course the book's defining strength. Well illustrated with excellent photographs and clear diagrams.'-- Harvests Magazine

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Book SynopsisModern beekeeping, influenced by new technologies and breeding methods, has increased honey production but left bee colonies weak and vulnerable to disease. With the alarming decline of the bee population raising concerns about an impending ecological crisis, many beekeepers are seeking a more sustainable way of caring for bees.Biodynamic Beekeeping is the first book to offer practical instruction on caring for bees using biodynamic theories and methods. By considering the influence of the movement of the stars and the planets on the bees' natural habits, biodynamics encourages beekeepers to be more in tune with their bees indicating, for example, the best days on which to inspect colonies or gather honey. This fascinating book offers beekeepers detailed advice and instruction on how to work more holistically, including:-- the challenges and advantages of breeding queen bees-- how to artificially induce swarming to propagate colonies-- how to use biodynamic ashing techniques to combat varroa mites-- instructions for making winter-feed according to current biodynamic thinkingTrade Review'David Heaf has prepared this excellent and clear translation, enabling an English-reading audience to access for the first time this biodynamic approach, and translating into modern beekeeping practice Rudolf Steiner’s indications on the essential nature of the honey bee... Plenty of interesting ideas for the thinking beekeeper!'-- Bees for Development Journal'This book is ideal for the conventional beekeeper who wants to convert to biodynamic methods or for the biodynamic beekeeper who wants to learn more.'--CygnusTable of ContentsForeword by David Heaf1. The Start of the Bee Year2. Caring for Bees According to Cosmic Rhythms3. The First Spring Inspection4. The Building Frame5. The Urge to Swarm6. Colony Regeneration and Propogation7. Breeding Queen Bees8. Honeycomb Construction9. Honey10. Feeding in Winter11. Bee Diseases12. Methods of Ash Usage13. The Cultivation of Plants for Bees14. The Conservation of Bees for the FutureBibliography and Recommended ReadingIndex

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Book SynopsisBees existed long before human beings, but our future is perhaps more reliant upon them than any other species. They pollinate 80 per cent of the world’s crops and plants, but how much do we really know about them? Small, clever and mysterious, the honeybee in particular has long been celebrated in human culture as a sacred insect, a symbol of the sun, bridging the gap between our world and the next. They are expert communicators, skilled aviators and natural alchemists, turning fresh nectar into sweet, golden honey. They are also in trouble and need our help. This beautifully illustrated guide explores the honeybee’s historic relationship with humans, the basics of beekeeping, and how we can help save the bees' dwindling population.Table of ContentsIntroduction The Honeybee and its Colony The First Beekeepers The Evolution of Beekeeping Beekeeping Heritage Bees and the Environment Honeybee Produce Further Reading Places to Visit Index

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Book SynopsisSince the second half of the 20th Century, our agricultural bee pollinators have faced mounting threats from ecological disturbance and pan-global movement of pathogens and parasites. At the same time, the area of pollinator-dependent crops is increasing globally with no end in sight. Never before has so much been asked of our finite pool of bee pollinators. This book not only explores the evolutionary and ecologic bases of these dynamics, it translates this knowledge into practical research-based guidance for using bees to pollinate crops. It emphasizes conserving wild bee populations as well as culturing honey bees, bumble bees, and managed solitary bees. To cover such a range of biology, theory, and practice from the perspectives of both the pollinator and the crop, the book is divided into two volumes. Volume 1 focuses on bees, their biology, coevolution with flowering plants, foraging ecology and management, and gives practical ways to increase bee abundance and pollinating performance on the farm. Volume 2 (this volume) focuses on crops, with chapters addressing crop-specific requirements and bee pollination management recommendations.Both volumes are essential reading for farmers, horticulturists and gardeners, researchers and professionals working in insect ecology and conservation, and students of entomology and crop protection.

