Storey's Guide to Keeping Honey Bees: Honey Production, Pollination, Bee Health (Storey’s Guide to Raising)

I bought the Kindle version of this book because it was way cheaper and because I wanted to get started right away. I'm regretting it already and I'm only 38% into the book.1. I keep wanting to bookmark and highlight passages and you can't do that on a kindle (well you can but I don't know how and it's certainly not easy to quickly get back to, or scan for, the info you have marked) and I can't make my own notes near the text which prompts other questions/thoughts. I'm new to this and have lots of follow-up questions I want to discuss with my bee group so this is very frustrating.2. The biggest irritant is there are missing pictures, pictures not on the same "page" which is bothersome when the picture is needed to illustrate the text, and in some places the text is just plain missing. In the section discussing packaged bees the paragraph ends with this incomplete sentence: They need a lot of tender3. Lastly, this book seems poorly organized compared to other "Storey's" books I have (chickens, goats, rabbits).Now, with all that said, I would still recommend this book because there is a heck of a lot of great information. I have 3 pages of notes already. Like most "Storey's" books, the author knows his stuff and speaks in a straightforward and easily understood way.

First, don't expect to find a single book out there that will walk you through every single bee keeping process step by step. That said, this is certainly a valuable addition to your library of books on the topic.One thing I did like is that the author recognizes that there are many different approaches to every aspect of keeping bees, and he does not say that one is right and the rest are wrong. He does make recommendations for the best approaches for beginners to use, but also recognizes that more experienced keepers may want to experiment.This book does have lots of good pointers, especially for the beginner. Read it cover to cover, and you'll get a lot of good information.Cons- when comparing keeping bees in the "north" vs the "south," the author is comparing bee keeping in USDA hardiness zone 6 to zone 7. I keep bees in zone 3, so by comparison, zone 6 is pretty mild. Information on keeping bees in places that are actually cold, like zone 3, and actually hot, like zone 8 or 9, should have been included.

This is an excellent beginning book for new beekeepers! No qualifications or caveats, it is a great beginner's book.Successful beekeeping is challenging, both physically and academically, these authors sort through the kernel points a beginner needs to process while beginning the lifelong quest of understanding honey bees and what makes them tick.After decades of beekeeping, I've seen many 'basic' beekeeping texts. I prefer this text because the authors have a logical organization that is easy to follow, building on the basics and moving forward. Another strength in this guide to beekeeping is that it exposes the reader to alternative styles of beekeeping like the Topbar and Warre' hives as well as the standard Langstroth hive. Beware of 'teachers' who teach only one way to keep bees (usually because it is more 'Natural' or 'Organic').Not feel good, "Let's Save the Bees" nonsense, but written from the perspective of experienced beekeepers who have been around, and have the ability to communicate instruction. We will likely use this as the text for our next beekeeping class for our local Bee Club.

I'm new to bees. I have a great mentor and he insisted I get this book. It is great, learned a bunch. Now my kiddo is reading it so that we can be friends of bees together!

I'm new to be keeping so I can't speak to the quality of advice/expertise offered, but it does seem to cover a wide variety of topics. I will say though, having read a lot of textbooks that I don't care for how it reads. It throws a lot of information at you for each topic but doesn't really give recommendations about what is "best" also, I read the kindle version of this book and there are a TON of sidebars in this book that aren't clearly labeled as sidebars until after you read them so you are reading a paragraph and then there will be a random antecedent and then it goes right back into the paragraph you were reading before. Additionally these stories seem kind of pointless and unhelpful. Perhaps in the hard copy of this book it is easier to spot one of these sidebars before you start reading them.

I recommend this book to anyone thinking about beekeeping. It has some great knowledge in it. I went to a beginners workshop for beekeeping and 90% of what the woman talked about was covered in this book. I am glad that I have a reference on my shelf should any questions arise. This isn't a book that gives you all the secrets to beekeeping. It is a good book that will help you get going in beekeeping and give you sound advice and tips from people who have been there. As always, you should look for local beekeeping organizations to get local information on keeping bees.

Love this book! Full of great information

Decent, Would I buy it if not needed as text book for Master Beekeepers program.no this is one I would check out at the Library and read.Much better beekeeping books to invest your cash on...

A great book that tells you all you need to know about keeping honey bees. A very informative and practical book for anyone who's thinking of keeping bees.

There are much better alternative bee books out there ! Not much fun to read.Best to search for "Bee Manual"

Storey's Guides are often the best, and this guide doesn't disappoint. Great information, enough to get off to a great start and give you the tools/contacts to problem solve. I love these guides as they have been written by successful and highly experienced farmers.

We have several Storey's Guide books and they are always informative and easy to follow and implement the practices they provide in order to be a successful farmer. We can't wait to start our bee colony!

Always good