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Michael Bush

The Practical Beekeeper: Beekeeping Naturally Hardcover – Illustrated, June 16, 2011

by Michael Bush (Author)

279 ratings

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This book is about how to keep bees in a natural and practical system where they do not require treatments for pests and diseases and only minimal interventions. It is also about simple practical beekeeping. It is about reducing your work. It is not a main-stream beekeeping book. Many of the concepts are contrary to "conventional" beekeeping. The techniques presented here are streamlined through decades of experimentation, adjustments and simplification. The content was written and then refined from responding to questions on bee forums over the years so it is tailored to the questions that beekeepers, new and experienced, have. It is divided into three volumes and this edition contains all three: Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced.

Print length

670 pages
Language

English
Publisher

X-STAR PUBLISHING COMPANY
Publication date

June 16, 2011
Dimensions

6 x 1.63 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

1614760640
ISBN-13

978-1614760641
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Editorial Reviews

From the Author

I feel like G.M. Doolittle when he said he had already offered all of what he had to say for free in the bee journals and yet people kept asking for a book. I have virtually all of this on my website and have posted all of it many times on the bee forums. But many people have asked for a book. There is a little new here, and most of it is available for free already on my web site. But many of us understand the transient nature of the medium of the web and want a solid book on our shelf. I feel the same. So here is the book that you could already have read for free but you can hold it in your hands and put it on the shelf and know you have it.

I've done a lot of presentations and a few have been posted on the web. If you have an interest in hearing some of this presented by me try a web search for videos for "Michael Bush beekeeping" or other topics such as "queen rearing".

About the Author

Michael Bush has had an eclectic set of careers from printing and graphic arts, to construction to computer programming and a few more in between. Currently he is working in computers. He has been keeping bees since the mid 70's, usually from two to seven hives up until the year 2000. Varroa forced more experimentation which required more hives and the number has grown steadily over the years from then. By 2008 it was about 200 hives. He is active on many of the Beekeeping forums with last count at over 50,000 posts between all of them.

"His writing is like his talks, with more content, detail, and depth than one would think possible with such few words...his website and PowerPoint presentations are the gold standard for diverse and common sense beekeeping practices."--Dean Stiglitz

Product details

Publisher : X-STAR PUBLISHING COMPANY; Illustrated edition (June 16, 2011)
Language : English
Hardcover : 670 pages
ISBN-10 : 1614760640
ISBN-13 : 978-1614760641
Item Weight : 2.3 pounds
Dimensions : 6 x 1.63 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #202,480 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #128 in Biology of Insects & Spiders
- #208 in Sustainable Agriculture (Books)
- #313 in Animal Husbandry (Books)

Customer Reviews:
279 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		84%
4 star		9%
3 star		4%
2 star		1%
1 star		3%

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Top reviews from the United States

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FanofJesus

good alternative advice for those that already know bees

Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2018

Verified Purchase

Another reviewer said that the book was not well organized; just his ramblings compiled. Well, it's a little better than that, but also, he doesn't do a good job of explaining what he's trying to describe or teach. I have been raising bees for 3 years now, so I get quite a bit of it. But when there's something I don't know about, he leaves me in the cold; his descriptions of contraptions he builds just gives the parts, sizes, materials, etc and then his straightforward description of how he makes it, assuming the person is a builder. You have to imagine it, as there are no pictures or drawings.
Having said that, I am glad for his contribution to beekeeping; I believe in his theories and I would like all beeks to follow his advice and do things his way; they just need to read his books a lot, listen to his lectures, and learn by doing.

4 people found this helpful

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Shadwins

Fantastic read with lots of down to earth information about natural beekeeping

Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2015

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I have a substantial library of beekeeping books, having been a beekeeper for more than 20 years. I also teach beginning beekeeping to several of the local association groups here in North Carolina. I found this book to be highly informative, although some sections may be considered "unconventional"., but that is one of its many positive attributes. I have gleaned a great deal of informative nuggets that I have been relating to my classes in the hopes of convincing more beekeepers to accept a more natural method of beekeeping. I enjoyed the format and presentation form, accompanied by many quotes of well known names in beekeeping and other appropriate fields. There were several quotes from Blaise Pascal, of which I had only a passing knowledge, that has caused me to explore in much more detail the life of this 17th century mathematician, philosopher, theologian, and apparent humorist as well. I would highly recommend this book to anyone wishing to explore the potential for natural beekeeping, and I am endeavoring to follow his plan of action to be such a beekeeper. This book will hold a special place in my library, as I am sure it is one to which I will refer for many years. I am also on a quest to proliferate the knowledge of this author and his techniques as widely as possible within my scope of influence.