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Book SynopsisWe need bees. And they need us. This small, informative and engaging guide to these terrific, tiny creatures will captivate and inspire readers of all ages. Discover the fascinating story of these marvels of nature with this perfect pocket guide, here to celebrate all things bee. Learn about their beehaviours, why they are under threat and how they are essential to our existence. From tips to help identify different species to bee habitats and folklore, this is the ideal companion for any bee lover looking to protect the future of our furry little friends. Inside you’ll find: Fascinating facts about all kinds of bees (did you know there are over 20,000 different species?) The essential place bees hold in our ecosystem and the countless benefits we gain from their existence Positive steps we can all take to tackle the serious decline of these incredible insects A variety of recipes and crafts, from easy honey cake to eco-friendly beeswax wraps

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Listen to the bees.Bees reflect human society – understand them and we can get a little closer to understanding ourselves. Humans and bees have enjoyed a close relationship for millennia, and the entries in this book reflect at least two thousand years of fascination with the world's favourite insect. Monarch, celebrity, monk, peasant, warrior or regular Joe, there are few who haven't fallen under the spell of bees and the riches they bring. From superstition to science, cake recipes to self-help, these quotes are a mirror to ourselves – our hopes and fears, our lives and deaths. Not to mention our taste-buds.'A summer where there are no bees becomes as sad and as empty as one without flowers or birds' The Life of the Bee, Maurice Maeterlinck, 1901, trans. Alfred Sutro, 1914.In many European countries and parts of North America it is traditional to visit a hive and 'tell the bees' when there is a birth, marriage, departure, return or death in the family.

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Book SynopsisBees is an outstanding collection of photographs showing these fascinating insects in their natural habitat. Honey bees, bumblebees, mining bees, dwarf bees, carpenter, leafcutter and mason bees: bees come in many different types, with more than 16,000 species worldwide. The bees we are most familiar with, bumblebees and honey bees, live in colonies and play a major role in pollinating the crops, plants and flowers around us. And bees produce honey – reputedly the food of the gods – a function of bees’ lifecycle, which humans have exploited for millennia. Many bees today are domesticated, and beekeepers collect honey, beeswax, pollen, and royal jelly from hives for human use. A typical bee produces a teaspoon of honey (about 5 grams) in her lifetime. Bees can communicate many ways through the movement of their wings and bodies – most famously, with the ‘waggle dance’, where they make figure-of- eight circles to let other bees know the direction and distance of nectar. With full captions explaining how bees live, function communally, communicate, feed and reproduce, Bees is an insightful examination in 190 outstanding colour photographs of mankind’s favourite insect.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Social Bees There are around 16,000 species of bees worldwide in the Anthophila clade. Some bees live and work together. This chapter covers the eusocial life cycle of queens, drones and worker bees, revealing facts about their nests and general activity. It also introduces the most famous type of bee, the honey bee (Apis), as well as bumblebees (Bombus) and stingless bees (Meliponini). 2. Solitary Bees Not all bees live and work with others; some like to lead their own lives. This chapter is a roll call of solitary bees, and includes mason bees, carpenter, bees, plasterer bees, digger bees, mining bees, orchid bees, cuckoo bees and sweat bees. 3. Bee Anatomy Bees have a hard outer shell called an exoskeleton. They have three main body parts: the head, thorax and abdomen. A pair of antennae is attached to their head and they have two pairs of wings. This section contains fascinating close-up shots of every aspect of a bee’s physiology – its eyes, mouthparts, legs, feet, wings (at rest and in flight), waist, stinger, ovipositor, hairs and antennae. 4. Behaviour There are three types of honey bees: the queen, the workers and the drones. A queen bee is the only female bee in the hive that reproduces. Worker bees are all female, and are all offspring of the queen. The males in the hive are called drones. Drones fly off to reproduce with other young queens who will start a new colony. Here we look at these roles, as well as brood care, honey production, building the honeycomb, foraging, defence and swarming. 5. Bees and Flowers Pollen and nectar collection is a vital part of the ecosystem bees operate in, and they will fly up to 2 kilometers (1.3 miles) from the nest to collect nectar and pollen from flowers. Forager bees usually live just 30 days after they begin foraging. This is because foraging is one of the most dangerous tasks. Bees also collect water for drinking and cooling the nest.

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Book SynopsisA classic guide from beekeeping expert Ron Brown OBE. A charming and practical guide for anyone wishing to keep bees, accompanying the would-be beekeeper through every season of the bee-keeping year. From spring awakening and summer swarms to the autumn honey harvest and providing winter protection, this essential resource guides you each step of the way. There is extensive advice for beekeeping beginners, from siting and smoking your hives to rearing a queen and controlling your swarm. There is also in-depth information for improvers and more experienced apiarists who wish to experiment with different hive-management and queen-rearing techniques. Troubleshooting tips on protecting your hives and keeping your bees healthy are also covered. The book is also packed with practical advice on using beeswax, and of course, extracting and making the tastiest honey.

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Book SynopsisPractical Beekeeping is the complete guide to the bee and its management. Topics covered include: the bee and its environment; hives and other equipment; management of the apiary and control of pests and diseases.

