Customer Reviews

Fifty Years Among the Bees

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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This book is in the same category as Langstroth's "The Hive and the Honeybee" for time-honored fundamental knowledge of beekeeping. Dr. Miller was a fascinating storyteller & humorous writer. For example, he says that a sure way to prevent swarming is to dynamite the hives, but that wouldn't be very productive.... His humility is reassuring and comforting for novices; after 50 years of experience he tells us that he does not know the right way to do things, only what seemed to work best for him. This book has as much practical advice as the most modern books, despite the fact that it was written nearly 100 years ago.

I have a large selection of beekeeping books and this rates at the very top of them. Sometimes it makes you wish you could go back in time to the pioneer days of beekeeping.

It is amazing how little has changed in the world of beekeeping. Sure there have been changes, but overall things are being done today much in the same way they have been done since the Langstrogh hive was invented. The author was very careful to point out the way things were done in the past and tell about the changes and when they came about. I'm something of a history buff as well as a beekeeper and I enjoyed the book.

50 Years Among the Bees is one of the classic beekeeping books. It deserves a place on every beekeeper's bookshelf, right next to The Hive and the Honeybee. Sometimes the descriptions of when and where to move which frame and which box - and the timing of the moves - could have been written a little bit more clearly. Still, it's a great book that will benefit every beekeeper.

Hauled in a wagon pulled by two horses, the bees were on their way to a new source of honey. Although written in the first part of the 20th century, the basic business plan holds true and it is easy and a pleasure to read. The methods worked, and with a few modern ones added, I have a new confidence in my new hobby as a beekeeper.