Education

The Backyard Beekeeper: An Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Keeping Bees in Your Yard and Garden by Kim Flottum 

This book is the complete “honey bee” resource with general information on bees; a how-to guide to the art of bee keeping and how to set up, care for, and harvest your own hives; as well as tons of fun facts and projects that are bee related. The second half of the book is the complete guide to honey.  

The Backyard Beekeeper’s Honey Handbook by Kim Flottum.

It’s the companion book to Kim’s earlier book. It’s a guide to creating, harvesting, and cooking with natural honeys.  

Backyard Beekeeping by Dr. James E. Tew. 

Alabama Cooperative Extension System. James E. Tew, Apiculture Advisor, Entomology and Plant Pathology, Auburn University, and State Specialist, Beekeeping, and Associate Professor, Department of Entomology, Ohio State University, Wooster, OH 44691, phone: 330-263-3684, e-mail: Tew.1@osu.edu.  

First Lessons In Beekeeping by C.P. Dadant 

Originally published in 1917, this is a wonderful early work on beekeeping and contains much information and many photos. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Home Farm Books republished this classic work.

The ABC & XYZ of Bee Culture: An Encyclopedia Pertaining to the Scientific and Practical Culture of Honey Bees by A.I. Root 

Written in encyclopedia format and a must for any beekeeper’s reference library.

Beekeeping For Dummies by Howland Blackiston 

This easy-to-follow guide removes the mystery from this pastime. Realize the benefits of keeping bees, from aiding the environment to enjoying homemade honey and wax products.

Hive Management: A Seasonal Guide for Beekeepers by Richard E. Bonney 

An experienced beekeeper examines what needs to be attended to each season.

Keeping Bees by John Vivian 

Aspiring bee keepers striving for self-sufficiency will find this book unique, as it gives directions for the building of hives, frames, and a wax foundation molding press.

A Book of Bees: And How to Keep Them by Sue Hubbell 

Beekeeping has to be the apex of animal husbandry; it is a wondrous subject, and Hubbell does it justice. Portions of the book have appeared in the New Yorker.

Natural Beekeeping by Ross Conrad 

This book offers a chemical free approach to beekeeping.

Beekeeping Magazines

• American Bee Culture
• Bee Culture