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Book SynopsisKosovo: the name conjures up blood: ethnic cleansing and war. This book reveals another side to the newest country in the world a land of generous families, strong tastes and lush landscapes: a land of honey. Elizabeth Gowing is rushed to Kosovo, on a blind date with the place , when her partner is suddenly offered the position of adviser to Prime Minister Agim Ceku. Knowing nothing of the language or politics, she is thrown into a world of unpronounceable nouns, unfamiliar foods and bewilderingly hospitable people. On her first birthday in Kosovo she is given a beehive as a gift, and starts on a beekeeping apprenticeship with an unknown family; through their friendship and history she begins to understand her new home. Her apprenticeship leads her to other beekeepers too: retired guerrilla fighters, victims of human trafficking, political activists, a women's beekeeping group who teach her how to dance, and the Prime Minister himself. She dons a beekeeper's veil, sees the bees safely through winter, manages to use a smoker, learns about wicker skeps, gets stung, harvests her honey and drizzles it over everything. In between, she starts working at Pristina s forgotten Ethnological Museum, runs a project in a restored stone house below the Accursed Mountains and falls in love with a country she had known only as a war. Travels in Blood and Honey charts the author s journeys through Kosovo's countryside and its urban sprawl, its Serbs and Albanians, its history and heartache, its etymology and entomology, its sweet and its unsavoury. Describing new ways of living, and many new ways of cooking, the book contains traditional recipes, and the flavours of Turkish coffee, chestnut honey, and the iconic food called fli. It is a celebration of travel, adventure and the new tastes you can acquire far from home.Trade Review'A sheer delight; a beguiling, bittersweet story of a lively love affair with a traditional world, as ancient as apiculture, in transition to new nationhood.' ----The Times 'A wonderful writer about Pristina - Interesting and different.' -----Matthew Parris 'Enthralling... a hugely affectionate picture of the everyday lives of ordinary Kosovans and a wonderful evocation of a place that most of us know so little about. Food, above all honey, is the key that unlocks the doors between cultures. And I have every intention of trying some of the recipes.' ----Sophie Grigson

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Book SynopsisIn autumn 2006 an unnerving phenomenon hit the United States: honeybees were mysteriously disappearing from hives across the nation, with beekeepers reporting losses of between 30 and 90 per cent of their entire colonies. The problem soon spread to parts of Europe and even Asia, earning the name Colony Collapse Disorder. To this day nobody is absolutely sure why it is happening and what the exact causes are. However, in 1923 Rudolf Steiner, a scientist, philosopher and social innovator, predicted that bees would die out within 100 years if they were to be reproduced using only artificial methods. Startlingly, and worryingly, his prediction appears to be coming true. "Queen of The Sun: What Are the Bees Telling Us?" is a companion book to the critically-acclaimed film of the same name. Compiled by the film's director Taggart Siegel, it makes a profound examination of the global bee crisis through the eyes of biodynamic and organic beekeepers, scientists, farmers, philosophers and poets. Revealing the mysterious world of the beehive and the complex social community of bees, the book unveils millennia of beekeeping, highlighting our historic and sacred relationship with bees, and how this is being compromised by highly-mechanized and intensive agro-industrial practices. The bees are messengers and their disappearance is a resounding wake-up call for humanity! With full colour, stunning photography throughout, this engaging, alarming but ultimately uplifting anthology begins with an account of how Siegel's film came to be made. It continues with a wealth of articles, interviews and poems that offer unique philosophical and spiritual insights. Besides investigating many contributory causes of Colony Collapse Disorder, the book offers remedies as well as hope for the future. "Queen of the Sun" features contributions from Carol Ann Duffy, Taggart Siegel, Jon Betz, David Heaf, Gunther Hauk, Horst Kornberger, Jennifer Kornberger, Jacqueline Freeman, Johannas Wirz, Kerry Grefig, Michael Thiele, Raj Patel, Vandana Shiva, Jeffery Smith and Matthew Barton. These compelling voices signal a growing movement striving to found a culture fully in balance with nature.Table of ContentsForeword, Heidi Hermann Virgil's Bees, Carol Ann Duffy Introduction: How We Came to Make the Film, Taggart Siegel and Jon Betz PART ONE: THE BEAUTY OF BEES Moving the Bees, Jacqueline Freeman Bee Crisis - World Crisis, Horst Kornberger The Miracles of Honey, Kerry Grefig Golden Threads and the Golden Fleece, Johannes Wirz Drones: the Holiest of Bees, Jacqueline Freeman Preserving the Integrity of the Super organism: Individual and Social Immunity , David Heaf Is the Queen Still Royal?, Gunther Hauk PART TWO: BEES AND US: THE CRISIS Earth Poem, Jacqueline Freeman The Future Born from Crisis, Gunther Hauk How Are Genetically Engineered Crops Affecting Honeybees?, Interview with Jeffrey Smith Pesticides, GMOs and the War Against Biodiversity, Dr. Vandana Shiva The Web of Being, Interview with Vandana Shiva The Food Crisis and the Connection with Bees, Interview with Raj Patel PART THREE: FOR LOVE OF THE BEE The Beehive, Jennifer Kornberger Bees and the Human Heart, Matthew Barton The 'Bien': the Single Being of the Honeybee Colony, Michael Thiele Swarm Song, Jacqueline Freeman Notes/references About the contributors Picture Credits