9 people found this helpful

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Martha Williams

Great Collection of Information - A must have for the natural beekeeper!

Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2019

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Michael Bush does a fantastic job of sharing a wealth of information around beekeeping naturally. As a fellow "lazy" beekeeper, who has a daytime tech job, I really appreciate the techniques and advice he shares around what he has found to be impactful and what has not been. I really appreciate his research into the history of beekeeping, and his gleanings around what has worked in times past, along with revisiting many early techniques that have gone forgotten in the wake of modern medicated farming. One of the things I have learned over the course of my career, is that the advancements of tomorrow often lie in the boneyards of the past. From cell size to frame spacing, to overwintering and queen rearing, Mr. Bush gives us a lot of great information to help reshape the way we keep bees, or I suppose to state it more accurately, allow the bees to reshape how we keep them. I give this book a solid 2 thumbs up.

3 people found this helpful

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Shelly D. Wilcock

My go to book!

Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2017

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I have been a beekeeper for 3 years, not very long, in the world of beekeeping. I have read and collected quite a few books in these last years. Some where helpful, some over my head and unclear. I chanced upon Michael Bush on a youtube video. I was quite elated. Here was someone raising bees without chemicals and it's working. I needed more. I bought the book, The Practical Beekeeper: Beekeeping Naturally
What a great book! So many questions answered, so many topics. It has become my" bee all" end all bible of bees. I read through it with many ah ha moments. The book is jammed packed with information. On a side note, the print is BIG, so I could read it without my glasses. I would recommend this book, even if you want to treat your bees, as the the bee clubs tell you. There is still so much valuable information for any type of beekeeper. I had the pleasure of attending Bee Camp this year and hearing his thoughts in person. Get the book, you will be happy you did!

8 people found this helpful

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joseph Stokes

I love the "Switzerland" approach to this author's writing

Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2017

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I love the "Switzerland" approach to this author's writing. For example, he talks about all the medications AND the natural approach that he uses to treat common ailments. He gives you all the info you need to make your own educated decision (or tells you where to find more info) and emphasizes that is truly up to each beekeeper to decide what works best for their bees and their area. I found this empowering and helpful to cover both sides.

This book is an excellent read with lots of very specific tips from an author with over 30 years experience (for example, he goes over exact measurements for a successful observation hive and tells you what has happened, in his experience, with variants from those measurements--so helpful!). It is organized differently than most books because it is a compilation writing that his followers requested (he talks about this in the front of the book). I'm so glad this book was recommended to me!

3 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Great book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 27, 2014

Verified Purchase

This is definitely worth reading if you are thinking making your beekeeping more "natural". However, this is not a sanctimonious preacing book about the evils of modern beekeeping techniques by someone with fairly limited experience. He sets out the different alternative options, says what he does and why and lets you decide what is best in your situation. He is a strong advocate of foundationless beekeeping, hence why I bought the book, but also discusses the options of plastic frames, using foundation, and doesn't deride any of them, just discusses the pros and cons is a balanced and considered manner.

There is a huge amount of detail and discussion about beekeeping from a very experienced beekeeper who just happens to try and manage his colonies in a natural way, using regular equipment in regular hives. Some of it he has modified slightly some of it is off the shelf.

This probably isn't a great "beginners book" as it doesn't really do the step by step guide to beekeeping that some books do. That isn't to say that a beginner wouldn't benefit from reading it, they would learn a lot, it probably should be a second beekeeping book, not the first.

S. Davies

Beekeeping from a sensible approach.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 17, 2015

Verified Purchase

Excellent collection of guides to Beekeeping. Although freely available on his website, having all articles readily to hand in book form makes it an easy source of reference.
Extensive coverage of many topics, Michael's views are gained from practical experience managing his very large apiary. Sometimes controversial, but always thought provoking. For a novice beekeeper (3years), I found his advice logical and sensible, most of which I will be utilising.
Recommended reading.

a must have in your library

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 21, 2020

Verified Purchase

Always easy to read about nature ---- and bees in particular ---- coming from an Apiarist, I'm obviously highly prejudiced !!!!

Amazon Customer

Expensive, rambling, poor grammar, poor quality photographs, read his website instead

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 28, 2013

Verified Purchase

Purchased this large book at £38! Better be good for that outlay - severely disappointed. Best thing about this book was the quality of the paper. It is rambling, poorly laid out with abysmal grammar - didn't the publishers check it? Pictures used are of poor quality. Don't buy it, I reckon that this is all on his website and many others out there.

5 people found this helpful

bae

Bee Book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 2, 2020

Verified Purchase

This is a good reference volume and useful for any bee keeper.

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