World Bee CARE - Beekeeping Basics

Beekeeping in the United States This beekeeping handbook from the U.S. Department of Agriculture provides readers with a better understanding of beekeeping in the United States from a l980 perspective (pre Varroa). Some topics discussed are the life history of the honey bee; bee behavior; breeding and genetics of honey bees; queens, packaged bees, and nuclei; managing colonies for high honey yield and crop pollination; dis- eases and pests of honey bees; and effects of pesticides on honey bee mortality. The handbook also lists beekeeping organizations and some statistics on bees and honey. Martin, E. C, E. Oertel, N. P. Nye, and others. 1980. Beekeeping in the United States. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Handbook.

Basic Beekeeping Manual (Africa) This is a 2 volume publication written by Pam Gregory with assistance of Gay Marris of the U.K. National Bee Unit (FERA) that concentrates on top bar hive beekeeping, but many of the techniques and ideas can also be used by traditional and frame hive beekeepers. "This field manual is designed for use by field-based trainers in sub Saharan Africa. It is based on colour pictures with few words. The manual covers basic techniques needed to start a beekeeping business. It also offers some new ideas to help beekeepers to become independent by making their own equipment from local materials. I hope that this will help people to start beekeeping at an affordable cost, and maybe to experiment with new materials. The pictures show some of the many different ways that people keep bees. This is intended to promote discussion and shared experiences to help people to solve problems locally. The manual concentrates on top bar hive beekeeping but many of the techniques and ideas can also be used by traditional and frame hive beekeepers." The Advanced Beekeeping Manual covers more advanced management techniques and problem solving and offers some ideas about how to tackle them. The Swahili language versionof this manual.

A Beginner's Guide to Beekeeping in Kenya by Thomas Carroll, Msc. (Agr.)

"This book was written to assist beekeepers in Kenya and other African countries improve their beekeeping. It is written in simple language and is intended to be as practical as possible." Thomas Carroll. Reader's feedback on the guide. “It is a wonderful and easily understandable introduction to beekeeping with all the important tips and advice……….it is by far the most informative book (about Kenyan beekeeping)”. From the Organic Farmer Magazine, Nairobi, “Congratulations for your Beekeeping Guide that is very interesting, complete and useful not only for the Scutellata beekeepers but for the Adansonii ones in Central and West Africa where the problems are similar”.

Tropical and Sub-tropical Apiculture The book brings out the enormous untapped potential for the development of a dynamic apiculture industry in the developing countries. Most countries in these regions are blessed with abundant sunshine, and a rich flora which blooms all the year round. An integrated consideration of the problems and potential of the apiculture industry in the tropics and sub- tropics will therefore help in identifying the constraints responsible for the gap between potential and actual honey production. At the same time, it will help to monitor and regulate the movement ofbees and associated pathogens from temperate into tropical areas, where beekeeping is especially vulnerable to setbacks caused by new diseases. We urgently need a mechanism for disease monitoring, and for organizing an early warning system with reference to the spread of new pests and pathogens. Information on marketing opportunities will also be necessary for countries that are substantially increasing their apicultural production. Much of this book has been written by scientists who are authorities in their respective fields. The book, therefore, serves as an encyclopedia of information relating to the various aspects of apiculture.

The National Beekeeping Training Extension Manual (Uganda) This beekeeping training guide produced by the Ugandan Ministry of Agriculture is a manual that others in tropical and subtropical areas may find useful. "Over the years, several stakeholders including Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies have been carrying out training of farmers in their own ways without standard guide and uniformity. Some of the guides/manuals used by the stakeholders are substandard. This practice has for long undermined efforts to increase production and enforce compliance to standards. This manual has therefore been developed to provide the basic standards for training beekeepers all over Uganda."

Apiculture in Sub-Saharan Africa (A manual for trainers) This manual focuses on modern beekeeping in Sub-Saharan Africa. It attempts to upgrade and refine the knowledge of trainers/field workers within government departments or organizations/NGOs on the correct use of modern beekeeping techniques. The final aim is that competent services will be provided to farmers/beekeepers and appropriate transfer of know-how will be accomplished to the same. It is hoped that this will contribute to the creation of a new generation of beekeepers in the Region.