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Book SynopsisThe honey bee has lived in close association with human beings for millennia. Tragically, however, humanity's once intimate connection with this unique creature has been harmed by our increasingly utilitarian and exploitative dealings with the natural world. We are now in urgent need of re-establishing a deeper relationship, not just for the sake of the bees themselves but for the whole of nature - and of course for ourselves.Lorenzen - a true master beekeeper - provides numerous insights to enable a more fruitful engagement with the living world. Offering an enrichment of the knowledge and practice of beekeeping, he discusses the origins of the honey bee, its relationship to the floral kingdom, the digestion of the bee, the treatment of bee diseases as well as appropriate beekeeping techniques. He also develops subtle spiritual concepts such as the idea of the bee colony as an 'individuality' and 'group-soul', providing new depth and wisdom to our understanding of how bees live and work.This small book, a hidden gem that has never before appeared in English, is essential reading for anyone who cares about the future of the honey bee and the future of humanity.Table of ContentsForeword - Introduction - Relation of the honey bee to the floral kingdom, and the developmental level of digestion in the bee - On the treatment of bee diseases - The origin of the honeybee - The bee colony as an individuality and group-soul - The question of appropriate beekeeping techniques

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Book SynopsisThe crucial role that bees play in the Earth’s ecosystem is well known. Over the last decades a dramatic decrease in bee health has been seen on a global scale. This deterioration is seen on a global scale in both domestic and wild bees, precipitating a wider ecological impact. Veterinarians, animal scientists and bee husbandry specialists increasingly need to be provided with the skills to investigate and understand the situation; Managing Bee Health aims to provide an overview of the health of bees at individual and hive level, covering common and emerging diseases and preventive measures. Beginning with an overall analysis of bee anatomy and physiology, then deals with the main diseases and pathogens of bees and colonies and how to treat and control their clinical impact. Providing insights on bee nutrition, insect interaction with flowering plants, and presenting helpful points of contact to report suspected conditions, such as the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). The book looks at the global pathogen status of bees, including not only the honeybee (Apis mellifera) but also other members of the Apis family. Managing Bee Health is a most useful guide for beekeepers, advisors, veterinarians and beekeeping enthusiasts, showing practical ways to understand bee health, treat sick or compromised hives and enhance the wellbeing and welfare of these wonderful creatures.

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Book SynopsisHoneybees are an essential part of farming and the wider ecosystem. Since the middle of the 1990s bee populations around the world have suffered dramatic decline through diseases, intoxication, and unknown causes. Veterinarians have had little training in bee health but as the situation continues, qualified animal health professionals and, in particular, veterinarians are being required to become involved as new dangers threaten honeybee health everywhere because of global apiculture, trade and exchanges of honeybees, products of the hive and beekeeping material such as Aethina tumida (the small hive beetle - a beekeeping pest) introduced in Italy in 2014 or the mite Tropilaelaps spp (parasitic mites of honeybees).This book will provide an overview of bee biology, the bee in the wider environment, intoxication, bee diseases, bee parasites (with a large part dedicated to the mite Varroa destructor) pests enemies, and veterinary treatment and actions relating to honeybee health. The book will also cover current topics such as climate change, crop pollination, use of phytosanitary products, antibiotic resistance, and Colony Collapse Disorder.While aimed at veterinary practitioners, students and veterinarians involved in apiculture and bee health (officials, researchers, laboratory veterinarians, biologists. ..), the book can also be beneficial to beekeepers, beekeeping stakeholders, animal health and environmental organisations.

