Beekeeping for Beginners: Everything you Need to Know to Get Started and Succeed Keeping Bees in Your Backyard

by Kim Flottum

Overview

With this absolute beginner’s guide, learn how to set up your backyard hives, select and raise bees, and harvest honey, with the added bonus of bringing pollinators to your yard and garden.

You’ve decided to try beekeeping—so where do you start? Beekeeping for Beginners, adapted from the best-selling The Backyard Beekeeper, covers everything you need to know, from selecting the right kind of hives, and finding and bringing bees home to your yard, right up to the collection and enjoyment of the glorious reward—golden honey. Rewarding and environmentally beneficial, reading this complete and introductory guide is the first step in your journey to becoming a successful beekeeper, whether you decide to have one hive or twenty-five.

Renowned beekeeping expert Kim Flottum shares his vast knowledge from years of teaching beekeeping to all levels of enthusiasts for a no-fail approach to bringing a productive bee colony onto your property. Featuring diagrams and color photos, learning what you need to know to establish a vibrant bee colony is fun and easy.

The features that set Beekeeping for Beginners apart from other guides:
 

• Simplified approach―Aimed at the beginner, the book covers everything you need to know in uncomplicated and accessible language, accompanied by full-color illustrative photography.
• Up to date and organic―Learn details on the most current methods that make beekeeping sustainable and accessible even for the smallest yard and urban enthusiasts.
• Learn from an expert―Complete information from a trusted voice in the beekeeping community will give you the tools and knowledge you need to enjoy keeping bees with confidence.

This guide offers detailed instruction for:
 

• Establishing and taking care of your new bees
• Stress-free hive management 
• Site selection and management 
• Safety and swarm control 
• Types of hives including top bar hives
• Harvesting, collecting, and processing honey
• Keeping bees and hives healthy year-round in all climates 
• Urban beekeeping
• Smokers 101
• Pest and disease management
• Biodiversity and food for healthy hives

Learn everything you need to know to start your colony with this straightforward, highly visual guide for beginning beekeepers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780760379677
Publisher:	New Shoe Press
Publication date:	08/16/2022
Series:	New Shoe Press Series
Pages:	160
Sales rank:	170,535
Product dimensions:	7.45(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.65(d)

About the Author

Kim Flottum (d. 2023) brought a rich background of plant science, honey bee research, and basic farming to his 30 years as the editor of Bee Culture magazine, where his main occupation was finding the answers to the multitude of questions that beginning, intermediate, and even advanced and experienced beekeepers bring to the table. He taught beginning and advanced beekeeping courses, traveled extensively to educate and lecture, and contributed to a variety of other publications on the basics of honey bees and beekeeping biology, the business of bees and pollination, producing and using varietal honeys, and a host of other subjects. He was the author of The Backyard Beekeeper, First Time Beekeeping, In Business with Bees, and Common Sense Natural Beekeeping. His books, magazine articles, interviews, and blogs are widely read for both their fundamental and advanced contribution to beekeeping knowledge. He was beekeeping’s leading advocate for fundamental honey bee safety, including ensuring excellent honey bee health, providing extraordinary forage, and minimizing the use of agricultural pesticides.

Table of Contents

Preface
CHAPTER 1: Starting Right
Getting Started
Beeyards Other than Backyards
Extreme Urban Beekeeping
Equipment: Tools of the Trade
The Bees
CHAPTER 2: About Bees
The Queen
The Workers
Foragers
Drones
Seasonal Changes
Review and Preparation
CHAPTER 3: About Beekeeping
Lighting Your Smoker
Package Management
Honey Flow Time
Keeping Records
Opening a Colony
Honeycomb and Brood Combs
Integrated Pest Management
Maladies
Comb Honey and Cut-Comb Honey
Summertime Chores
Late Summer Harvest
Fall and Winter Management
Early Spring Inspections
Index
About the Author