David Wiscombe is a beekeeping expert who has been keeping bees for over 50 years. He also teaches novice beekeepers and runs the beekeeping course at River Cottage. Howland Blackiston has more than 20 years' experience keeping bees. He has written many articles on beekeeping and been a keynote speaker at conferences in over 40 countries.

• Introduction 1About This Book 1How This Book Is Organised 2Part I: Getting Hooked on Honey Bees 2Part II: Starting Your Adventure 2Part III: Looking Inside Your Hive 3Part IV: Common Problems and Simple Solutions 3Part V: Sweet Rewards 4Part VI: The Part of Tens 4Icons Used in This Book 4Where to Go from Here 5Part I: Getting Hooked on Honey Bees 7Chapter 1: To Bee or Not to Bee? 9Discovering the Benefits of Beekeeping 10Harvesting liquid gold: Honey 11Bees as pollinators: Their vital role inensuring our food supply 11Helping the bees; helping the environment 13Passing on your knowledge 13Good for your wellbeing; good for your health 13Determining Your Beekeeping Potential 15Environmental considerations 15Being responsible and considering others 16Costs and equipment 16Time and commitment 17Beekeeper personality traits 17Overcoming Fear of Stings 17Knowing what to do if you’re stung 19Building up a tolerance 19Watching for allergic reactions 20Chapter 2: Life Inside the Honey Bee Hive 21Basic Body Parts 21Skeleton 22Head 22Thorax 24Abdomen 25The Amazing Language of Bees 25Pheromones 25Shall we dance? 26Dividing Honey Bees into Three Castes 27Her majesty, the queen 27The industrious little worker bee 30The woeful drone 34The Honey Bee Life-Cycle 35Egg 36Larva 37Pupa 37Part II: Starting Your Adventure 41Chapter 3: Locating Your Hive 43Getting Over ‘Buzz Off!’: Consulting Family and Neighbours 43Location, Location, Location: Where to Keep Your Hives 45Providing for your thirsty bees 47Understanding why your honey varies in colour and flavour 49Knowing When to Start Your Adventure 50Chapter 4: Stocking Up on Basic Beekeeping Equipment 51Finding Out about the Modified National Hive 52Knowing the Basic Parts of the Hive 53Hive stand 54Floor 55Entrance block 55Brood chamber 56Queen excluder 58Super 58Frames 59Foundation 61Crown board 65Roof 66Ordering Hive Parts 66Preparing for assembly 67Adding on Feeders 68Miller and Ashforth rapid feeders 68Bucket feeder 69Frame feeder 71Stocking Up on Your Personal Beekeeping Equipment 72Smoker 72Hive tool 73Covering Up with Bee-Proof Clothing 74Veils 74Gloves 75Really Helpful Accessories 76Elevated hive stand 76Frame rest 78Bee brush 78Other necessities 79Chapter 5: Obtaining and Hiving Your Bees 81Determining the Kind of Bee You Want 81Deciding How to Obtain Your Initial Bee Colony 83Picking a reputable bee supplier 84Deciding when to place your order 84Buying a nucleus colony 85Transferring your nucleus to a hive 86Purchasing an established colony 87Capturing a wild swarm of bees 88Ordering package bees 88Meeting and Greeting: The Day Your Bees Arrive 89Bringing home your bees 90Feeding your bees 90Buzzing with Excitement: Putting Your Bees into the Hive 91Part III: Looking Inside Your Hive 97Chapter 6: Opening Your Hive 99Setting an Inspection Schedule 99Preparing to Visit Your Hive 100Making ‘non-scents’ a part of personal hygiene 101Getting dressed up and ready to go 101Lighting your smoker 102Opening the Hive 104Removing the crown board 106The Hive’s Open! Now What? 107Chapter 7: What to Look for when You’re Inspecting 109Exploring Basic Inspection Techniques: Examining a Full Colony 109Removing the first frame 110Working your way through the hive 112Holding up frames for inspection 112Understanding what to look for every time 113Replacing frames 117Closing the hive 118Establishing a Colony from a Nucleus 119Managing your nucleus 119Starting your Colony with a Package of Bees 121Checking in: A week after hiving your bees 121The second and third weeks 124Weeks four to eight 125Chapter 8: Your Work throughout the Seasons 129Lazy, Hazy Days of Summer 129Your summer to-do list 130Your summer time commitment 130Falling Leaves Point to Autumn Tasks 131Your autumn to-do list 131Making one hive from two 133Your autumn time commitment 134Clustering in a Winter Wonderland 134Your winter to-do list 135Your winter time commitment 136Spring Is in the Air: Starting Your Second Season 137Your spring to-do list 137Making two hives from one 138Your spring time commitment 140Administering spring medication 