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Book Synopsis'The most important task of the bees, apart from the preparation of honey, wax and propolis, is the healing of the atmosphere! The honey bee, apis mellifera, alone, is able to perform this task. This is its first and foremost purpose.' - Ralf RoessnerDescribing the Genius of Bees as the 'group consciousness' of the hive, Ralf Roessner presents an extraordinary commentary based on first-hand spiritual-scientific research and experience. He studies the mission of the Genius of Bees, the hexagonal structure of 'the crystalline heaven' within which the bees operate, and the healing of the world through their work. Roessner elucidates the relationships between the Genius of Bees, the elemental world and the human being. He also speaks of his personal experiences with the organic 'earth hive', giving instructions on how they are made, and offers practical advice on tackling the varroa mite. In this unique and original work, the author, '...attempts to describe the secrets of creation as far as he has experienced these himself'. As he goes on to clarify: 'Many matters, which could only be vaguely perceived in former times, can now be investigated in a spiritual-scientific manner.A secret is only a secret to the extent it escapes the individual human being's powers of consciousness'. Anyone seeking deeper insights into the world of the honey bee will be enriched by the content of this book.Table of ContentsPreface - INTRODUCTION - The Signs of Change - THE MISSION OF THE GENIUS OF THE BEES - Cosmic Fertilization - About the Physical, Etheric, Astral and Spiritual Plane - The Influence of Elemental Beings - Plant Growth Within the Mantle of Warmth Ether - The Language of Form in Plants, Cosmic Fertilization of Blossoms - Further Details on the Act of Fertilization - THE HEALING OF THE WORLD THROUGH THE GENIUS OF THE BEES - The Crystalline Heaven - The Etheric Body of the Earth - On the Origin of the Genius of the Bees - The Influence of the Heart and the Mission of the Geniusof the Bees - STRUCTURE OF THE BEES, HEXAGONAL STRUCTURE OF THE CRYSTALLINE HEAVEN - THE HUMAN BEING AND THE GENIUS OF THE BEES - The Bee, the Human Being and Elemental Beings - Communicating with the Genius of the Bees - BEE LIFE WITHIN THE EARTH HIVE - A Special Experience - What the Genius of the Bees Wanted to Tell Me - How Can the Human Being Help? - THE GENIUS OF BEES - PRACTICAL TASKS - The Earth Hive From Masuria - Proportions/Recipe - Catching a Swarm with a Brood Comb - Further Advice When Working with the Earth Hive - The Varroa Treatment - Additional Feeding - FINAL THOUGHTS - The First Encounter of Man and Bee

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Book SynopsisIn an extraordinary exposition, Lorenzen - an expert beekeeper and student of contemporary spiritual science - describes the `Logos mysteries', based at the ancient temple of Artemis in Ephesus, where priestesses were known as `Melissas' (`honeybees') and the sacrificial priests were called `Essenes' (or `bee-kings'). These cultic mysteries, he says, bore remarkable parallels to the workings of a bee colony - specifically in the relationship between the queen and worker bees to the spiritual `group-soul' of the bees. Lorenzen commences his unique study with a discussion of flowers and insects, exploring their common origins. He then describes the beginnings of the honeybee, its connection with the fig wasp, and the subsequent controlled transformation of the latter that took place in pre-historic mystery-centres. Breeding the honeybee from the fig wasp - a sacred deed performed at consecrated sanctuaries - was part of the `Fig-tree mysteries'. The initiates behind this task developed the ability to commune with the bees' group-soul and to work consciously on the mutual development of the hive and humanity. This concise but rich work features an illuminating foreword by Heidi Herrmann of the Natural Beekeeping Trust as well as a lucid introduction by translator Paul King that explains the anthroposophical concepts employed by Lorenzen in his text.Table of ContentsForeword - Introduction - BEES AND THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES: 1. Flowers and Insects - 2. The Origin of the Honeybee - 3. Fig-tree Mysteries - 4. Bee Realm and Logos Mysteries - Notes - Further Reading

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Book SynopsisHoneybee Anatomy Brought to LifeThis book uses photo essays to set out and display the anatomy, internal, external of the honeybee with over 350 detailed micrographs, together with slide images and drawings. Pests and other additional hive activities are also included. It will appeal to anyone interested in this fascinating insect and be particularly valuable to beekeepers studying for their British Beekeepers Association Module 5 examination.About the authorGraham Kingham is a retired mechanical quality engineer who keeps a few hives in Devon. He started looking down the microscope in 2005 at yeast and bacteria in his beer. To further his interest in microscopy and beekeeping he took the British Beekeeping Association microscopy exam and has continued to explore the fascinating world of the honeybee through the lens. His first bee book was dedicated to the male bee, the drone, followed by an anthology about all things bees.

