Homegrown Honey Bees: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Beekeeping Your First Year, from Hiving to Honey Harvest

by Alethea Morrison, Mars Vilaubi (Photographer)

Discover the joys of harvesting honey from your own backyard.  Alethea Morrison outlines what you’ll need to know to make it through the first year, while stunning macrophotography by Mars Vilaubi brings the inner workings of the hive to life. With in-depth discussions of allergies, colony hierarchy, bee behavior, and more, this approachably informative guide bursts with enthusiastic encouragement. Keep your own bees, and enjoy the sweet buzz.

Genres: Nonfiction, Gardening, Reference, Nature, Science, Animals, Food

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 29, 2013

Reviews

[Elizabeth Gajdosik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to comprehend, concise in it's information, and formatted in a simple manner which one can easily navigate. I'll be keeping this on hand for when I dive into beekeeping next year!

[Scott Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book. It was the first beekeeping book I read before I got bees and the pictures were perfect for letting me see what to look for. Is it a complete book of everything bees? No. But it is exactly what it claims to be and would be a perfectly suitable book for beekeepers just starting out. It is very easy to read and the authors approach and care for their bees is translated beautifully to paper. It is certainly written for hobbyists with time to dote over their bees.

[Kay Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bees are so cool!!! After reading this I’ll probably wait another year for next spring to dive in but what an interesting, informative read.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

The hive is ready, the beekeeper has researched and the bees will be here in April! Wish me a nectar flow season and honey rich fall.

[Diane Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is an easy-to-read manual with a lot of information and many great illustrations.

[Jo-bunny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great foundation for my beekeeping course. These little creatures are far more incredible than I understood both in diversity, socially, and looking after them is art meets science. Looking forward to this little learning adventure. Regardless if you wish to look after bees or not...it's a good read and would help remove the bad rap they get. They really are just misunderstood.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

needed a qualifier that it's ONLY for langstroth hives. no info at all on top bar beekeeping

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am finishing a Beekeeping class and have been looking for resources for beekeeping. This book is probably best for someone who is considering beekeeping - there is not a lot of in depth information, but enough to help make up your mind.

Things I liked: The glossary at the end of the book, the stories of beekeepers, the explanation of diseases too. The up-close pictures of the bees highlighting their features and the mites.

Things I didn't like: The authors glossing over safety equipment. Being new to beekeeping, I don't think it's smart to start with out gloves. Even our mentors encouraged us not to omit our gloves. Focus mostly on packages of bees. Not much info included on swarms or pictures of actual queen cells.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Provides a good overview for beginning beekeepers. Gives the basics on preparing for a new colony and what to expect during the first four weeks after introducing the bees to their new hive. The book is by no means comprehensive. It does, however, have a fair amount of pictures for reference. It also includes a list of books, websites, and suppliers for additional information. The best feature of the book is that it provides beekeeping jargon in an approachable manner for someone just starting out with the hobby.

[Nicolette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely for "absolute beginners" as it says

This was definitely a beginner book, I walked away with a lot of questions still, but I don't feel like this was at all meant to be an exhaustive source for all things beekeeping. I learned a lot, without even realizing at the time how much. Yesterday I was talking to my mom and just spouting off information as we talked about the potential of putting bees in her yard. It's also a pretty short read, so you can definitely use it to jump start your beekeeping quickly, but you will need other books after this

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book. Bees are so adorable. I liked the what would you call it profiles of beekeepers from different parts of the country. I also liked the bee diary parts of the book where the author talks about her experiences. I liked the discussion about some of the pests of bees. I learned some things that I did not learn from other books on beekeeping. I also liked that the book was quick to read.

[Susanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good beekeeping book for the absolute beginner, but definitely too basic for anyone looking to really dive in. That said, I much appreciated the clear, concise writing and helpful photos and can say that I absolutely walked away knowing a bit more than before.

[Michael Russell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've checked out a ton of beekeeping books in the past year, so while I don't have bees yet I feel like I'm becoming fairly well read. Thus, the 'absolute beginner' part of the title (and much of the information) seemed a bit repetitive. Had I read this first, it would've been a great introduction!

[melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good for people with a slight interest in beekeeping, but pretty vague and oversimplified at times for the serious beekeeper.

[Diane Baima · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the enthusiasm but we need more pictures.

[Gracewellworn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful

[Chris Andrews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basic book for an intro to beekeeping in general terms.

[Robin Steele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book that is simple to read, entertaining and informative. I really learned a lot for the step by step approach.

[Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming and helpful, a gorgeous book!

[Jill Ross]

Great book full info to get started also how go about task step by step great read for beekeepers and great reference also covered from eqipment and lots chemical free was of doing things

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed all the photos as well as the easy to follow and straightforward information included in this book.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great beginner book on beekeeping! Lots of helpful graphics. It is clear and easy to understand!

[Missi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative. Easy to read.

[Shane Kanode · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good info in here, along with good pictures.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great overview for the beginning beekeeper. My mom gave me this book because she knew we eventually wanted to get bees and now that we're taking a 9 week beekeeping class I figured it would be a good time to read this book. The book definitely goes over much of what we've already covered in the class, but it's got LOTS of detailed pictures which help everything make more sense. There is a LOT to learn with beekeeping, so anything that can help it make more sense is worth checking out. I think the chapters on The First Month, The First Season, and The First Harvest will be good to refer back to once we've gotten our bees. Overall, I would highly recommend this book, but with anything like this I would also recommend a class too. We went through our county extension office and the class was affordable and VERY informative and helpful. The author also gives a few pages of resources that would be very helpful too.

[Richard Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been threatening my family for years that I would become a beekeeper. I want to get one of those cool veils and a smoker. My youngest daughter says that if I get bees, she will never set foot in the house again. Next year she is off to college and by that time Los Angeles will finally have completed the tortured process of making urban beekeeping legal. So although the time for my first hive may finally be approaching, for now it is still a fantasy. This book was a fun starting place. It is simple and clearly written, so that I feel that I now have a good grip of the basics. The next step is to jump in and start learning from experience.

[Mrs. Lopez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt like this was a pretty good beginner's guide!It covered so many of the bases and answered lots of basic questions. It was nice to see the stories of other Beekeepers throughout and I appreciated that the listed additional resources for more in-depth information on Beekeeping.

The book was well written and the instructions seem very easy to understand. I appreciated the detailed lists of supplies needed for different projects as well as the explanation of what the supplies were needed for.

[Tammie Painter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd really like to rate this book twice. Once for the images (4 stars) and again for the content (3 stars). The book will give you a great idea of what to look for in a hive - the images of queen cells and capped honey vs capped brood cells is especially handy. But the content is lacking for advice or different methods or troubleshooting. It's more of a diary of what the author did her first year. Still, it's a fun book to flip through.

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly a beginner's guide, this book walks you through selecting bees and hive set-up to keeping happy, healthy bees. I especially enjoyed the bee keeper spotlights and appreciated the section on trouble-shooting problems (wax moths, mites, laying workers, etc.). The book echoed much of what was covered in my monthly bee keepers classes. -e

Big take-away: Happy queen = Happy bees. So much correlation to our lives. :)

[Jessie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really fun book with really interesting descriptions and lovely photos and it is very clear about many things (like what kind of bee to choose). It is really good as far as basic descriptions like that but on certain parts- like the installation of the hive or how you would set up the hive box she describes as her basic example- there isn't enough description and they don't have the visual aid they need and that is really what I think is the best part about the book for me.