Bees provide a critical link in the maintenance of ecosystems, pollination. They play a major role in maintaining biodiversity, ensuring the survival of many plants, enhancing forest regeneration, providing sustainability and adaptation to climate change and improving the quality and quantity of agricultural production systems. In fact, close to 75 percent of the world’s crops that produce fruits and seeds for human consumption depend, at least in part, on pollinators for sustained production, yield and quality. Beekeeping, also called apiculture, refers to all activities concerned with the practical management of social bee species. These guidelines aim to provide useful information and suggestions for a sustainable management of bees around the world, which can then be applied to project development and implementation.

Through proper breeding and care of social bees, beekeepers can contribute to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Experts always recommend the sustainable One Health approach for apiculture, which results in high-quality bee products and services. These guidelines, produced with the support of Apimondia experts and other international bee experts, define different beekeeping models, types of social bee and their geographical distribution, including Apis mellifera, Africanized bees, Apis cerana, Micrapis, Megapis, stingless bees and the Bombus genus, and good beekeeping practices (GBPs) for each of these types. The guidelines also look at products (honey, pollen, royal jelly, propolis) and services (pollination, environmental monitoring, apitherapy, apitourism, cultural and spiritual services) that social bees provide, and set out GBPs and traceability systems for sustainable management of bees and their products. The full production process is covered, from catching or purchasing bees, to obtaining high-quality bee products and services, with a special focus on smallscale beekeepers. In this way, they aim to guide sustainable implementation of beekeeping in development projects. Topics relevant to the development of the beekeeping sector, such as the role of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and beekeepers’ associations and training in beekeeping, are also discussed in dedicated chapters. Sustainable apiculture requires good knowledge on the proper management of bees to optimize the natural systems and resources beekeepers rely on. Specifically, knowledge of state-of-the-art technologies and innovations can help increase productivity. The last chapter is therefore dedicated to future perspectives and innovations in modern beekeeping such as precision farming, innovative trace ability systems, bee data standardization and blockchain technologies.

"The honey bee: a manual of instruction in apiculture" by Frank Benton is one of the earliest examples of apiary care books. Bee-keeping has always been a hobby that's fascinated people. Whether for leisure or for profit, one needs help to make sure their hive stays healthy and thriving. Benton helped countless aspiring bee-keepers and his words are still surprisingly relevant today.

The Beekeeper’s Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Apiculture is a must-have resource for anyone interested in the art and science of beekeeping. This comprehensive guide takes readers on a journey into the captivating world of bees, providing practical advice and insights for both novice and experienced beekeepers. From understanding bee behavior and hive management to honey production and disease prevention, this handbook covers all aspects of apiculture. It highlights the vital role of bees in our ecosystems, emphasizing the importance of ethical and sustainable beekeeping practices. Whether you are a beekeeping enthusiast or a beginner eager to start your own hive, The Beekeeper’s Handbook equips you with the knowledge and tools to embark on a fulfilling and rewarding journey as a beekeeper.

This is a practical tool to help beekeepers, veterinarians and beekeeping advisory services to properly identify main honeybee diseases and to take the most appropriate actions in the apiary to control and/or prevent disease outbreaks. This publication follows the TECA publication Main bee diseases: good beekeeping practices (2018) which provided a more general overview of good beekeeping practices for bee diseases. This manual is a unique publication because, through its presentation of practical information, simple visuals, and understandable content, it helps beekeepers to correctly identify main honeybee diseases in a timely manner. More specifically, the manual creatively illustrates actions which facilitate the identification of disease symptoms. It also presents a comprehensive list of good beekeeping practices to adopt in the apiary as well as biosafety measures to reduce the risk of the introduction and the spread of main honeybee diseases. The manual’s overall objective is ultimately to support a more sustainable beekeeping sector.

This Book intends to address all aspects needed to develop beekeeping into a powerful instrument of rural development and will focus on beekeeping as a tool for Poverty Alleviation and Livelihood security. In the backdrop of the social and economic issues of the people living in poverty region, the book aims to delineate specific motivation approaches to engage them in beekeeping and will serve as a guide for effective marketing through diversification and value addition of bee products. Nevertheless, marketing and environmental issues will remain an important component of this book. The aim is also to focus on indirect benefit of beekeeping so that it is integrated with farming and nature conservation. Other topics include ensuring the provision of practical techniques in handling and management of bees. It will provide detailed information on good contacts with policymakers and authorities; and channels for attracting finance especially in the third world countries. An interdisciplinary approach is the key feature of the book and it will also focus on few case histories and success stories to encourage the reader to take up beekeeping as a new venture gradually in a phased manner like traditional-transitional and modernised beekeeping. With the publication of this book, we hope to hand out a practical guide that will assist all those who are involved in beekeeping for development. We hope it will stimulate beekeeping as an integrated activity with farming and nature conservation and will serve in many households for poverty alleviation and livelihood security.

This manual is a visual, practical document on good beekeeping practices for sustainable small-scale beekeepers in Africa. It has been designed to serve as a beekeeping training tool and is a concise, practical reference document. The manual opens with an illustrated story of the damaging effect of certain practices adopted when collecting wild honey (honey hunting) and aims to spark interest among readers on how to harvest honey more sustainably. The second section presents the reader with the main beekeeping equipment and explains how the tools can be used to keep healthy bees and harvest quality honey. It ends with an overview of good beekeeping practices that will help the beekeeper produce good honey in a sustainable manner. Rather than recommend a specific type of hive, the manual provides necessary information that will help beekeepers determine which type is best suited to their local conditions. The many illustrations included in the manual aim to help beekeepers make their own versions of the equipment that are tailored to local needs.