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Book SynopsisFrom around 130 million years ago flowering plants and insects have evolved together in something called co-evolution. This has resulted in a number of different ways of attracting insects to the plants.Entomophilous plant species have frequently evolved mechanisms to make themselves more appealing to insects, e.g. brightly coloured or scented flowers, nectar, or appealing shapes and patterns. Pollen grains of entomophilous plants are generally larger than the fine pollens or anemophilous (wind-pollinated) plants, which has to be produced in much larger quantities because such a high proportion is wasted. This is energetically costly, but in contrast, entomophilous plants have to bear the energetic costs of producing nectar. Butterflies and moths have hairy bodies and long proboscides which can probe deep into tubular flowers. Butterflies mostly fly by day and are particularly attracted to pink, mauve and purple flowers. The flowers are often large and scented, and the stamens are so-positioned that pollen is deposited on the insects while they feed on the nectar. Moths are mostly nocturnal and are attracted by night-blooming plants. The flowers of these are often tubular, pale in colour and fragrant only at night. Hawkmoths tend to visit larger flowers and hover as they feed; they transfer pollen by means of the proboscis. Other moths land on the usually smaller flowers, which may be aggregated into flower heads. Their energetic needs are not as great as those of hawkmoths and they are offered smaller quantities of nectar. Flowers pollinated by bees and wasps vary in shape, colour and size. Yellow or blue plants are often visited, and flowers may have ultra-violet nectar guides, that help the insect to find the nectary. Some flowers, like sage or pea, have lower lips that will only open when sufficiently heavy insects, such as bees, land on them. With the lip depressed, the anthers may bow down to deposit pollen on the insect''s back. Other flowers, like tomato, may only liberate their pollen by buzz pollination, a technique in which a bumblebee will cling on to a flower while vibrating its flight muscles, and the dislodges the pollen. Because bees care for their brood, they need to collect more food than to just maintain themselves and, therefore, are important pollinators. Other bees are nectar thieves and bite their way through the corolla in order to raid the nectary, in the process bypassing the reproductive structures. Some plant species co-evolved with a particular pollinator species, such as the bee orchid. The species is almost exclusively self-pollinating in its northern ranges but is pollinated by the solitary bee Eucera in the Mediterranean area. The plant attracts these insects by producing a scent that mimics the scent of the female bee. In addition, the lip acts as a decoy, as the male bee confuses it with a female that is visiting a pink flower. Pollen transfer occurs during the ensuing pseudo-copulation. Inflorescences pollinated by beetles tend to be flat with open corollas or small flowers clustered in a head with multiple, projecting anthers that shed pollen readily. The flowers are often green or pale-coloured, and heavily-scented, often with fruity or spicy aromas, but sometimes with odours of decaying organic matter. Some, like the giant water lily, include traps designed to retain the beetles in contact with the reproductive parts for longer periods. Other Nectar GuidesNectar guides can be both visible and invisible to the human eye but more importantly they are very visible to the bees in the ultraviolet spectrum. This adaptation benefits both the flower (more efficient pollination) and the bee (rapid collection of nectar). 

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Book SynopsisSplitting Colonies is an important means of colony increase and swarming mitigation. Splitting is an art as much as a science. It should be noted splitting timing will vary year to year based on the local weather and conditions. This book contains information on when to split based on when the nectar flow starts in your area. Several splitting methods are discussed such as a "walk away split," split with a mated queen, and a split with swarm cells. Each method has its benefits and detriments. The genesis for this book was a Bee Culture article (Splitting Colonies: Second Edition, Bee Culture, July, 2022)."''Splitting Colonies for the Small-Scale Beekeeper'' provides a good overview of the biology of, and the skills needed, to become successful at this most critical beekeeping management operation."Kim Flottum - Growing Planet Media"Well illustrated and very easy to follow splitting a colony information. Very helpful for beginners and more experienced beekeepers alike."Dewey Caron - University of Delaware"''Splitting Colonies for the Small-Scale Beekeeper'' by David MacFawn. It''s all there whether you are a small, medium or large beekeeper ... Learn to do it successfully here!!"Jerry Hayes - Editor, Bee Culture Magazine 

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