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Homemade Living
Keeping Bees with Ashley English: All You Need to Know to Tend Hives, Harvest Honey & More
Heard the buzz? Beekeeping is back! Neighborhoods across the country have embraced it as a source of sustainable food and environmental goodness. For those who want to join the "hive" of keepers, Ashley English has the lowdown on the key issues, from space and time considerations to local ordinances to the basics of acquiring, housing, maintaining, and caring for bees year round. Plus, get 10 tested honey-centric recipes!
136 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2011
5 people are currently reading
319 people want to read
About the author
Ashley English
19 books23 followersAshley English is the author of the "Homemade Living" book series (Lark Books) which showcases topics related to small-scale homesteading and some of the diverse ways people are reconnecting with their food and food communities and taking up sustainable food practices.
--from the author's blog
--from the author's blog
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
February 19, 2011
Beekeeping is hot. It seems that everyone is interested in it – from home gardeners to urban farmers to locavore entrepreneurs these days. Anyone ‘stung’ by the idea of keeping bees will not find a clearer, more useful or better written book about basic beekeeping than Keeping Bees by DIY living expert Ashley English.
We have to admit, we’ve been taken with the idea too, with classes taken and suggested texts on the subject feverishly read. But not until reading this wonderful book did the idea sink in that we could actually do this. Other well-meaning authors – mostly professional beekeepers, scientists and serious hobbyists, are all too quick to pass by the essentials of the subject and rely too often on insider-jargon. None of them have found the way to explain the life of honey bees, the beauty of beekeeping or the pleasures and challenges of helping these marvelous creatures to help us – all of which English does with an easy, trusted and highly knowledgeable style.
Bees are complicated creatures with a short, highly productive lifespan and beekeeping is certainly not something to half-heartedly take up. As with most things in the natural world, actions have results and consequences. Ignorance, mistakes or misguided information can lead to the unintended and readers will find confidence at the hand of English – or least enough confidence to know what questions to ask of a more experienced keeper.
A book doesn’t necessarily have to answer all of a reader’s questions but it should not leave a reader with more questions than when they started or without the resources to inquire further. This fact is not lost on English and a great job is done in this tidy, stylish and easy to read book to answer questions and give the resources to learn more.
The modern design of the book from cover to cover is appealing and useful – more information is presented in text and in photos combined to great efficiency. English’s clear organization and easy to follow style allows the reader to decide on their own speed of entry into beekeeping as a hobby or profession. Profiles of beekeepers, enthusiasts, chefs, advocates and professional apiarists from around the country dot the book at meaningful moments, adding to the colorful hive-world. The photo-work is especially informative and high quality, a welcome addition to the step-by-step methods for many of the hobby’s functions.
The point of honey bee keeping is to help them pollinate the flora in the world around us. By way of cooperation and work, we can receive the benefit of their work in doing so – honey and wax. English covers not only the harvesting and processing of honey (with a number of options as to how best to accomplish this) but includes a number of inspiring recipes using the sweet profits. An up-to-date resource section is included which is far better than such searching the internet – these resources have been reviewed and selected to improve the experience of the reader, a vast improvement on other texts and certainly better than blindly searching the internet.
It is a gracious notion that, as Marcus Tullius Cicero was quoted, “If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” A garden without bees is a fruitless, pale reflection of what a garden can be. Let Keeping Bees be your guide to enjoying and gaining from our noble honeybees.
We have to admit, we’ve been taken with the idea too, with classes taken and suggested texts on the subject feverishly read. But not until reading this wonderful book did the idea sink in that we could actually do this. Other well-meaning authors – mostly professional beekeepers, scientists and serious hobbyists, are all too quick to pass by the essentials of the subject and rely too often on insider-jargon. None of them have found the way to explain the life of honey bees, the beauty of beekeeping or the pleasures and challenges of helping these marvelous creatures to help us – all of which English does with an easy, trusted and highly knowledgeable style.
Bees are complicated creatures with a short, highly productive lifespan and beekeeping is certainly not something to half-heartedly take up. As with most things in the natural world, actions have results and consequences. Ignorance, mistakes or misguided information can lead to the unintended and readers will find confidence at the hand of English – or least enough confidence to know what questions to ask of a more experienced keeper.
A book doesn’t necessarily have to answer all of a reader’s questions but it should not leave a reader with more questions than when they started or without the resources to inquire further. This fact is not lost on English and a great job is done in this tidy, stylish and easy to read book to answer questions and give the resources to learn more.
