In the summer of 2016 retired broadcaster Paul Ashton made an astounding discovery at a car boot sale in Sussex. He found a copy of Sherlock Holmes's Practical Handbook of Bee Culture, and bought it for £2. No other copy of this legendary volume – the only book Holmes wrote – has ever come to light. The Handbook is the journal kept by Holmes from 1904 to 1912. 1904 was the year he retired from active investigation and moved to a farmhouse in East Dean. In 1912 he came out of retirement and left East Dean in order to outwit the German spy network in Britain on the eve of World War I. The journal is, of course, principally the record of his bee-keeping activities, but Holmes has also included a wealth of astonishing information – some of it highly indiscreet – about the following: – his marriage to Mrs Hudson – their social life in Sussex – his meetings with Lenin, Pablo Picasso, Edward VII, Rudyard Kipling, George Bernard Shaw and Sigmund Freud, among other distinguished figures – two investigations that he carried out, even though officially retired – two attempts that were made on his life – his involvement in the Jack the Ripper murders, the Dr Crippen affair, the theft of the Mona Lisa, and the Siege of Sidney Street – his correspondence with some of the famous scientists of the day – his active support of the Suffragette movement – the regular updating of his casebooks of famous criminals of the nineteenth century – a number of photographs, some taken by him and four actually showing him – the steady deterioration of his health over the period. Both the owner of the Handbook and the publisher are honoured to be able to make this unique treasure available to the general public.

Listening to the Bees is a collaborative exploration by two writers to illuminate the most profound human questions: Who are we? Who do we want to be in the world? Through the distinct but complementary lenses of science and poetry, Mark Winston and Renée Saklikar reflect on the tension of being an individual living in a society, and about the devastation wrought by overly intensive management of agricultural and urban habitats. Listening to the Bees takes readers into the laboratory and out to the field, into the worlds of scientists and beekeepers, and to meetings where the research community intersects with government policy and business. The result is an insiders’ view of the way research is conducted—its brilliant potential and its flaws—along with the personal insights and remarkable personalities experienced over a forty-year career that parallels the rise of industrial agriculture.

Honey bees—and the qualities associated with them—have quietly influenced American values for four centuries. During every major period in the country's history, bees and beekeepers have represented order and stability in a country without a national religion, political party, or language. Bees in America is an enlightening cultural history of bees and beekeeping in the United States. Tammy Horn, herself a beekeeper, offers a varied social and technological history from the colonial period, when the British first introduced bees to the New World, to the present, when bees are being used by the American military to detect bombs. Early European colonists introduced bees to the New World as part of an agrarian philosophy borrowed from the Greeks and Romans. Their legacy was intended to provide sustenance and a livelihood for immigrants in search of new opportunities, and the honey bee became a sign of colonization, alerting Native Americans to settlers' westward advance. Colonists imagined their own endeavors in terms of bees' hallmark traits of industry and thrift and the image of the busy and growing hive soon shaped American ideals about work, family, community, and leisure. The image of the hive continued to be popular in the eighteenth century, symbolizing a society working together for the common good and reflecting Enlightenment principles of order and balance. Less than a half-century later, Mormons settling Utah (where the bee is the state symbol) adopted the hive as a metaphor for their protected and close-knit culture that revolved around industry, harmony, frugality, and cooperation. In the Great Depression, beehives provided food and bartering goods for many farm families, and during World War II, the War Food Administration urged beekeepers to conserve every ounce of beeswax their bees provided, as more than a million pounds a year were being used in the manufacture of war products ranging from waterproofing products to tape. The bee remains a bellwether in modern America. Like so many other insects and animals, the bee population was decimated by the growing use of chemical pesticides in the 1970s. Nevertheless, beekeeping has experienced a revival as natural products containing honey and beeswax have increased the visibility and desirability of the honey bee. Still a powerful representation of success, the industrious honey bee continues to serve both as a source of income and a metaphor for globalization as America emerges as a leader in the Information Age.

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.

“The most lucid call to action ever written about land-based beekeeping” from the author of The Backyard Beekeeper (Tammy Horn, author of Bees in America and Beeconomy). Backyard beekeepers everywhere agree: a successful colony is a thing of beauty. Thousands of beekeepers have started beekeeping thanks to Kim Flottum’s first book, The Backyard Beekeeper, and they have added to their repertoire of skills with The Backyard Beekeeper’s Honey Handbook. Now, Better Beekeeping answers the question, “What do I do now that I’m a beekeeper?” This book takes serious beekeepers past the beginning stages and learning curves and offers solutions and rewards for keeping bees a better way. Better queens, better winters, better food, and better bees await any beekeeper willing to take on the challenge of having the right number of bees, of the right age, in the right place, in the right condition, at the right time. “There are numerous beekeeping books on the shelves that instruct on ‘how to,’ but Better Beekeeping is a book that explores ‘why to,’ which is essential for this ever-changing world of beekeeping today.” —Jennifer Berry, research coordinator at the University of Georgia’s Honey Bee Research Lab, commercial queen, and columnist for Bee Culture magazine