I am always quick to bang the drum about Honeybee Democracy by Tom Seeley.
Good winter read and for those who like to catch swarms
I am always quick to bang the drum about Honeybee Democracy by Tom Seeley.
Good winter read and for those who like to catch swarms
Greengumbo I agree with you entirely. Not necessarily a book for beekeepers per se, but you'll expand your knowledge about bees immeasurably as a result of reading it.
Two books which I recommend to beginners and to those with a bit of experience.
Sixty Years with Bees - Donald Sims
Honey Farming - ROB Manley
Can't tell you how much good I've had from those books over the years.
Current reading squeeze -
Background to Bee Breeding - John Atkinson. Hilarious in places and superb info for those interested in the subject.
Celia Davis - both her books are great reading and good swotting material for exams if you're that way inclined.
Whole heartedly agree with Sims'. There's a true wealth of information in that book. I'd take it any day over Hooper and a multitude of other DIY manuals. I'll say the same for Manley -while making the point that it's possibly not too good for an absolute beginner because it is, in many parts, very dated; there's stuff in there that just isn't correct according to research and/or modern thinking but it's easy for someone with a good grounding today to read around those parts without any problem. My own 'Manley preference' is actually Beekeeping in Britain. Another great book from the master. A side note here, John Rawson in his World of a Beefarmer reprinted a letter he received from Manley in the early 60's where there's a good outline of the recent honey harvests they were achieving. All I can say is that they must have previously built a good financial base to have survived those years without selling the family silver.
Atkinson's Background to Beebreeding is indeed a true classic, I find some of his writing style quite hard going in places but he gives just so much information. It's a book which most people won't buy because of the price tag, their loss. I made a comment which was aimed directly at another beekeeper some time ago about her reluctance to pay £7 or £8 postage on a book from the US. She actually thought that 'typical beekeeper' was a honour, whereas in the specific context of the conversation it was anything but..... My take on this is that too many people refuse to invest in quality books.
I take your point about Manley Prakel. I think it's his approach more than the details of his methods I find inspiring. He seems to have been a modern beekeeper in attitude in times even more conservative than our own.
And totally agree about investment in quality books. One of the things I find most frustrating about some of the new generation of beekeepers (maybe the old one as well, I don't know) is the expectation they don't have to do the work (the reading and research) themselves.
With you on Manley, he'll always be one of my favourite bee authors because of his robust approach. By the way, there's a pdf copy of Honey Farming available free on the net, not the same as having the book but it may give those who've yet to try his writing a good taste of what to expect (never worked out how to link pdfs so I won't bother trying, it's easily searchable).Originally Posted by drumgerry
Having done my basic beemaster this year I've applied for the March sitting of module 1 next year, so today I ordered the Yates Study notes for modules 1, 2 & 3. I found the Yates book for the basic exam to be invaluable in preparing for it, the only downside I found was that it may have been a little dogmatic and preachy in places e.g if you can't handle bees without gloves either you are doing something wrong or the bees should be requeened!
Steven
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