Beschreibung:
This trusted handbook is a must-have for novice and seasoned beekeepers alike. Now totally redesigned and featuring color photos and graphics, the second edition also includes up-to-date information on honey bee health. The go-to reference presents comprehensive yet accessible information on everything from planning hives and installing a colony to preventing disease and managing productive hives that will bear bountiful honey harvests year after year.
Acknowledgments Preface 1 Beginning Beekeeping Seven Basic Tips for Getting Started • Dimensions of Beekeeping • The Beekeeper’s Commitment • Financial Considerations • Stings • Legal Considerations • Finding Resources2 Origin and History of Beekeeping Honey Bee Evolution • History of Beekeeping3 A Bee’s Life What Is a Honey Bee? • Inside the Colony • The Queen • The Worker • The Drone • The Varroa Mite • Activities and Behavior • Patterns of Behavior4 Choosing Hive Location The Colony and Your Community • Weather Issues • Forage Availability5 Getting Equipped Hive Design and Dimensions • Hive Materials • Supers • Frames and Foundation • Bottom Board • Queen Excluder • Covers • Hive Stand • Hive Scale • Feeders • Pollen Trap • Tools of the Trade • Beekeeper Garb6 Enter the Bees Smoker Basics • Package Bees • Installing a Nucleus Colony • Starting with an Established Colony • Swarm! • A Wild or Feral Colony7 Managing Honey Bee Colonies Working a Colony • The Beekeeper as Manager • A Colony’s Yearly Life Cycle • Population Cycle • The Apicultural Calendar • Late-Season Management • Requeening • Managing Nutrition • Cooking for the Bees8 Taking the Crop The Honey Crop • Harvesting the Crop • Processing the Crop • Storing the Crop • Chunk and Comb Honey • Other Bee Products9 Pollination Unique Challenges • Small-Scale Pollination • Is Pollination for You?10 Diseases and Pests of the Honey Bee Innate Defense Mechanisms • Brood Diseases • Adult Diseases • Parasitic Mites • Integrated Pest Management • Tolerant or Resistant Stock • Colony Collapse Disorder • Wax Moth • Small Hive Beetle • Black Bears • For More Information11 Additional Strategies Beehive Design • Alternative Management Practices • Toward a Honey Bee–Friendly Future Glossary Model Beekeeping Ordinance Sample Pollination Contract Resources A Sampling of U.S. Beekeeping Supply Houses • Sources of Beekeeping Information Metric Conversion Charts Index