Huntingdonshire

Beekeeping (The National Trust)

Best for feeding guidelines with a simple fondant recipe for winter use.

A World Without Bees (Alison Benjamin and Brian McCullam)

Argument for monitoring the use of pesticides by farmers.

Bees Flowers & Fruit (Herbert Mace)

Guide for garden planting to the best advantage for bees.

Getting Started in Beekeeping (Adrian and Claire Waring)

Excellent book to use at all levels with a monthly guide in the beekeepers year.

The Buzz about Bees – Biology of a Superorganism (Jurgen Tautz)

This is an excellent book with great photographs describing the honey bee rather than practical beekeeping. Well worth reading as it opens all sorts of interesting areas not normally covered by bee keeping books. A good 'winter reading' book.

Score = 9/10

ISBN 978-3-540-78727-3

Fifty Years Among the Bees (C.C. Miller)

Miller wrote this book in 1915 (he died in 1920) and the writing and language is appropriate for that age in the USA. Miller is famous for his queen rearing methods and some hardware such as feeders. I found this book quite hard work but there were a lot of tips and ideas that I found of value.

Score = 6/10

ISBN 0-486-44728-6 Dover Publications

Breeding Super Bees (Steve Taber)

Very specialised and interesting if you are intending to rear queens. The print and layout is not standard so not an easy read – requires lots of concentration.

Score = 5/10

ISBN 978-1-904846-09-3 Northern Bee Books

A Practical Manual of Beekeeping (David Cramp)

I found this to be a really good, easy to read and to use handbook. It covers the basics but takes the reader on to more difficult areas and helps identify solutions to problems of the sort one finds in the second and subsequent seasons. Well worth reading and buying.

Score 9/10

ISBN 978-1-905862-23-8

The Beekeeper’s Lament (Hannah Nordhaus)

An American author follows the life and work of a commercial beekeeper with side visits to queen breeders and almond farmers. She looks at the importance of bees in US agriculture. It brings home how critical bees are to US farmers especially in the almond orchards of California. This easily read book also gives us UK hobby beekeepers an indication of the scale of US commercial beekeepers. This is a good background read rather than a beekeeping book per se.

Score 7/10

ISBN 978-0-06-187325-6

Haynes Beekeeping Manual (Claire and Adrian Waring)

A highly practical book with packed with information and superb, step-by-step images for all aspects of beekeeping.

Keeping Bees (Green Guide) (Pam Gregory and Claire Waring)

This is the best book available for anyone thinking about keeping bees. It is easy to read, up to date and very well illustrated. We recommend it highly to people attending our Beekeeping Taster Days.

Honeybee Democracy (Prof Tom Seeley)

This book details how the author spent a lifetime 'reverse engineering' bee swarms and the way they choose their hives.

Bad Beekeepers Club (Bill Turnbull)

Bill's writing style is as engaging and witty as his screen persona but the lexical structuring is such that he could almost be in the room with you.

Apis through the Looking Glass (Graham Royle)

This publication provides a close-up look at the internal and external structures of the honeybee. It's content is based upon a lecture 'Honeybee Anatomy' which was presented to the Spring Convention of the British Beekeepers Association in 2009.

Hannah and the Honey Bees (Alison Simms)

Great book for children aged around 7 and above.

Beekeeper's Lament (Hannah Nordhaus)

An in-depth look at how commercial beekeepers in the USA are dealing with Colony Collapse Disorder and other problems.

On the Keeping of Bees (John Whitaker)

Good book for those just starting out in beekeeping.

Control of Varroa (Mark Goodwin and Michelle Taylor)

This book is great for those who wish to take up beekeeper and also for the established beekeeper.It is in plain English, clear and consise wording.This is supported by excellent illustrations that even a child could follow.

A Swarm in May (William Mayne)

A most unusual and offbeat story set in a traditional boys' school where young Owen and his friends explore the secrets of their cathedral school and the timeless magic of the ancient art of beekeeping. A wonderful story for children and adults alike.