On 24 Jul 2003 at 23:33, [log in to unmask] wrote:

> I think every beginner would be wise to have and STUDY Diana Sammataro's
> 3rd
> Edition, 1998, of the Beekeeper's Handbook.

   George makes a good point. Old beekeeping books are NOT good guides for
beginners, and his choice of a beginner's manual would be my recommendation as
well.  There is a busy traffic in old bee books on E-Bay, and I shudder to think of
how many new beekeepers start out with old manuals without realizing the current
situation.

   That said, I still think anyone who is interested in commercial beekeeping would
benefit from biographical info from those who have actually done it.

   The best of all beekeeper biographies in my estimation is "Bees are My Business"
by Harry Whitcomb, in which he tells of some of the pioneering activities of
pollination service, also the beginnings of the battles over misused pesticides. It's
out of print, but copies are available thru e-bay and used book networks online.

   "Two for the Honey" by Clay Tonz is another little gem. I don't know about the
availability.

  "Following the Bloom" by Douglas Whynott gives more recent information on
commercial beekeeping.   You can also run a search at National Geographic which
did an outstanding story on migratory beekeeping a few years back. I don't have the
issue in hand right now.

   "Insect Pollination of Cultivated Crop Plants" by Sam McGregor is a classic USDA
publication, that's a bit dated but still available online at http://www.beeculture.com/
I understand that some updates have been made to this.  It should be a required
reference to any beekeeping or gardening class.

   "The Forgotten Pollinators" by Stephen L. Buchmann and Gary Nabhan is a
thought provoking book that should be read by all beekeepers. It puts the honeybee
in the larger perspective of loss of pollinators worldwide.

    Keep in mind that many books that treat pollination will sometimes take a slap at
honeybees as "exotic" or worse "invasive."  This indicates a bit of an agenda, since
it is also a fact that most of our food plants, and even humans themselves are
invaders of the American continents (some earlier than others).

   A book with glorious photos that deals with garden ecosystems is "Insects and
Gardens," by Eric Grissell. He avoids the pitfalls of the "nozzleheads" (the pesticide
junkies) and the back-to-nature purists, by promoting "realistic" gardening.

   The search engine is one of the most marvelous inventions of our age, and can
command great volumes of information in an instant, that was not quickly
accessible even to large libraries a generation ago. Anyone who has not learned to
use Google, and the various search engines at University Extension sites, used
book sites, and yes, even and amazon.com is missing out on a valuable resource. I
recently found a used book I had been looking for, at half.com, for 2.25 plus
shipping, which was a fantastic bargain.

   Try using search engines with paired terms, such as "gardens" and "bees,"
or "gardens" and "pollination."  You'll get enormous quantities of info.


  (For your info)
The Pollination Home Page went down, just as I was leaving for vacation July 1,
and I note upon my return, is still down. My hosting company was bought by
another, and I seem to be caught, along with a lot of other webmasters, in a dispute
between the two companies.  I *hope* to have it back up soon.  Meanwhile you can
access some of the info from The Pollination Home Page at  http://pollinator.info/

Dave Green   SC  USA
http://pollinator.info/

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