The Beekeeper's Handbook

This is a great reference book, that is part text book and part field guide. "The Beekeeper's Handbook" is my choice for bee book I would bring with me to the desert island.

The other choice (second place for me. but number one for many) is "The ABC and XYZ of Bee Culture: An Encyclopedia of Beekeeping", originally published in 1877(!) and now in its 41st edition.

"The Beekeeper's Handbook" covers the range of topics that you need to know if you are beekeeping: bee biology (including stings!), colony behaviour, working and managing bees, queen rearing, pests and diseases, and equipment. There are good diagrams and drawings, extensive references and interesting chapters on pheromones, fun facts, Africanized bees, and rearing wax moths for bait and food (yuck).

There you have it, one more reason to look after the planet: so we don't find ourselves subsisting on wax moth larvae.

This is an honest, hardworking book. It is not a coffee table book. But it would be nice to see some photography and colour.

The next edition will need to discuss the latest on nosema ceranae.

The third edition does a creditable job of explaining the rise of new diseases and does an excellent job of explaining the varroa mite. Still, the new edition could use a section on 'green' or drug-free beekeeping.