Beekeeping Today (A Practical, Seasonal Guide for Beginning Beekeepers)

A practical guide to help beginning beekeepers—from homesteaders to urban dwellers—navigate the dynamically changing world of beekeeping.

Whether your goal is to harvest honey, support local pollination, or simply enjoy a fascinating new hobby, Beekeeping Today provides a solid foundation for anyone curious about starting their own honey bee colony.

This guide follows the natural rhythm of the hive, walking you through your first year of beekeeping season by season and giving you a complete, realistic picture of what it takes to maintain a thriving apiary. Each section focuses on the practical tasks and observations unique to that time of year—from the spring hive setup and acquiring your first honey bee colony, to summer’s population growth and fall’s honey harvesting, to successfully overwintering a colony and performing the first hive split in the second spring—so that your knowledge grows alongside your bees.

Along the way, authors Jeff Ott and Rebecca Masterman share insights from their years of experience in hands-on beekeeping, research, and beekeeper education. They also address common challenges, including pests, parasites, pesticides, and diseases. By tying solutions back to a deeper understanding of honey bee behavior and biology, they ensure you will gain the knowledge and confidence needed to become a capable, responsible, and successful beekeeper.

Chapters cover:

• An overview of honey bee castes
• Colony dynamics
• Beekeeping equipment and safety
• Purchasing honey bees and siting your apiary
• Colony inspection checklists
• Queen skills and strategies
• Colony health threats
• Common beekeeping challenges
• And more!