Beekeeping For Dummies

Howland Blackiston has been a backyard beekeeper since 1984. He's written many articles on beekeeping and appeared on dozens of television and radio programs. He is also the author of Building Beehives For Dummies, which provides detailed instructions on how to build hives from scratch.

Foreword v Introduction 1 About This Book 1 Foolish Assumptions 3 Icons Used in This Book 3 Beyond the Book 4 Where to Go from Here 5 Part 1: Taking Flight with Beekeeping 7 Chapter 1: To Bee, or Not to Bee? 9 Discovering the Benefits of Beekeeping 10 Harvesting liquid gold: Honey 11 Bees as pollinators: Their vital role to our food supply 11 Being part of the bigger picture: Save the bees! 13 Getting an education: And passing it on! 13 Improving your health: Bee therapies and stress relief 15 Determining Your Beekeeping Potential 16 Environmental considerations 16 Zoning and legal restrictions 16 Costs and equipment 17 How many hives do you need? 17 What kind of honey bees should you raise? 17 Time and commitment 18 Beekeeper personality traits 18 Allergies 19 Deciding Which Beekeeping Approach to Follow 19 Medicated beekeeping 20 Natural beekeeping 20 Organic beekeeping 21 Combining approaches 21 Chapter 2: Getting to Know Your Honey Bees 23 Basic Body Parts 24 Skeleton 24 Head 25 Thorax 26 Abdomen 27 The Amazing Language of Bees 27 Pheromones 27 Shall we dance? 28 Getting to Know the Male and the Two Female Castes 29 Her majesty, the queen 30 The industrious little worker bee 32 House bees 33 Housekeeping (days 1 to 3) 33 Undertaking (days 3 to 16) 33 Working in the nursery (days 4 to 12) 34 Attending royalty (days 7 to 12) 34 Going grocery shopping (days 12 to 18) 34 Fanning (days 12 to 18) 34 Becoming architects and master builders (days 12 to 35) 36 Guarding the home (days 18 to 21) 36 Field bees 36 The woeful drone 37 The Honey Bee Life Cycle 39 Egg 39 Larva 41 Pupa 41 Other Stinging Insects 43 Bumblebee 44 Carpenter bee 44 Mason bee 45 Wasp 45 Yellow jacket 46 Bald-faced hornet 47 Part 2: Starting Your Adventure 49 Chapter 3: Alleviating Apprehensions and Making Decisions 51 Overcoming Sting Phobia 52 Knowing what to do if you're stung 53 Watching for allergic reactions 54 Building up a tolerance 54 Understanding Local Laws and Ordinances 54 Easing the Minds of Family and Neighbors 55 Location, Location, Location: Where to Keep Your Hives 56 Knowing what makes a perfect bee yard 57 Urban considerations 59 Dealing with nervous neighbors 59 City bees have the same needs as country bees 59 Deciding where to put your hives 59 Strike a deal with a community garden 60 Speak to your landlord about roof rights 60 Providing for your thirsty bees 60 Understanding the correlation between geographical area and honey flavors 63 Knowing When to Start Your Adventure 64 Chapter 4: Selecting a Hive That's Perfect for You 65 The Langstroth Hive 66 The Kenyan Top Bar Hive 68 The Warre (People's) Hive 71 The Flow Hive 74 The Five-Frame Nuc Hive 77 The Observation Hive 79 Make a Beeline to the Best Beehive 81 Hives for harvesting honey 82 Hives for pollinating your garden 82 A hive for learning and teaching 82 Chapter 5: Basic Equipment for Beekeepers 85 Starting Out with the Langstroth Hive 86 Knowing the Basic Woodenware Parts of the Langstroth Hive 86 Hive stand 87 Bottom board 87 Entrance reducer 89 Deep-hive body 89 Queen excluder 90 Shallow or medium honey super 91 Frames 92 Foundation 95 Inner cover 98 Outer cover 99 Knowing the Basic Parts of a Top Bar Hive 99 The top bar 100 Everything else 101 Ordering Hive Parts 101 Startup hive kits 102 Setting up shop 102 Adding on Feeders 104 Hive-top feeder 104 Entrance feeder 105 Pail feeder 106 Baggie feeder 107 Frame feeder 108 Top Bar hive feeders 109 Fundamental Tools 110 Smoker 110 Hive tool and frame lifter 111 Bee-Proof Clothing 112 Veils 112 Gloves 112 Really Helpful Accessories 114 Elevated hive stand 114 Frame rest 116 Bee brush 117 Slatted rack 117 Screened bottom board 118 Beekeeper's toolbox 119 Chapter 6: Obtaining an