Building Beehives For Dummies

by Howland Blackiston

Building Beehives For Dummies (9781119544388) was previously published as Building Beehives For Dummies (9781118312940). While this version features a new Dummies cover and design, the content is the same as the prior release and should not be considered a new or updated product.

The easy way to build your own beehives and beekeeping equipment

Building Beehives For Dummies is the follow-up book to the bestselling Beekeeping For Dummies. It provides everything you need to learn how to build some of the world's most popular hives and beekeeping accessories.   For each design the book includes a detailed materials list (what lumber, hardware and fasteners you'll need), step-by-step building instructions, and illustrative drawings that show how the components all fit together.  There are over a dozen plans in all, including the traditional Langstroth hive, the eight frame garden hive, designs for elevated hive stands, the Warre hive, screened bottom board, the Kenya top-bar hive, four-frame observation hive, hive top feeders, and more. The book contains introductory chapters that teach you the basic carpentry skills necessary to build any of the plans in the book. 

Whether you are a new beekeeper or a seasoned ol’timer, Building Beehives for Dummies provides you with the information you need to plan and succeed at building beehives (and other cool accessories). You'll discover what type of hive to build, hints on how to maintain your equipment, what bees need to stay happy and healthy, where to locate your hive, and much more. 

Covers "bee space," the critical technical measurement within a beehive that's crucial for easy inspection of your colonies Offers guidance on keeping both urban and suburban neighbors happy, getting proper permissions, and understanding regional laws and regulations Provides creative ideas for dressing up hives for fun and profit In today’s world of self-sufficiency, back-to-basics and sustainability, building beehives is a fun hobby that both you and your bees will appreciate and benefit from.

Genres: Reference, Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[David Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

A while back I did a post on Beekeeping which is a good companion piece to this article. If you are reading this post on a different website it's at http://daveroberts69.wordpress.com. For that article I reviewed Beekeeping For Dummies. This book is a sequel. The book I read to research this post was Building Beehives For Dummies by Howard Blackiston which is a very good book which I bought from kindle. Of course this book is about the different types of beehives you can construct and the accessories to go with it. Beehives are usually made from pine, cypress or cedar. These woods are relatively rot free and last a long time compared to other woods. The author did make a fancy beehive out of african mahogany and sold it for $1,500 so you can use other woods particularly for decorative purposes. The most common type of beehive in the developed world is the langstroth which is a good general purpose hive particularly in the States. In New York apparently in 2010 they repealed a long standing law forbidding keeping bees and now they are getting quite popular there. The chef of the Waldorf Astoria even has hives on the roof of the hotel. Another good general purpose beehive is the British National Hive. This type of hive is the most popular in Britain and is suited to their mild climate. If the temperature drops below 60 degrees you must bring any beehive indoors and they usually use a long tube to give the bees access to outside. If you have bears where you live you might want to consider an electric fence to protect your bees. Also if you have small animals like skunks or rats which are liable to try and raid your hives you might want to consider a stand. One problem you might come across is if you opt for an unusual type of hive you might have trouble sourcing accessories for it. Out of the various models in the book my favourite is the observation hive which has glass windows so you can watch the bees at work.A while back I did a post on Beekeeping which is a good companion piece to this article. If you are reading this post on a different website it's at http://daveroberts69.wordpress.com. For that article I reviewed Beekeeping For Dummies. This book is a sequel. The book I read to research this post was Building Beehives For Dummies by Howard Blackiston which is a very good book which I bought from kindle. Of course this book is about the different types of beehives you can construct and the accessories to go with it. Beehives are usually made from pine, cypress or cedar. These woods are relatively rot free and last a long time compared to other woods. The author did make a fancy beehive out of african mahogany and sold it for $1,500 so you can use other woods particularly for decorative purposes. The most common type of beehive in the developed world is the langstroth which is a good general purpose hive particularly in the States. In New York apparently in 2010 they repealed a long standing law forbidding keeping bees and now they are getting quite popular there. The chef of the Waldorf Astoria even has hives on the roof of the hotel. Another good general purpose beehive is the British National Hive. This type of hive is the most popular in Britain and is suited to their mild climate. If the temperature drops below 60 degrees you must bring any beehive indoors and they usually use a long tube to give the bees access to outside. If you have bears where you live you might want to consider an electric fence to protect your bees. Also if you have small animals like skunks or rats which are liable to try and raid your hives you might want to consider a stand. One problem you might come across is if you opt for an unusual type of hive you might have trouble sourcing accessories for it. Out of the various models in the book my favourite is the observation hive which has glass windows so you can watch the bees at work.

[Sager alqahtani · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is very practical and helpful. It teaches you from the beginning how to choose the right wooden boards and what tools and equipment you need to build a beehive. I already have a home workshop with all the equipment on hand. The book also which direction to place the hive, and it covers every project in detail — the outer cover, the brood box, the bottom wax board, and the hive base — with precise measurements and fine details. I made only one change: I deepened the frame ledge by about 1.5 inches so I can place protein patties and candy (fondant), and I made the bottom board slightly deeper so it contacts the frames .

[Jasmine Padua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Info

Very informative for beginner and experienced beekeepers to learn how to build their own beehives, frames and other bits and bobs.

[SARA KEDDIE · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the required reading for a beekeeping class I took. It was very easy to follow and digest. I would definitely recommend to anyone looking to get into beekeeping!

[Floyd Larck · Rating 2 out of 5]

While it's a decent book on constructing beehives the author never goes into much depth about the equipment needed. Many of these hives he has in the book can be purchased commercially much cheaper than building his designs.

[Cristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

More good information!

[Nemo · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is ok for the beginner- solid info - mainly covers Langstroth which is mostly used in US - need more info than this book