Best Books for Beginner Beekeepers

Sometimes it can be hard to find good, reliable sources of information when you are starting something new, such as beekeeping. Here are twenty-three of the top-rated books for beekeeping. 

1. The Beekeeper’s Handbook (2011) Diana Sammataro 

This is one of the top overall books for beginners, and it has been used as the best single-volume guide to the hobby and profession of beekeeping since 1973. It includes over 100 illustrations and explains how to set up an apiary, handle bees, and make your bee season successful. The fourth edition now includes details about Colony Collapse Disorder, green IPM methods, and more. 

2. Beekeeping for Dummies (2017) Howland Blackiston

This is one of the best books for beginning beekeepers, and it includes everything you need to know to start your own colony in your backyard such as putting together and maintaining beehives, a detailed process of honey production, and a list of the tools you need.

3. Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping (2013) Dewey M. Caron and Lawrence John Connor

This book is more advanced, and it is focused on the science and biology behind beekeeping. It is considered the most complete beekeeping textbook that can be used by beekeepers to gain a more comprehensive understanding of beekeeping. 

4. The Backyard Beekeeper (2018) Kim Flottum

This book is great for hobbyist beekeepers and people who want to try out having a hive of their own for the first time. The newest edition includes information about urban beekeeping, pest management, and keeping hives healthy.

5. Building your own Beekeeping Equipment (2013) Tony Pisano

This guide shows new beekeepers how they can build their own equipment and save hundreds of dollars. It includes designs of multiple different hive types, and gives tips on building all the basic infrastructure needed for a hive. 

6. The Practical Beekeeper (2011) Michael Bush

This book explains how bees can be kept and managed through natural methods, meaning without the use of treatments for pests or diseases. The information in this book goes against traditional practices. 

7. The Beekeeper’s Bible (2011) Richard Jones, Sharon Sweeney-Lynch

The Beekeeper’s Bible is the ultimate guide or almanac for everything beekeeping. It is part-history and part-handbook also including recipes for using honey and beeswax.

8. Natural Beekeeping: Organic Approaches to Modern Apiculture (2013) Ross Conrad

This book provides the latest information for organic beekeepers including sensible alternatives to conventional chemical practices and also talks about the basics of bee biology, urban beekeeping, working with queens, and more. 

9. Beginning Beekeeping: Everything You Need to Make Your Hive Thrive! (2017) Tanya Phillips

This guide can teach any beginner how to have a healthy hive including setting up colonies, the best practices and techniques to use, and how to troubleshoot common hive issues. 

10. Homegrown Honey Bees: An Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Beekeeping Your First Year, from Hiving to Honey Harvest (2013) Alethea Morrison

This book can lead a beginning beekeeper throughout their first year of beekeeping. The author discusses allergies, colony hierarchy, bee behavior, and more. 

11. The Beginners Guide to Beekeeping – Everything You Need To Know (2019) Samantha Johnson and Daniel Johnson

This book is the expanded version of the Future Farmers of America’s Beginner’s Guide to Beekeeping. It is an overall good book for beginning beekeepers who want to learn about the basics including how to set up, care for, and harvest their bee colonies. 

12. The Beekeepers Problem Solver – 100 Common Problems Explored and Explained (2015) James E. Tew

This book focuses on how to solve common problems that beekeepers face. It explains how to notice when bees are having issues, the causes behind them, and how to solve them.

13. Beekeeping for Beginners: How to Raise Your First Bee Colonies (2019) Amber Bradshaw

This is another book for beginners that describes step-by-step how to start your hive and get into beekeeping, and it includes information about the essentials, modern beekeeping, and learning the language that beekeepers use.  

14. Keeping Bees with a Smile: Principles and Practice of Natural Beekeeping (2020) Fedor Lazutin

This book is geared towards those interested in natural beekeeping, and it includes hive management techniques, building low maintenance hives, helping bees through the winter, and much more. 

15. First Lessons in Beekeeping (2007) Keith S. Delaplane

This book provides information about the basics of beekeeping for a beginner including honey bee biology, equipment, management, honey production and processing, and disease diagnosis and treatment. 

16. Top-Bar Beekeeping: Organic Practices for Honeybee Health (2012) Les Crowder and Heater Harrell

This book gives details about how to practice organic beekeeping using top-bar hives without use of antibiotics, miticides, or other chemical inputs. It would be a good book for home and hobbyist beekeepers, home orchardists, and gardeners who want bees in order to pollinate their plants . 

17. Building Beehives for Dummies (2019) Howland Blackiston 

This book is a follow-up of the bestseller Beekeeping for Dummies, and it goes in-depth about how to build a variety of hives and beekeeping accessories. For each design there is a list of materials, building instructions, and illustrations to show how to put everything together. 

18. The Bee Book: Discover the wonders of Bees and How to Protect Them for Generations to Come (2016) DK

The Bee Book teaches the reader how to create a bee-friendly garden, get started in beekeeping, and how to use their honey. It is great for beekeepers and gardeners who want to know more about practical techniques such as setting up a hive, dealing with diseases, and more . 

19. The Complete Bee Handbook: History, Recipes, Beekeeping Basics, and More (2020) Dr. Dewey M. Caron 

This is a book great for beginner and experienced beekeepers, as it is a guide to practical and fascinating information about bees. It touches on topics such as backyard beekeeping, bee-centric food recipes, and more. 

20. Honeybee Democracy (2010) Thomas D. Seeley

This book gives insight into bees’ decision-making process and breaks down the societal system within a colony. This is an advanced book based on scientific research that is great for beekeepers who want to know more about the democracy of bees decisions. 

21. Bees: A Honeyed History (2017) Piotr Socha

Bees is a great book for people who want to learn about the cultural history and science of bees. This book discusses different methods of beekeeping in history as well as topics like honey production and bee anatomy.

22. The Honey Bus: A Memoir of Loss, Courage and a Girl Saved by Bees (2020) Meredith May

This book is a memoir about how the author learned all about beekeeping from her grandfather, and how she used it as an escape from reality. In this book she tells a story about how bees became such a large part of Meredith’s life.

23. Honey in the Comb (1989) Gene Killian 

This book discusses the basics of raising comb honey by the Killian method, and it includes information about the necessary equipment, swarm control, queen rearing, colony management, and more. It is made up of twelve chapters with pictures and drawings for reference. 

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