94 of 96 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very good source of information and great photos, August 29, 2005
This review is from: The Backyard Beekeeper: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Keeping Bees in Your Yard and Garden (Paperback)
If a picture is worth a thousand words then this book is an encyclopedia of bee keeping. This book is full of wonderful color photos. Other like books have photos but nothing like "The Backyard Beekeeper". The author certainly has his point of view on sizes of hives and pushes it strongly, almost to the exclusion of other ideas. Still this book is packed full of information and an excellent reference. I would recommend reading a few other books in order to get a wider view of how to be a beekeeper. The only negative I found with the book is that it has very small print that is often printed over other design features on the pages. I found it very difficult to read some of the print due to this fault.
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56 of 57 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good Coverage, August 22, 2006
This review is from: The Backyard Beekeeper: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Keeping Bees in Your Yard and Garden (Paperback)
This book is very good at extracting basic and intermediate information from a large selection of beekeeping manuals. Once I entered this world of beekeeping, I soon found an overwealming amount of information available on this subject. I enjoyed this book's ability to bridge the gap between the usual vague coverage of a begining beekeeping book and the thick manuals I am now pouring through. The illustrations and quick reference characteristics make this book a great addition to any home library.
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64 of 66 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This absolute beginner is happy!, February 15, 2007
This review is from: The Backyard Beekeeper: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Keeping Bees in Your Yard and Garden (Paperback)
My bees are coming in less than 2 months, and this book is the first and only one I have bought. I am glad that I did!
He starts with a brief explanation of the history of bees and beekeeping as well as bee biology and basic behavior (which is important to understand in order to know what the heck they are doing at any given time).
Then he clearly explains what types of bees you can order and in what "packaging" and the equipment that you need as a beginner and what its use is.
He provides good pictures and diagrams that detail out what he is talking about, so you know what a queen looks like, what the entire stack of equipment looks like and where each goes in the hive.
Then he gives a detailed analysis of the current state of diseases, mites, and other bee enemies and how to treat them, not taking sides on the ecological/chemical approaches.
There are also two sections that cover step-by-step what you do when you get your bees (how do you get them into your hive without having a mutiny) and what you need to do for your bees throughout the different seasons of the year, culminating in how to harvest honey and how to extract it.
The end of the book has some beeswax and honey recipes for food and products that you can make, and was useful but not necessary.
The only complaint I have about the book is that he doesn't cover the foundation that you put in the frames in enough detail. Foundation is an important and yet very confusing part of the hive for a new-bee like me.
This book is exactly what you need as a beginning beekeeper.
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