The Beekeeper’s Handbook

Title: The Beekeeper’s Handbook

Authors: Diana Sammataro and Alphonse Avitabile

Foreword: Dewey M. Caron

Publisher: Comstock Publishing Associates

Publication Date: April 15, 2021

Language: English

Page Count: 368 pages

Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.84 x 11 inches

ISBN-10: 1501752618

ISBN-13: 978-1501752612

About the Book:

“The Beekeeper’s Handbook” is a comprehensive guide to beekeeping, suitable for both hobbyists and professionals. The authors, Diana Sammataro and Alphonse Avitabile, have created a resource that provides step-by-step instructions for setting up an apiary, handling bees, and maintaining a healthy colony throughout the season to ensure a generous supply of honey.

Content and Features:

This fifth edition of the handbook has been fully updated and expanded. It includes hand-drawn instructional diagrams that provide clear, step-by-step instructions. The book also offers updated research on the health and behaviors of bees in different habitats, helping beekeepers understand what operations may best suit individual needs.

A significant feature of the book is its focus on colony care. It presents various colony care options and techniques, enabling beekeepers to make the best choices for their hives. The book also provides information on how to identify, treat, and prevent the introduction of Varroa destructor mites and other harmful intruders in a colony.

Who is it for: “The Beekeeper’s Handbook” is an invaluable resource for both beginner and veteran beekeepers. It is designed to be a single-volume guide to the hobby and profession of beekeeping, making it a must-have for anyone interested in the field. Whether you’re just starting out or have years of experience, this book will provide you with the knowledge and tools you need to succeed in beekeeping.

My Opinion

Getting on for fifty years on the market, The Beekeeper’s Handbook is the closest thing in all my reviews to a real beekeeping classic (with the possible exception of Langstroth’s immortal text). Helping hobbyists and experts alike since 1973, this revised edition brings with it a wealth of information on the ongoing challenges that beekeepers face (and truly, there is no shortage of those).

From setting up your apiary to seasonal duties, this book provides informative step-by-step guidance on it all. Richly illustrated and now available in a sturdy hardback edition, it makes for a fine addition to any beekeeping library.

The Beekeeper’s Handbook is another text that experts and beginners alike will be glad to have. Nevertheless, it really comes into its own at the beginner level. So detailed, yet clear, is each instruction that, short of embarking on specialist beekeeping (top bar etc.), the beginner will scarcely need anything else.

The book, however, seems to be written as if the only way to keep bees is with a Langstroth hive. Within this area, it is accessible and exhaustive, but you will not find much here related to other forms of beekeeping. Part of this is down to the age of the work (top bar beekeeping was still being developed in 1973) but you perhaps would have expected the authors to correct the omission with subsequent editions.

For what it is, it is a great book.

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Last update on 2023-09-21 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API