Suggested Reading list

Introduction To Beekeeping

  • Guide to Bees and Honey – Ted Hooper
  • Practical Beekeeping – Clive de Bruyn

Proficiency in Beekeeping

Recommended Book List 

  • Anatomy & Dissection of the Honeybee H A Dade 
  • Great Masters of Beekeeping R Brown 
  • Guide to Bees & Honey Ted Hooper (All should have this) 
  • The Honeybee Inside Out Celia Davis 
  • The Honeybee Around & About Celia Davis 
  • Queen Rearing & Bee Breeding by H Laidlaw & R Page 
  • Solitary Bees & Wasps CW Andrews 
  • Beekeeping Study Notes JD Yates – Modules “1 2 3 & 4” + “5 6 7 8” 
  • Having Healthy Honey Bees John McMullan FIBKA ISBN 978-0-9571355-0-5 
  • The Biology of the Honey Bee Mark L Winston ISBN 0-674-07409-2 
  • Beekeeping in Ireland – A History James K Watson ISBN 0-907-606-008 
  • Form and Function in the Honey Bee Lesley Goodman ISBN 0-86098-243-2 
  • Practical Beekeeping Clive De Bruin ISBN 1-86126-049-0 
  • ‘The Native Irish Honey Bee’ published by NIHBS
  • ISBN: 978-1-5272-9201-7

Advisory Leaflets

All the FERA leaflets are excellent and can be downloaded from https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/index.cfm?pageid=167

The 4 Disease booklets have previously been provided to the Preliminary classes. They are:- 

  • Managing Varroa 
  • Small Hive Beetle 
  • Foulbrood Disease of Honey Bees 
  • Tropilaelaps: Parasitic Mites of Honey Bees

Best Practice Guidelines 

Beginning in 2010 the National Bee Unit put together a series of Best Practice Guidelines, which cover the essentials of the craft of beekeeping. These are placed on BeeBase. The National Bee Unit https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/index.cfm?sectionid=43

Other Websites