The Australian Beekeeping Manual is the most comprehensive reference for both novice and experienced beekeepers in Australia. The accessible yet detailed text, supported by over 350 full-colour photographs and illustrations, covers all the key areas, including the beekeeping equipment needed, how to obtain bees, where to locate them in the garden, and the basics of colony management. There are also in-depth chapters on the lifecycle of the honey bee, extracting honey, creating a bee-friendly garden, entering honey in competitions, pests and diseases, native bees, and rearing queens. A feature of this 2nd edition is the addition of a new chapter on the Flow Hive. The result is an invaluable beekeeping resource that will be referred to time and again, and which can be taken out to the hive for use as an immediate step-by-step guide or read at leisure.

A fascinating hobby; a remunerative business; or a globetrotting career? Which type of beekeeper do you want to be? It is entirely up to you: beekeeping can provide it all.Beekeeping can provide anyone with an interesting and useful hobby or a lucrative and rewarding business. It is recognised as a vital agricultural industry and can therefore also offer you a globe trotting career. The whole subject is, however, often shrouded in mystery and loaded with jargon, leaving many people unaware of its true potential or how to start. This book strips away all the mystery and explains step by step how - from day one - you can start beekeeping as a hobby; how you can progress to running a beekeeping business; or how you can start a career as a beekeeper which can quite easily take you all over the world. No other guide explains in such detail the true potential and accessibility of beekeeping or of being a beekeeper. Contents: List of illustrations; List of photographs; Introduction; Acknowledgements; 1. Honey-bees and human beings; 2. Understanding the honey-bee colony; 3. Using the products of the hive and bees; 4. Obtaining equipment and bees; 5. Starting with bees; 6. The active season: spring; 7. The active season: summer and autumn 8. Dealing with problems; 9. Overwintering your bees: autumn to spring; 10. Controlling diseases and pests; 11. Rearing queens and breeding bees; 12. Exploring products and career possibilities; Weights and measures ready-reckoner; Further reading; International beekeeping organizations; Beekeeping charities; Beekeeping journals;Beekeeping supply companies; Index.

A practical book for new beekeepers and those interested in keeping their own bees, explaining everything they need to know to get started. It also covers how to make your garden attractive for bees. Published to coincide with the biggest beginners' day for beekeeping which takes place in February each year.

This is a guide for New Zealand beekeepers on how to control Varroa in your hives.

Whether you are a novice looking to get started with bees, an experienced apiculturist looking for ideas to develop an integrated pest-management approach, or someone who wants to sell honey at a premium price, this is the book you’ve been waiting for. Now revised and updated with new resources and including full-color photos throughout, Natural Beekeeping offers all the latest information in a book that has already proven invaluable for organic beekeepers. The new edition offers the same holistic, sensible alternative to conventional chemical practices with a program of natural hive management, but offers new sections on a wide range of subjects, including: The basics of bee biology and anatomy Urban beekeeping Identifying and working with queens Parasitic mite control Hive diseases Also, a completely new chapter on marketing provides valuable advice for anyone who intends to sell a wide range of hive products. Other chapters include: Hive Management Genetics and Breeding The Honey Harvest The Future of Organic Beekeeping Ross Conrad brings together the best “do no harm” strategies for keeping honeybees healthy and productive with nontoxic methods of controlling mites; eliminating American foulbrood disease without the use of antibiotics; selective breeding for naturally resistant bees; and many other detailed management techniques, which are covered in a thoughtful, matter-of-fact way.