141Reversing hive bodies 141Part IV: Common Problems and Simple Solutions 145Chapter 9: Heading Off Potential Problems 147Avoiding Absconding 147Swarming 148Absconding 156Where Did the Queen Go? 157Letting nature take its course 157Ordering a replacement queen 158Introducing a new queen to the hive 158Avoiding Chilled Brood 160Dealing with the Dreaded Robbing Frenzies 161Knowing the difference between normal andabnormal (robbing) behaviour 161Putting a stop to a robbing attack 162Preventing robbing in the first place 162Ridding Your Hive of the Laying Worker Phenomenon 163How to know if you have laying workers 163Getting rid of laying workers 164Preventing Pesticide Poisoning 166Chapter 10: Treating Diseases and Considering Colony Collapse Disorder 169Medicating when Necessary 170Knowing the Big Six Bee Diseases 170American foulbrood (AFB) 171European foulbrood (EFB) 172Nosema 172Chalkbrood 173Sacbrood 174Stonebrood 174A handy chart 174Shedding Some Light on Colony Collapse Disorder and Vanishing Hives 177Unlocking the mystery of the Mary Celeste hives 177Discovering more about CCD 178Exploring Potential Causes of CCD 179The mobile phone theory 179Pollinating insect research 179A Final Word 181Chapter 11: Buzz Off! Dealing with Honey Bee Pests 183Preventing Parasitic Mites 183Varroa mites 183Controlling Varroa the natural way 192Acarine (Tracheal mites) 193Wax Moths 196Ants, Ants and More Ants 197Keeping Out Mice 198Dealing with Birds that Have a Taste for Bees 199Pest Control in a Nutshell 199Chapter 12: Raising Your Own Queens 201Why Raising Queens Makes You Proud 201Accentuating the Positive: Choosing Good Traits 202What Makes a Queen a Queen 204Buzzing with love: Queen mating 205Creating Demand: Making a Queenless Nuc 206Queen Rearing: The Miller Method 207Using an Artificial Swarm to Raise Queens 211The Doolittle Method: Grafting 212Tools and equipment 212How it’s done 214Trying Out the Jenter System 216How it’s done 216Providing nuptial housing 219Finding a Home for Your Queens 220Part V: Sweet Rewards 223Chapter 13: Getting Ready for the Golden Harvest 225Choosing Extracted, Comb, Chunk or Soft-Set Honey 226Using the Right Equipment for the Job 228Honey extractors 228Uncapping knife 229Honey strainers 229Other handy gadgets for extracting honey 230Comb honey equipment 233Honey containers 233Planning Your Honey Harvest Set-Up 233Labelling and Selling Your Honey 235Creating an attractive label 235Finding places to market your honey 237Chapter 14: Honey, I’m Home: Harvest Time 239Knowing When to Harvest 240Getting the Bees Out of the Honey Supers 241Shakin’ ’em out 242Using a bee escape 242Fume board and bee repellent 244Food of the Gods: Honey Extraction 246Cleaning Up after Extracting 249Controlling wax moths 249Harvesting wax 250Part VI: The Part of Tens 253Chapter 15: Ten Fun Things to Do with Bees 255Starting an Observation Hive 255Planting Flowers for Your Bees 257Brewing Mead: The Nectar of the Gods 259Getting Creative with Propolis 262Propolis tincture 263Propolis ointment 263Making Candles and Polish from Beeswax 263Beeswax candles 264Beeswax furniture polish 264Beauty and the Bees 265Beeswax lip balm 265Beeswax and olive oil salve 265Getting up Close with a Microscope 266Chapter 16: Ten Frequently Asked Questions about Bee Behaviour 267Chapter 17: Ten Delicious Honey Recipes 271Appendix A: Helpful Resources 279Honey Bee Websites 279Apiservices 279Bee Master Forum 279BeeHoo 280British Beekeepers Association 280Bush Farm 280Cornwall Honey 280David A. Cushman 280The Beespace 281Vita (Europe) 281Bee Organisations and Conferences 281Apimondia: International Federation ofBeekeepers’ Associations 281The BBKA Spring Convention 282Bee Diseases Insurance Ltd (BDI) 282Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders Association (BIBBA) 282International Bee Research Association 283The National Bee Unit of the Central Science Laboratory 283The National Honey Show 283The National Farmers Union 284Bee Journals and Magazines 284American Bee Journal 284BBKA News 284Bee Craft 285Bee Culture 285The Beekeepers Quarterly 285Bee World 285Beekeeping Supplies and Equipment 285The Bee Shop 286B. J. Sherriff 286Brunel Microscopes Ltd 286Compak 287Giordan 287Maisemore Apiaries Ltd 288Modern Beekeeping 288National Bee Supplies 288Swienty Beekeeping Equipment 289E. H. Thorne 289Appendix B: Glossary 291Index 297

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