Bee Space to Bee Hive - 2nd Edition

Bee Space to Bee Hive

Both this volume and its companion, Bee Hive to Beekeeper, have been extensively revised and expanded to cover the syllabus of the new British Beekeepers’ Association ‘History of Beekeeping’ examination module. They continue to give a comprehensive view of the development of beekeeping, from hives to equipment to research and beekeeping methods.

Undoubtedly the discovery of bee space by Revd LL Langstroth in 1851 changed practical beekeeping for ever. This enabled the development of frame beekeeping where individual combs can be removed from the hive for inspection or other manipulations.

This volume describes the evolution of beehives, the introduction of beekeeping equipment and the development of beekeeping methods. The first section takes the reader from the Leaf Hive in 1789 to the Flow® Hive in 2015. Section two considers beekeeping equipment from beeswax foundation to the queen introduction cage. Finally, beekeeping methods are described from the beginnings of movable comb beekeeping in Greece to the Bailey Comb Change used today. 

In this second, substantially revised edition, new chapters include a consideration of the domestication of the honey bee by the Egyptians, Greeks, Maya and Aztecs. Additional descriptions are given of the Prokopovych, Dzierzon, Woodbury, Layens and Flow® hives. The section on beekeeping equipment gives additional material about the queen excluder and frame spacing and a consideration of how smoke was applied before the smoker was invented. New chapters cover honey crystallisation, and genetics, parthenogenesis and bee breeding, while those on swarm control and queen rearing have been expanded.

While this book is based on the module syllabus it will be of interest to any beekeeper curious to know how beekeeping has developed over the centuries and how equipment and methods have changed as more knowledge is gleaned about bees over the years.