Beekeeping For Dummies^®

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Beekeeping For Dummies^®

by David Wiscombe and Howland Blackiston

Beekeeping For Dummies^®

Published by
John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
The Atrium
Southern Gate
Chichester
West Sussex
PO19 8SQ
England

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Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, West Sussex, England

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, West Sussex

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data: A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-119-97250-1 (paperback), 978-1-119-97567-0 (ebook), 978-1-119-97568-7 (ebook), 978-1-119-97569-4 (ebook)

Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ International, Padstow, Cornwall

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About the Authors

David Wiscombe began a career in education in 1954, and as a rural science teacher soon became involved in beekeeping. He has kept his own bees continuously since 1960.

He joined the East Devon Branch of Devon Beekeepers Association in the early 1960s and has been their Apiary Manager for periods totalling 13 years, Chairman for 13 years and is currently President. During this time he has given many lectures and demonstrations and helped run beginners courses.

His expertise eventually came to the attention of River Cottage and he became their beekeeper and set up their apiary. He now runs courses for River Cottage and Monkton Wyld Court.

He has appeared on television in both River Cottage and Autumn Watch programmes.

David has lived with his wife Mandy at Monkton Wyld in rural West Dorset for over 30 years.

Howland Blackiston has been a backyard beekeeper since 1984. He’s written many articles on beekeeping and appeared on dozens of television and radio programmes. He has been a keynote speaker at conferences in more than
40 countries.

Howland is cofounder and president of bee-commerce.com, an internet-based store offering beekeeping supplies and equipment for the back yard beekeeper. Howland is the past president of Connecticut’s Back Yard Beekeepers Association, one of America’s largest regional clubs for the hobbyist beekeeper. Howland and his wife Joy live in Weston, Connecticut.

Dedication

This book is lovingly dedicated to my wife Joy, who is the queen bee of my universe. She has always been supportive of my unconventional whims and hobbies (and there are a lot of them) and never once did she make me feel like a dummy for asking her to share our lives with honey bees. I also thank our wonderful daughter Brooke (now grown and married), who, like her mother, cheerfully put up with sticky kitchen floors and millions of buzzing ‘siblings’ while growing up in our bee-friendly household.

HB

Authors’ Acknowledgments

My thanks to all the beekeepers I’ve learned from over the years; my family for their forbearance during the adaptation; Rachael Chilvers and Claire Ruston for shepherding me through the process; and Ian for his very thorough technical review.

DW

I was very fortunate, when I started beekeeping, that I met a masterful beekeeper who took me under his wing and taught me all that is wonderful about honey bees. Ed Weiss became a valued mentor, a great friend, and ultimately a partner in business. I am deeply appreciative of his friendship and beewisdom. Ed served as the first technical review editor for this book, and I am most appreciative of the many hours he spent checking my facts to ensure that I had been an attentive student. Thank you, Ed.

My good friends Anne Mount and David Mayer played a key role in the creation of this book. Both of them are authors, and both encouraged me to contact the Dummies team at Wiley. Thank you, Anne and David. I owe you a whacking big jar of honey!

A good how-to book needs great how-to images. Special thanks to John Clayton for some of the close-ups used in the book. Thanks also to Steve McDonald and Dr Edward Ross who provided most of the stunning macrophotography used in this book. I extend my gratitude for images (and technical suggestions) provided by Kim Flottum at Bee Culture magazine. Image credits also go to The National Honey Board, the US Department of Agriculture, Marco Lazzari, Peter Duncan, Eric Erickson, Reg Wilbanks, Mario Espinola, David Eyre, Swienty Beekeeping Equipment, E. H. Thorne Ltd., Wellmark International, Barry Birkey and Kate Solomon.

And thanks to fellow beekeeper and friend Stephan Grozinger, who patiently served as my model for some of the how-to photographs.

Thanks also to Leslie Huston for her help with the chapter on raising queen bees, to Ellen Zampino for her section on planting flowers for your bees, and to Patty Pulliam for her wonderful beeswax recipes.

Writing this book was a labour of love, thanks to the wonderful folks at Wiley. What a great team!

HB

Publisher’s Acknowledgements

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/.

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Commissioning, Editorial, and Media Development

Project Editor: Rachael Chilvers

Commissioning Editor: Claire Ruston

Assistant Editor: Ben Kemble

Proofreader: Kelly Cattermole

Production Manager: Daniel Mersey

Publisher: David Palmer

Cover Photos: ©Shaiith/Shutterstock

Cartoons: Ed McLachlan

Composition Services

Project Coordinator: Kristie Rees

Layout and Graphics: Cheryl Grubbs, Joyce Haughey, Corrie Socolovitch

Indexer: Cheryl Duksta

Part I

Getting Hooked on Honey Bees

In this part . . .

This is where you get to know the honey bees’ role in the environment and how they organise their society. You also discover what’s involved in keeping bees so that you can decide whether beekeeping is for you.