Book Review: The Beginner's Guide to Beekeeping

Title: The Beginner's Guide to Beekeeping: Everything You Need to Know

Author: Samantha Johnson, Daniel Johnson

Year: 2013

ISBN: 1610587987 (ISBN13: 9781610587983)

GoodReads Reviews

My Score: 4/5

This book deserves a longer review than the one I am writing, but as someone who has been toying with the idea of urban/backyard beekeeping for a few years, I found this to book to be a delightful introduction to what promises to be an exciting and rewarding hobby. I am yet to buy any gear (or bees), so reading is my only vicarious outlet until next season by which time I hope to convince myself that I know enough to look after 'my girls' well enough.

I would recommend this book for readers in a similar situation, I have come away with a list of questions to pose to the beekeeping association in our region. I'll even be able to understand the answers given, based on the knowledge I have picked up over the pages of this book. While it may not be *everything* you need to know, it certainly covers all the major points of what you *should* know. 

Book Review: Beekeeping For Dummies

Title: Beekeeping For Dummies (2nd Ed)

Author: Howland Blackiston, David Wiscombe

Year: 2009

ISBN: 0470430656 (ISBN13: 978-0470430651)

GoodReads Reviews

My Score: 4/5

Predictably, this was the first book off the pile...  As a veteran of other 'For Dummies' books, I appreciate the layout and purposeful progression of the series, and this book was no exception to the rule. 

The book comes in an easy to read, understandable format and covers almost the full gambit of topics that a beginning beekeeper may need to know from initial questions and concerns, the gear you need, getting and introducing your bees all the way to what to check for and how to treat problems, and a large section on what to do with your impending honey flow, including a crazy amount of recipes. 

Everyone needs a hobby...

To be honest, I've lusted after a 'lifestyle block' ever since a couple of friends of mine bought such a property out in Kumeu.
I spent many a subsequent weekend at "The Farm Gym" helping John transform it from an alpaca or deer farmlet into something more suitable for grazing and working with the horses that his girlfriend Karen had grown up with. It was quiet, away from noisy neighbors, and they had enough space to do pretty much whatever they wanted.

Credit: xkcd - https://xkcd.com/148/

But here I am, many years from that life, married, with four boys, 2 dogs and a couple of goldfish - still living on the North Shore in suburban Auckland.