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53 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Almost Perfect...BUT..., January 11, 2011
This review is from: The Backyard Beekeeper - Revised and Updated: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Keeping Bees in Your Yard and Garden (Paperback)
This is a wonderful beekeeping book. I read two beekeeping books before this one, "Beekeeping for Dummies", and "Keeping Bees and Making Honey." Both were great beginner books, and I highly recommend the Dummies book (the second is great as well, but it was a British book that makes "translation" of equipment and terms difficult for a newbie).
In the beginning of this book, "The Backyard Beekeeper," the author promises to not just produce another bee book; she claims that this book will provide you with information that you hadn't read anywhere else. After reading both of the above books - esp the Dummies book - I thought there would be no way I wouldn't hear the same thing twice! But lo and behold, this book was INCREDIBLE and told me information I hadn't read in the other books! It is thorough, easy to read, and has a great tone. The information is invaluable, it has relevant pictures, and was overall a pleasure to read. There's just one thing...
Other reviewers had said that the print was too small. I read these reviews when I was just a chapter into the book. I thought to myself: sure, the print is small, but I'm young, have 20/20 vision, shouldn't be a problem. Wrong. About 2/3 of the way through the book, I had to take "breaks" from the print. As I went through the book, I could only read shorter amounts at a time. It's such a shame because the content is fabulous - and a lot of times I got distracted by the tiny print that I had to re-read many passages to absorb the information.
Great bee book. I would have given it 5 stars if the print was larger. Note to publishers: PLEASE make an edition with larger print. I borrowed this book from a friend, but would buy it if the print was larger!
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book, June 6, 2010
This review is from: The Backyard Beekeeper - Revised and Updated: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Keeping Bees in Your Yard and Garden (Paperback)
This is a great companion book. Meaning it is a great Beekeeping book but not neccessarily the best beginner book. The best BEGINNER Beekeeping book i believe is "Beekeeping for dummies", excluding the medicate your bees for everything part. This book will teach you how to take care of bees without the medication! This i would say is a very good second year Beekeeper book! The second year being the most important and stressful!
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Nice picture book, bad 1st year reference, June 18, 2011
This review is from: The Backyard Beekeeper - Revised and Updated: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Keeping Bees in Your Yard and Garden (Paperback)
Yes, this is a nice picture book, and there is a lot of good information throughout. However, as a reference book for a first year beekeeper, this guide has been generally frustrating. The main problems are the very poor organization of the book and a lack of specific information that an "Absolute Beginner" would want. For one example of many, when do I put on an entrance reducer? Good question, so I look up in the index "entrance reducer", page 30. Turn to page 30 (the only reference) and there is a picture of a new hive with an entrance reducer on the top. The text says, other equipment you will need . . . entrance reducer, which we will explain later in the book. Ahh, now I am trying to reread the whole book to answer my silly question. No I never found the answer, only one small paragraph on mouse guards which I have learned are basically the same thing.
Also, at page 144 of the 200 page book the information turns to beeswax, candles, and honey recipes. This is not information I need as a first year beekeeper! Four pages on Fall and Winter management and fifty on candles, soap, and recipes! Come on, you likely won't even have a harvest the first year.
In the end, I spent way more time answering my beekeeping questions from Google than from this book, but it looks nice on the coffee table. And why is there a recipe for a mixed green salad with shrimp on page 181???
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