Top-Bar Beekeeping is an offering designed to encourage beekeepers around the world to keep bees naturally by providing beekeeping basics, hive management and the utilization of top-bar hives. In recent years, beekeepers have had to face tremendous challenges, from pests, such as varroa and tracheal mites, to the mysterious but even more devastating phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Yet in backyards and on rooftops all over the world, bees are being raised successfully, even without antibiotics, miticides, or other chemical inputs. More and more organically-minded beekeepers are now using top-bar hives, in which the shape of the interior resembles a hollow log. Long lasting and completely biodegradable, a top-bar hive made of untreated wood allows bees to build comb naturally rather than simply filling prefabricated foundation frames in a typical box hive with added supers. Top-bar hives yield slightly less honey but produce more beeswax than a typical Langstroth box hive. Regular hive inspection and the removal of old combs helps to keep bees healthier and naturally disease-free. Top-Bar Beekeeping provides complete information on hive management and other aspects of using these innovative hives. All home and hobbyist beekeepers who have the time and interest in keeping bees intensively should consider the natural, low-stress methods outlined in this book. It will also appeal to home orchardists, gardeners, and permaculture practitioners who look to bees for pollination as well as honey or beeswax.

Cornell University Professor Roger A. Morse's classic book on the production of comb honey. He considered comb honey production and queen rearing to be the benchmark of an accomplished beekeeper. Comb honey is exactly as the bees produce it, with natural comb and no heating or filtering during the production by the bees. Comb honey is a gourmet item in many fine eating establishments, often coupled with fine cheeses and fresh fruit. The book is one of the best on the topic of comb honey production using traditional methods.

"Written for beekeepers who know little about genetics and geneticists who know little about beekeeping." Chapter topics are: Brief history of queen rearing, The queen, The production of queen cells, Mating the virgin queens, The care of queens, Controlled mating, Genetics, Selective breeding, The genetic basis of disease resistance, Bibliography, Remarks, Whimsy and Index.