Acknowledgments
Preface

1 Beginning Beekeeping
Seven Basic Tips for Getting Started • Dimensions of Beekeeping • The Beekeeper’s Commitment • Financial Considerations • Stings • Legal Considerations • Finding Resources

2 Origin and History of Beekeeping
Honey Bee Evolution • History of Beekeeping

3 A Bee’s Life
What Is a Honey Bee? • Inside the Colony • The Queen • The Worker • The Drone • The Varroa Mite • Activities and Behavior • Patterns of Behavior

4 Choosing Hive Location
The Colony and Your Community • Weather Issues • Forage Availability

5 Getting Equipped
Hive Design and Dimensions • Hive Materials • Supers • Frames and Foundation • Bottom Board • Queen Excluder • Covers • Hive Stand • Hive Scale • Feeders • Pollen Trap • Tools of the Trade • Beekeeper Garb

6 Enter the Bees
Smoker Basics • Package Bees • Installing a Nucleus Colony • Starting with an Established Colony • Swarm! • A Wild or Feral Colony

7 Managing Honey Bee Colonies
Working a Colony • The Beekeeper as Manager • A Colony’s Yearly Life Cycle • Population Cycle • The Apicultural Calendar • Late-Season Management • Requeening • Managing Nutrition • Cooking for the Bees

8 Taking the Crop
The Honey Crop • Harvesting the Crop • Processing the Crop • Storing the Crop • Chunk and Comb Honey • Other Bee Products

9 Pollination
Unique Challenges • Small-Scale Pollination • Is Pollination for You?

10 Diseases and Pests of the Honey Bee
Innate Defense Mechanisms • Brood Diseases • Adult Diseases • Parasitic Mites • Integrated Pest Management • Tolerant or Resistant Stock • Colony Collapse Disorder • Wax Moth • Small Hive Beetle • Black Bears • For More Information

11 Additional Strategies
Beehive Design • Alternative Management Practices • Toward a Honey Bee–Friendly Future

Glossary
Model Beekeeping Ordinance
Sample Pollination Contract
Resources
A Sampling of U.S. Beekeeping Supply Houses • Sources of Beekeeping Information
Metric Conversion Charts
Index