A Brief Review of the Book That Helped Us Get Started in Beekeeping
When Owen and I got back from our first beekeeping class we were excited to get started, but also a little overwhelmed. Neither of us had realized how much there was to beekeeping, and we both agreed 2022 was going to be the year we learned everything we could about beekeeping. Beekeeping can be a bit (well, maybe more than "a bit") costly, so we didn't want to start buying anything for our new venture until we had a firm plan in place.
Where to Start?
With a Book Of Course!
The beekeeping class Owen and I took, which was conducted by the Mississippi Gulf Coast Beekeepers Association, suggested several books about bees and beekeeping. Once we got home, I knew I'd need to start reading. I went to Amazon and looked at the various books the class recommended. One stood out to me as a great starting point: Beekeeping for Dummies (5th ed.) by Howland Blackiston. I was already familiar with the simplicity of the Dummies books from past experiences, and simplicity is what I needed. Broken out into seven parts, Beekeeping for Dummies takes the future beekeeper from understanding bee biology and language all the way to harvesting honey. Since the book doesn’t have to be read sequentially and is purposely designed that way, it was easy for me to find the information I was interested in without feeling lost. There was never a feeling of starting a book in the middle and not knowing what's going on. The best part was being able to sit down and really grasp point-by-point the equipment, cost, and time needed to raise bees. Most of all, I had a much better idea of what Owen and I were about to get ourselves into. I still refer to the book, and as a new beekeeper, I’m sure I will for a long time to come.
Beekeeping for Dummies, 5th Edition
Author: Howland Blackiston
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ
Copyright 2020