The modern design of the book from cover to cover is appealing and useful – more information is presented in text and in photos combined to great efficiency. English’s clear organization and easy to follow style allows the reader to decide on their own speed of entry into beekeeping as a hobby or profession. Profiles of beekeepers, enthusiasts, chefs, advocates and professional apiarists from around the country dot the book at meaningful moments, adding to the colorful hive-world. The photo-work is especially informative and high quality, a welcome addition to the step-by-step methods for many of the hobby’s functions.
The point of honey bee keeping is to help them pollinate the flora in the world around us. By way of cooperation and work, we can receive the benefit of their work in doing so – honey and wax. English covers not only the harvesting and processing of honey (with a number of options as to how best to accomplish this) but includes a number of inspiring recipes using the sweet profits. An up-to-date resource section is included which is far better than such searching the internet – these resources have been reviewed and selected to improve the experience of the reader, a vast improvement on other texts and certainly better than blindly searching the internet.
It is a gracious notion that, as Marcus Tullius Cicero was quoted, “If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” A garden without bees is a fruitless, pale reflection of what a garden can be. Let Keeping Bees be your guide to enjoying and gaining from our noble honeybees.
September 20, 2025
A good introductory book for beginning beekeeping. English does a great job giving an overall, broad picture of things to be aware of when working with bees. The photos included are lovely, but I wish there were more photos accompanying specific info such as about larva, diseases, and swarm cells. She also sometimes writes cute but unclear statements like “body odors are not appreciated in the bee yard.” What does this mean specifically? They will avoid me? They will attack me? Specifics and literal language would be more helpful for people like me who don’t know anything about bees. She also mentions “honey flow” several times but doesn’t explain what it is until page 58 (it is the time period in which plants are making nectar for bees to consume.) All around, a nice book with good information, profiles of beekeepers to show you many ways of beekeeping, and even recipes to help the bees’ needs. I can tell that she loves beekeeping, and I look forward to making some infused honey following her good-looking recipes.
October 9, 2012
A good overview for beginning beekeepers with lots of visual interest (photographs, illustrations, sidebars, profiles of beekeepers). I like "Storey's Guide to Keeping Honey Bees" (Richard Bonney) as a more in-depth source, and "Natural Beekeeping" (Ross Conrad), which has some suggestions for going it without any chemicals. But this is a good starter book. I'll be sharing it with my budding beekeeping buds.
April 25, 2011
Thrilled with this book. Got so adventurous that I actually put my first hive out yesterday. Can't believe it, but I'm doing this! This book was easy to follow step-by-step. We'll see how I feel about this project this fall when I've harvested my first honey.
Honestly, I'll never be done with this book as it will be my partner in this new project.
Honestly, I'll never be done with this book as it will be my partner in this new project.
February 11, 2021
This is a solid starter book for new beekeepers. The beautiful illustrations and seasonal checklists set it apart from some other guides I've reviewed. I did find some topics sparse or outdated, so certainly consult other books too. This is a fine reference for keeping on hand though.
March 1, 2020
2.5**Stars
A very basic introduction to the keeping of bees. It gave me a decent grounding in concepts and terms, but for an actual understanding of the mechanics of bees, hives etc this book was inadequate. It is short on detailed pictures and high on recipes. There are several great books out there with much better information. For a glossy introduction this one is not bad, but not enough to start a career as an apiarist.
A very basic introduction to the keeping of bees. It gave me a decent grounding in concepts and terms, but for an actual understanding of the mechanics of bees, hives etc this book was inadequate. It is short on detailed pictures and high on recipes. There are several great books out there with much better information. For a glossy introduction this one is not bad, but not enough to start a career as an apiarist.
March 12, 2019
Fascinating and helpful primer on beekeeping. Ashley English provides a personal account of her apiary journey including pitfalls and preventions, the biology of Apis mellifera, essential equipment and sourcing, hive placement and care, threats and diseases, and honey extraction. A helpful, easy to understand reference book.
May 12, 2021
Everything I ever wanted to know about bee keeping. I recommend this book to anyone with or without bees.
May 9, 2022
Easy read, entertaining, and detailed enough.
I especially enjoyed the 4 seasons checklist.
Would recommend, though not a book I will be purchasing for future use.
I especially enjoyed the 4 seasons checklist.
Would recommend, though not a book I will be purchasing for future use.
April 3, 2024
I loved reading this book! I learned so much about bees!
August 3, 2024
Great, easy to understand information for first time beekeepers!! Covers nearly all your bases for what you need to know.
