The Complete Guide to Beekeeping for Fun & Profit: Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply [Paperback]

Knowing very little about beekeeping and bees in general I found this book to be a very eye opening read. Cindy Belknap delivers on the title, for this has to be the complete guide that one would need to get started in beekeeping. There is an overwhelming amount of information packed into this book.
The author does a good job in warming the reader to the topic, delivering a number of facts on why bees are very important in our modern world. To find out that bees and the pollination they provide are directly responsible for billions of dollars in agriculture in the United States alone is a bit shocking. The author obviously has a large amount of respect her subject and it shows through in the writing. In this book, the reader will discover everything they ever needed to know about bees and beekeeping.
After learning of the importance of the bee in society, the reader is then treated to a detailed investigation of the honeybee itself. The name of this chapter is "All About Bees" and that is no joke as Belknap delves into the physiology of bees, the social caste of the hive, the work done inside and outside the hive and the mystery of how bees communicate. After reading this chapter you will know definitely know if you want to pursue beekeeping as a hobby or profession, the amount of information will either ignite your desire or overwhelm you.
If you decide to move on, things will get even more complicated. The next chapter covers everything you must do once you decide that beekeeping is for you. Topics covered here include, start up costs, different types of hives, the smoker, feeders and feed, clothing for the beekeeper and finally the bees themselves. Also covered are the important considerations of hive placement and knowing your local laws in respect to beekeeping.
The keeping and working of the hive is reviewed in exhausting detail next. Everything the vigilant beekeeper would need to know is covered here, dealing with stings, harvesting the hive, illness inside the hive, dealing with pests of all shapes, size and temperament.
Organic/Natural beekeeping is also looked at. If the task of beekeeping was not an arduous one before, the amount of work that goes into organic beekeeping is even more daunting. There is a lot of labor and thought involved with organic beekeeping, but there is a huge payoff on a personal and financial level for those that can maintain an organic/natural hive and honey production.
The business of bees and bee products are also looked at. Belknap details how to start your own small business here and what products once can manufacture, sell or be involved with.
In the final chapter, the author delivers a way for the beekeeper to enjoy their labor, a huge number of recipes based around your beekeeping and honey collection.
Lastly, if more information is required, the resources included in the appendices include the dissection of the bee, the lifecycle of the bee, a month-by-month beekeeping calendar, fun facts about bees and an exhaustive glossary of terms relating to beekeeping.
In the end, I would find it hard to believe that there could be a more detailed tome on the subject of beekeeping out there outside of academia. For the novice interested in beekeeping, this book will surely become your bible.

I purchased 2 books about beginning beekeeping. This book was one of them. It's a difficult, dry read. The author is knowlegable, but does a poor job of conveying the information. There are extensive examples of text that is repeated a couple pages later. It's like she forgot she wrote about it. The text rambles and does not stay on topic. I chose this book because of a review about it. That review stated it was the definitive book to get. WRONG! A much better book is Beekeeping for Dummies. The author of this book actually references the author of the Beekeeping for Dummies book several times. This is a poor choice for a beginner due to the writers style of writing. If you are an experienced beekeeper, you won't learn anything new from this book.

Never judge a book by its cover is the meaning that is taken as I read this book, The Complete Guide to Beekeeping for Fun & Profit: Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply. For the novice, the author packs this book with helpful hints and numerous suggestions for keeping bees as well as beekeeping as a business. Keep in mind the information one would have to know about this type of endeavor, the hazards, relative medical information, the cycle of the seasons, the best time to produce the product, management techniques, extraction techniques, the hierarchy of a bee society, sickness and disease harmful to the bees as well as tips on the treatment and animals, pests, insects and rodents. What I have mentioned thus far does not include the profit aspect, uses for honey, nutrients, dangers of contamination of plants, the reaction and symptoms to spot diseases that can ruin entire hives. Cindy Belknap, truly guides the reader through the A B C's to farming bees. Yes, there is the long lengthy and a bit wordy discovery of the intricacies of bees but necessary if you know nothing as I. Yet, for the beekeepers their options for profit become vast.

Personally, I am not interested in bees in the slightest. Yet, here I've learned what is needed to take care of a colony of productive bees as well as the troublesome areas that all beekeepers face. The images are a very nice addition as are the diagrams I feel could have come earlier to break up the very detailed extensive meaningful fact finding environmental information of bees and their cycle of life. I like honey but I would have never looked at it in the way that the author describes the honeybee. I have garnered a great appreciation of the bee and the honey gather. This is very useful knowledge when understanding that product being produced. As a consumer I would never be aware of the numerous uses for honey and the wax produced by bees. I was delighted to discover other terms, uses and names that honey is called. This is a fun book to read. I do love that fact that the book is printed on recycled paper. I now consider beekeeping as a retirement option.

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