Beekeeping for dummies

Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Foreword
Introduction
	About This Book
	Foolish Assumptions
	Icons Used in This Book
	Beyond the Book
	Where to Go from Here
Part 1 Taking Flight with Beekeeping
	Chapter 1 To Bee, or Not to Bee?
		Discovering the Benefits of Beekeeping
			Harvesting liquid gold: Honey
			Bees as pollinators: Their vital role to our food supply
			Being part of the bigger picture: Save the bees!
			Getting an education: And passing it on!
			Improving your health: Bee therapies and stress relief
		Determining Your Beekeeping Potential
			Environmental considerations
			Zoning and legal restrictions
			Costs and equipment
			Time and commitment
			Beekeeper personality traits
			Allergies
		Deciding Which Beekeeping Approach to Follow
			Medicated beekeeping
			Natural beekeeping
			Organic beekeeping
			Combining approaches
	Chapter 2 Getting to Know Your Honey Bees
		Basic Body Parts
			Skeleton
			Head
			Thorax
			Abdomen
		The Amazing Language of Bees
			Pheromones
			Shall we dance?
		Getting to Know the Male and the Two Female Castes
			Her majesty, the queen
			The industrious little worker bee
			House bees
			Field bees
			The woeful drone
		The Honey Bee Life Cycle
			Egg
			Larva
			Pupa
		Other Stinging Insects
			Bumblebee
			Carpenter bee
			Mason bee
			Wasp
			Yellow jacket
			Bald-faced hornet
Part 2 Starting Your Adventure
	Chapter 3 Alleviating Apprehensions and Making Decisions
		Overcoming Sting Phobia
			Knowing what to do if you’re stung
			Watching for allergic reactions
			Building up a tolerance
		Understanding Local Laws and Ordinances
		Easing the Minds of Family and Neighbors
		Location, Location, Location: Where to Keep Your Hives
			Knowing what makes a perfect bee yard
			Urban considerations
			Understanding the correlation between geographical area and honey flavors
		Knowing When to Start Your Adventure
	Chapter 4 Selecting a Hive That’s Perfect for You
		The Langstroth Hive
		The Kenyan Top Bar Hive
		The Apimaye Insulated Hive
		The Flow Hive
		The Warré (People’s) Hive
		The Five-Frame Nuc Hive
		The Observation Hive
		Make a Beeline to the Best Beehive
			Hives for harvesting honey
			Hives for pollinating your garden
			A hive for learning and teaching
	Chapter 5 Basic Equipment for Beekeepers
		Starting Out with the Langstroth Hive
		Knowing the Basic Woodenware Parts of the Langstroth Hive
			Hive stand
			Bottom board
			Entrance reducer
			Deep-hive body
			Queen excluder
			Shallow or medium honey super
			Frames
			Foundation
			Inner cover
			Outer cover
		Knowing the Basic Parts of a Top Bar Hive
			The top bar
			Everything else
		Ordering Hive Parts
			Startup hive kits
			Setting up shop
		Adding on Feeders
			Hive-top feeder
			Entrance feeder
			Pail feeder
			Baggie feeder
			Frame feeder
			Top Bar hive feeders
		Fundamental Tools
			Smoker
			Hive tool and frame lifter
		Bee-Proof Clothing
			Veils
			Gloves
		Really Helpful Accessories
			Elevated hive stand
			Frame rest
			Bee brush
			Slatted rack
			Screened bottom board
			Beekeeper’s toolbox
	Chapter 6 Obtaining and Installing Your Bees
		Determining the Kind of Bee You Want
		Deciding How to Obtain Your Initial Bee Colony
			Ordering package bees
			Buying a “nuc” colony
			Purchasing an established colony
			Capturing a wild swarm of bees
		Picking a Reputable Bee Supplier
		Deciding When to Place Your Order
		The Day Your Girls Arrive
			Bringing home your bees
			Recipe for sugar syrup
		Putting Your Bees into the Hive
			Hiving steps for Langstroth type hives and Steps 1–7 for Top Bar hives
			Hiving Steps 8–14 for Top Bar hives
			Watching your bees come and go from their new home
Part 3 Time for a Peek
	Chapter 7 Opening Your Hive
		Establishing Visiting Hours
		Setting an Inspection Schedule
		Preparing to Visit Your Langstroth or Top Bar Hive
			Making “non-scents” a part of personal hygiene
			Getting dressed up and ready to go
		Lighting Your Smoker
		Opening a Langstroth Hive
			Removing the hive-top feeder
			Removing the inner cover
		Opening a Top Bar Hive
		The Hive’s Open! Now What?