January 2, 2014
I have had an interest in beekeeping for some time now, however, just lately have I decided to begin moving toward actually putting this desire into action. The first step for me was reading this book. I have never kept bees before or been around hives so I can't say if this book is accurate with real-life experience. However, it was a pleasure to read and certainly encouraged my interest. The book seems to be an overview of the process and experience and was not overly technical--which as someone new to the subject I appreciated. The book is well laid out and the chapters address the beginning and how-to aspects of beekeeping. There are many full-color, clear photographs that aid in understanding the subject. I liked English's tone as well. It was friendly, encouraging and knowledgeable. One of the best parts of the book, was the "Profiles of a Beekeeper" sections sprinkled throughout the text in which she writes a few paragraphs about real-life beekeepers and their experiences. It made me think that if some of the folks with their challenges can successfully keep bees, then I can too! The book does seem like a simple overview so I will probably need a more technical manual as I move forward. However, it is a good basic guide and has inspired me to take the next step and seek out a beekeeping mentor and beekeeping club.
April 22, 2011
This is my first book about bee keeping, and I must say that I'm a smitten kitten. Now I can add Apis mellifera fascination to my chicken and pig obsessions. (Yes, that was a shameless show off moment.)
I greatly enjoy Ashley English's prose. It is straight-forward with the tiniest touch of whimsy. I also appreciate all of the color photographs in this book. They make a huge difference in my understanding of all things bee related.
I greatly enjoy Ashley English's prose. It is straight-forward with the tiniest touch of whimsy. I also appreciate all of the color photographs in this book. They make a huge difference in my understanding of all things bee related.
May 16, 2015
I've long been fascinated by beekeeping; I don't envision ever owning my own hives, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to know about this hobby. English does an excellent job in laying out the basics of beekeeping, from explaining bee physiology and their caste system to how to build and maintain suitable hives, not to mention harvesting honey. I now have a greater understanding and appreciation of what it means to be a beekeeper.
July 16, 2012
Great book! It definitely whet my appetite for beekeeping. This book gives basic information on the practice of beekeeping in a very appealing way. The pictures are great, and I loved the experiences from beekeepers featured at the end of each chapter often explore the joy they receive from beekeeping.
February 22, 2013
A delightful read, practical but slightly romantic, with the graphic character of a shelter magazine -- strong graphics, sensible layout, interesting sidebars, and a clear voice. I found too many very close parallels to sections of the older Beekeeping for Dummies (Blackiston), with nary an acknowledgement or referral in the "resources" section.
March 10, 2013
This is a really good book for beginning beekeepers. There are plenty of pictures that show you step by step directions. The writing is clear without being weighed down with technical vocabulary or speaking over ones head. The recipes in the back aren't that great looking but I'm so glad I purchased this book.
December 4, 2015
It was an awesome read! Pictures were nice, descriptions well done and easy to understand. It was so explanatory that I realized that bees were not for me! That is what nonfiction book are supposed to do. Give you enough clear information so you are able to make a decision! I finished this book in early October.
May 5, 2014
Everything you need to know about getting your own hive set-up, tending to it year round, and harvesting honey from them. Includes info on pests and winter keeping, which I found very helpful. Good recipes too, but there are only a handful.
February 13, 2012
I love Ashley English's blog (Small Measure) and her series of four "Homemade Living" books (Home Dairy, Home Canning, Beekeeping, Chicken-Keeping) are as well-written and entertaining as her blog. Good how-to sections, great photography and graphic design.
July 22, 2011
Nice presentation, good information and brief profiles of beekeepers in various situations. Fast and easy, yet touches on the important stuff.
March 2, 2012
I've now read many, many guides to bees, and this is the one I'm going to buy and keep as an ongoing reference. Very informative, complete, useful, and practical. Thanks, Ashley
February 15, 2014
Love this book...I learned more about my bees than you might imagine. Find myself sharing my newfound insight with people who have never really given honeybees a second thought
February 5, 2013
Cute! Fun! A great book for a beginner beekeeper with lots if insight!
April 20, 2013
Another great beekeeping book. I come back to this one for information over and over.
February 22, 2015
This book was super helpful and informative. Reading it was like spending the afternoon with a friend learning about beekeeping.
April 6, 2015
Good beginners guide
September 16, 2016
Very quick read and thorough primer. No new information for me, but a lovely presentation and outline. I wish I'd read this as my introductory to beekeeping, rather than the thick Beekeeper's Bible!
Read
August 2, 2018The honey bee is Holy. They only do good in the world. They eat nectar, pollinate our food, make honey/propolis... even their poop smells good.
did-not-finish
May 21, 2019It had to go back to the library and I never got round to finishing it, oops.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews