There are many, many free books on beekeeping available on the Internet. Below is a list of some of my favorites and they are available for free download from archive.org (just follow the links). There are several formats available but I find the PDF versions the best because they contain the original art work and can be read by many different devices such as computer, tablet and smart phone.
They are obviously old but not much of the material is out of date (well, some of the prices quoted certainly don't apply to today!). There is nothing on Varroa mites either but the basic explanations of bee behavior is better, IMHO, than any much more modern work.
"Langstroth on the Hive and Honey Bee" Revised, Enlarged and Completed by Chas. Dadant & Son, 1909 https://archive.org/details/cu31924062780246
"Beginners Bee Book" Frank C. Pellett, 1919 https://archive.org/details/beginnersbeebook00pell
"Productive Bee-Keeping" Frank C. Pellett, 1916 https://archive.org/details/productivebeekee01pell
"Practical Queen-Rearing" Frank C. Pellet, 1918 https://archive.org/details/practicalqueenre00pellrich
"American Honey Plants" Frank C. Pellet, 1920 https://archive.org/details/americanhoneypla00pell
"Improved Queen-Rearing" Henry Alley, 1903 https://archive.org/details/improvedqueenrea00alle
"Dadant System of Beekeeping" C. P. Dadant, 1920 https://archive.org/details/dadantsystemofbe00dada
"The Honey Bee - A Manual of Instruction in Apiculture" Frank Benton, 1895 https://archive.org/details/honeybeemanualof01bent
Hello James,
ReplyDeleteDo you have a good source of foundation for Layens sized frames?
No, I don't. I prefer to go without any foundation, just let the bees build natural comb. I do put in fishing line in my standard deep frames to strengthen the comb. For a Layens frame you might put in a deep or medium sheet across the top and let the bees draw out the rest as they like (might get some drone comb, but that is not all bad).
ReplyDeleteAlso you might visit Dr. Leo's page at http://horizontalhive.com for more info on Layens hives.