	Chapter 8 What to Expect When You’re Inspecting
		Keeping a Journal
		Inspecting a Langstroth Hive
			Removing the first frame of your Langstroth hive
			Working your way through the Langstroth hive
			Holding up frames for inspection
			Knowing when it’s time for more smoke
			Replacing Langstroth frames
			Closing the Langstroth hive
		Inspecting a Top Bar Hive
			Working your way through the Top Bar hive
			Top Bar comb management
			Looking into Top Bar cells
			Replacing the top bars and closing the hive
		Understanding What to Always Look For
			Checking for your queen
			Storing food; raising brood
			Inspecting the brood pattern
			Recognizing foodstuffs
		Your New Colony’s First Eight Weeks
			Checking in: A week after hiving your bees
			The second and third weeks
			Weeks four through eight
	Chapter 9 Different Seasons, Different Activities
		Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer
			Your summer to-do list
			Your summertime commitment
		Falling Leaves Point to Autumn Chores
			Your autumn to-do list
			Your autumn time commitment
		Clustering in a Winter Wonderland
			Your winter to-do list
			Your wintertime commitment
		Spring Is in the Air (Starting Your Second Season)
			Your spring to-do list
			Your springtime commitment
			Administering spring medication
			Reversing hive bodies
		Managing Top Bar Hives in the Spring
			Finding the cluster
			Preventing the urge to swarm
			Expanding the brood nest
		The Beekeeper’s Calendar
Part 4 Common Problems and Simple Solutions
	Chapter 10 Anticipating and Preventing Potential Problems
		Running Away (to Join the Circus?)
			Swarming
			Absconding
		Where Did the Queen Go?
			Letting nature take its course
			Ordering a replacement queen
			Introducing a new queen to the hive
		Avoiding Chilled Brood
		Dealing with the Dreaded Robbing Frenzies
			Knowing the difference between normal and abnormal (robbing) behavior
			Putting a stop to a robbing attack
			Preventing robbing in the first place
		Ridding Your Hive of the Laying Worker Phenomenon
			How to know if you have laying workers
			Getting rid of laying workers
		Preventing Pesticide Poisoning
		The “Killer Bee” Phenomenon
			What are “killer bees”?
			Bee prepared!
	Chapter 11 Colony Collapse Disorder
		What Is CCD?
		What to Do If You Suspect CCD
		Why All the Fuss?
		What’s Causing CCD?
			The cellphone theory
			It may be the perfect storm
		Answers to FAQs
		What You Can Do to Help
	Chapter 12 Keeping Your Bees Healthy
		Understanding the Importance of Good Nutrition
			What bees eat
			The need for good gut health
			Taking steps to ensure good nutrition
		Medicating or Not?
		Knowing the Big-Six Bee Diseases
			American foulbrood (AFB)
			European foulbrood (EFB)
			Chalkbrood
			Sacbrood
			Stonebrood
			Nosema
			A handy chart
	Chapter 13 Heading Off Honey-Bee Pests
		Parasitic Problems
			Varroa mites
			Tracheal mites
			Zombie (Phonid) flies
		Other Unwelcome Pests
			Wax moths
			Small hive beetle
			Ants, ants, and more ants
			Bear alert!
			Raccoons and skunks
			Keeping out Mrs. Mouse
			Some birds have a taste for bees
		Pest Control at a Glance
	Chapter 14 Raising Your Own Queens
		Why Raising Queens Is the Bee’s Knees
		Understanding Genetics
			Dominant and recessive genes
			Inbreeding versus outcrossing
			Accentuate the positive
		What Makes a Queen a Queen
		Talking about the Birds and Bees for Honey Bees
		Creating Demand: Making a Queenless Nuc
		Queen-Rearing Method 1: Go with the Flow
			If the queen cells are capped
			If the queen cells are open
			Mind the timeline
		Queen-Rearing Method 2: The Miller Method
		Queen-Rearing Method 3: The Doolittle Method, also Known as Grafting
			Tools and equipment
			How it’s done
			Providing nuptial housing
		Finding Homes for Your Queens
		Evaluating the Results
		The Queen Rearer’s Calendar
		Marking Your Queens
Part 5 Sweet Rewards
	Chapter 15 Honey, I Love You
		Appreciating the History of Honey
		Understanding the Composition of Honey
		Healing with Honey
			Honey and diabetes
			Honey’s nutritional value
			Honey and children
		Choosing Extracted, Comb, Chunk, or Whipped Honey
			Extracted honey
			Comb honey
			Chunk honey
			Whipped honey
			Honeydew honey
		Taking the Terror out of Terroir
			Customizing your honey
			Honey from around the world
		The Commercialization of Honey
			Is it the real deal?
			Raw versus regular honey
			Organic or not?
			Your own honey is the best
		Appreciating the Culinary Side of Honey
			The nose knows
			Practice makes perfect
			Recognizing defects in honey
		Pairing Honey with Food
		Infusing Honey with Flavors
		Judging Honey
		Honey Trivia
	Chapter 16 Getting Ready for the Golden Harvest
		Having Realistic Expectations
		What Flavor Do You Want?
