Reference books for exams

[susbees]

I got a copy of the new 5-8 for 7 and barely opened it. They are forever saying we covered this elsewhere, rattling on about ancient history (only needed for 8) and saying we don't understand the question. And they are pricey and verbose. OK, so that's a bit one-sided but for 3 I'd say it's unnecessary (though may be proved wrong after November!)
and we did 1/2 without it....though can't say we passed yet! My partner reckons you could almost pass 1 from learning the Thornes catalogue

[Easy beesy]

Lots of my 'students', I use the term loosely as we're all studying together withe as contact point, like Yates as they think it will provide the answer to everything and they won't have to buy different books for different modules, and therefore working out cheaper in the long run, then ask me 'how do you know that?' - Because I read, question, research, read more and then (try to) verify.

Just shows there's no easy way through it.

Cx

[thada1]

having got to mod6 in a strictly linear fashion, I've found I'm using the Yates' books less and less. On the + side, they have done a great job bringing together a lot of information, and particularly on the timeless elements of beekeeping, they are as comprehensive as any other source, and a good quick reference source. On the downside, the mixing of opinion with fact becomes grating, and particularly in the disease/behaviour sections, it's impossible for them to be up-to-date. I'm not so familiar with their husbandry texts, but I suspect they may suffer from less aging. Somewhere in the syllabus, it talks about encouraging a wide reading - which is a sound policy if you want to get expert in any subject. The Yates' books encourage the same sort of unhelpful thinking that pervades the GCSE system: read this and pass.

[Black Comb]

I agree with the others about Yates. The more I read Celia Davis the more I realise how good she is.
The BBKA book list is frustrating. A lot of the books are out of print and when you do find them they are expensive.
For module 3 the FERA downloads are excellent.
The Bucks notes are good too but not so hot for Mod. 5.