Depending on your interest in reading on bees there are some wonderful
volumes both in & out of print.  Your skill, area of interest and background
with bees should all guide your choice.

Beginners? (or Intermediates) looking for seasonal management technique:
-THE BEEKEEPER'S HANDBOOK by Diane Summataro- 3'rd Edition - Illustrations
and simple explanations on technique are easy to follow and shed light on
nearly every aspect of current beekeeping management.  For info, I would
rate this as my #1 book.
-SEASONAL MANAGEMENT by Richard Bonnie - Alot of info regarding technique as
the season dictates.

Collectables & Cyclopedias:
-HIVE & the HONEY BEE by Langstroth - absolute necessity & first book
dedicated to moveable frame hives integrating the concept of bee space.
1855 to 1860 volumes are exceptionally rare but copies of the original are
in print.
ABC(& ABC/XYZ) of Beekeeping - AI Root  - Cyclopedia A-Z on beekeeping -
updated every 5-10 years just as the H&H.
-Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think either work has been
updated to include Varroa in the current editions.-

-AMERICAN BEEKEEPER'S HANDBOOK by TB Miner - (1849) - First incidence on the
idea of "Bee-Space" into an American bee journal. Langstroth had Miner's
book in possession when writing his corner-stone work.

Queen Rearing:
QUEEN REARING and BEE BREEDING by Harry Laidlaw - hands on current work
filled with by technique and background.  I would like to see some more on
the use of plastic apparatus in this volume.

& collectibles on Queen Rearing:
SCIENTIFIC QUEEN REARING by GM Doolittle - first work (?) with the sole
emphasis on queen rearing
SIMPLIFIED QUEEN REARING by Jay Smith - small concise book with numerous
techniques applied & -better-
QUALITY QUEENS by Jay Smith - the author completely discounts his earlier
work & shows proven methods.

History of Beekeeping:
Eva Crane deserves here own category here.  "World History of Beekeeping, &"
is a book by itself by comprehensive works.  Expensive but worth every
penny.

Nostalgia:
Fifty Years Among the Bees by CC Miller ("A Year Among" & "Forty Years") -
just fun reading.  Reprints of "Fifty Years" were made in 1977 and are
sometimes found on ebay, half.com or bookfinder.  Originals are scarce but
can be found.  Simply a must read for any beekeeper.

There are numerous other works to shed light on pollination, commercial
production, Varroba/disease - but I'll step aside on comment as my interest
is entirely on history & seasonal management of bees.

While I'll agree with George Imrie's suggestion that nearly all the
beekeeping books printed before 1990 & possibly 2003 (!) are seemingly
obsolete, that perspective is from a beekeeper whom already has a GREAT deal
of historical knowledge 'in' & 'of' beekeeping.  Newbies are certainly best
served by buying the most current volumes (Summataro, Morse, Laidlaw, Crane,
etc) but the old books still hold a wealth of info from beekeepers whom
slept and ate with their bees.  The greatest lesson I've learned from the
old books is to simplify - something likely inherited with George's
background but must be learned by new beekeepers.  The old beekeepers used
simple, hands-on, see what we have in the barn to fix this - approach.  So
there still is value in the old works even though today's successful
management needs MUCH more than the old books can offer.

?Where can I find these books?
2 search engines currently available for both old & new books:
www.bookfinder.com
www.alibris.com  (though I think bookfinder now searches alibris)
& of course, ebay.

Matthew Westall - EBees - Castle Rock, CO

> I have recently added an Amazon link to our club website
> (http://www.catskillbees.org) and I am looking to compile a list of books
> for our members to order.  I already have some, but I would be interested

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