I suggest the foundation of any reading list for the informed beekeeper is 'Langstroth on the Hive and the Honey-Bee' by L L Langstroth, 1853 (available in reprint). 

A mine of original observations and ideas.  An under-rated genius (over-shadowed by Root, who ruined Langstroth's hive design to turn it into an industrial packing case for migratory beekeeping and so founded beekeeping as an industry, not an educated  pastime or part of the small-scale rural economy.    But not all beekeepers today are migratory.  Why do virtually all stick to using industrial equipment that is poorly suited to hobby beekeeping?  

Yes, I know, because it's cheap, due to mass production.  But not all hobbyists today are desperately poor.  They do not all buy the cheapest car, why the cheapest beehive? 

Yes, I know, because many tutors routinely trot out old stuff and rarely  re-think old ideas to suit  more modern circumstances.  The weight of Langstroth boxes was reasonable when everyone was physical, riding horses not driving cars, humping coal scuttles not signing cheques. Today, the weights are a danger to health - avoided by commercial beekeepers of course who use machinery. 

I commend  Llangstroth Chapter VII 'On the advantages that ought to be found in an improved hive'  - which were in his 1853 design - but not in Root's redacted version still sold today.

Robin   


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