		Assembling the Right Equipment to Extract Honey
			Honey extractors
			Uncapping knife
			Honey strainer
			Other handy gadgets for extracting honey
			Honey containers
		Planning Your Extracted Honey Harvest Setup
		Gathering Comb Honey Equipment
			Section comb cartridges
			Cut comb
		Branding and Selling Your Honey
			Creating an attractive label
			Finding places to market your honey
			Selling your honey on the web
	Chapter 17 Honey Harvest Day
		Knowing When to Harvest
			Bad things come to those who wait!
			A few pointers to keep in mind when harvesting liquid gold
		Getting the Bees out of the Honey Supers
			Shakin’ ’em out
			Blowin’ ’em out
			Using a bee escape board
			Fume board and bee repellent
		Honey Extraction from a Langstroth Frame
			Harvesting honey using an extractor
			Cleaning frames after extracting
		Harvesting Honey from Your Top Bar Hive
			Selecting the comb to harvest
			Getting the bees off Top Bar comb
			Harvesting using the crush-and-strain method
			Harvesting honey using a honey press
			Harvesting cut-comb honey
		Harvesting Wax
Part 6 The Part of Tens
	Chapter 18 More than Ten Fun Things to Do with Bees
		Making Two Langstroth Hives from One
		Making One Langstroth Hive from Two
		Dividing a Top Bar Hive into Two Colonies
		Combining Two Top Bar Hive Colonies
		Building an Elevated Hive Stand
			Building materials list
			Cut list
		Planting Flowers for Your Bees
			Asters (aster/callistephus)
			Bachelor’s buttons (Centaurea)
			Bee balm (Monarda)
			Hyssop (Agastache)
			Malva (Malvaceae)
			Mint (Mentha)
			Nasturtium (Tropaeolum minus)
			Poppy (Papaver/Eschscholzia)
			Salvia (Salvia/farinacea-strata/ splendens/officinalis)
			Sunflowers (Helianthus/Tithonia)
		Brewing Mead: The Nectar of the Gods
		Create Cool Stuff with Propolis
			Propolis tincture
			Propolis ointment
			Propolis varnish
		Making Gifts from Beeswax
			Beeswax candles
			Beeswax furniture polish
		Beauty and the Bees
			Use your cappings
			Equipment
			The recipes
			Packaging and labeling
	Chapter 19 More than Ten Frequently Asked Questions about Bee Behavior
	Chapter 20 My Ten Favorite Honey Recipes
		Honey Curry Vegetable Dip
		Golden Cornbread
		Honey Picante Chicken Wings
		Apricot Honey Bread
		Asian Honey-Tea Grilled Prawns
		Broiled Scallops with Honey-Lime Marinade
		A Honey of a Chili
		Beef and Potato Tzimmes
		Chewy Honey Oatmeal Cookies
		Apple Honey Tart
Part 7 Appendixes
	Appendix A Helpful Resources
		Honey Bee Information Websites
			Apiservices — Virtual beekeeping gallery
			The Barefoot Beekeeper
			Beemaster Forum
			Bee-Source.com
			Facebook — Top Bar Beekeeping
			Honey Bee Health Coalition
			Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium (MAARAC)
			National Honey Board
		Bee Organizations and Conferences
			The American Apitherapy Society Inc.
			American Beekeeping Federation
			American Honey Producers
			Apiary Inspectors of America
			Apimondia: International Federation of Beekeepers’ Associations
			Eastern Apiculture Society
			Heartland Apicultural Society Inc.
			International Bee Research Association
			USDA Agricultural Research Service
		The Western Apiculture Society
		Bee Journals and Magazines
			American Bee Journal
			Bee Culture
			Bee World
		Beekeeping Supplies and Equipment
			Apimaye Insulated Hives
			Barnyard Bees
			Bastin Bees
			Bee-commerce.com
			BeeInventive
			Bee Vital
			Betterbee
			Blue Sky Bee Supply
			Dadant & Sons, Inc.
			Glorybee Inc.
			Healthy Bees, LLC
			Hive Butler
			Hive Tracks
			Hungry Bear Farms
			Kelley Beekeeping
			Mann Lake
			Miller Bee Supply
			Oliverez
			Pierco
			Pigeon Mountain Trading Company
			Rossman Apiaries
			Sacramento Beekeeping Supplies
			Swienty Beekeeping Equipment (EU)
			Thorne Beekeeping Supply (UK)
		Western Bee Supplies
		State Bee Inspectors (United States)
	Appendix B Beekeeper’s Checklist
	Appendix C Glossary
Index
Supplemental Images
EULA