Small Scale Beekeeping (The Peace Corps) As part of the United States “whole of government” effrt to address food security in the developing world, the Peace Corps has edited and revised several existing technical manuals designed for use by Volunteers. Most of these materials were created in the late 1970s and early 1980s and were written by a number of diffrent subject-matter experts employed or contracted by the Peace Corps. They have been revised with funding provided to the Peace Corps by the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Bureau of Food Security under a food security agreement, known as “Feed the Future.” The Small-Scale Beekeeping manual is written as a guide for Volunteers who are getting started with small-scale beekeeping projects. The intention is to provide an overview of beekeeping and its possibilities as a tool for development. The manual focuses on “intermediate levels” of beekeeping that can be self-sustaining, using only local resources.

A Manual for Trainers of Small-Scale Beekeeping Development Workers (The Peace Corps) A Manual for Trainers of Small-scale Beekeeping Development Workers [T0029] is useful for Volunteers and staff for training purposes. The content is adaptable to pre-service and inservice training events. It is also valuable to Volunteers interested in training community members. The training is designed to help participants develop the skills they will need to work and live as beekeeping extensionists. The emphasis of this training is on equipping future Volunteers, counterparts, and community members with the skills necessary to promote appropriate beekeeping development. This is a creative process that requires individuals to take an active role in identifying their own needs and finding appropriate and sustainable ways to meet them. The sessions outlined in this manual cover a range of skills needed to establish beekeeping projects. The approach to training used in this manual is based on the principles of non formal education and is designed to strike a balance between structured learning and independent discovery. By using the sessions, resources, and methods outlined here, participants will develop a working knowledge of beekeeping, as well as skills for applying that knowledge in a meaningful way.

Beekeeping Training for Farmers in the Hymalayas This manual produced by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development covers the full range of basic topics related to beekeeping development, including the importance of beekeeping in modern agriculture and the use of bees for crop pollination; production of honey, wax and other hive products; honey quality standards; and using value chain and market management to increase the benefits accruing to beekeepers. The focus is on participatory hands-on training, with issues explained in simple language with many illustrations. The manual was prepared to meet formal training needs in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal, but it is suitable for use in ICIMOD's other member countries as well - Afghanistan, China, Myanmar, and Pakistan.

Beekeeping in Asia by Pongthep Akratanakul (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) - "In a continent as vast as Asia, differences in climate, levels of agricultural development, and bee races are so variable that no one book can cover all beekeeping situations. The author of this study draws heavily on his experiences with European honeybees introduced into northern Thailand, but he also discusses the principal features of beekeeping activities in the other zonal and socio-cultural contexts in Asia at different stages of development. Both the experienced beekeeper and the novice will find a mine of useful information, guidance and suggestions in the publication and it is for this reason that FAO hopes that it will be a useful contribution to the economic development of the most populous continent in the world."

Bees and their Role in Forest Livelihoods by Nicola Bradbear (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) - "The role of bees in sustaining forests and forest dependent livelihoods remains poorly known and appreciated. Bees are a fantastic world resource: they are essential for sustaining our environment because they pollinate flowering plants. Bees sustain our agriculture by pollinating crops and thereby increasing yields of seeds and fruits. Today, apiculture plays a valuable part in rural livelihoods worldwide, and this book aims to provide an insight into the many ways in which bees and beekeeping contribute to these livelihoods, and how to strengthen this contribution. While the rationale for the sustainable use of tree resources is widely appreciated, by contrast the sustainable use of bee resources is poorly promoted and appreciated. Rural people in every developing country are keeping bees or harvesting from them in one way or another. This book aims to help ensure that these people gain the most from these activities."

A Beekeeping Guide - A good beginners guide written by Harlan Attfield of VITAfor beekeeping in the tropics and subtropics. "This guide provides an overview of beekeeping in the tropics and subtropics. It explains hive management techniques and offers insight into the life of the common honey bee, Apis Mellifera and the Asian Honey Bee, Apis Cerana. There are many races of these two honey bees and they often require very specific techniques and equipment to hive them successfully."

Beekeeping in the Tropics - A beginners beekeeping guide written by P. Segeren and published by Agrodok. "You can keep bees as an interesting hobby, or as a main or an extra source of income. This booklet mainly provides information on how to work with honey-bees that nest in cavities. In most of the world regions this will be the European bee Apis mellifera, but in large parts of (sub)tropical Asia the quite similar species A.cerana is mainly used. Although the composition of a honey-bee colony is basically the same all over the world, the management of bees must be adapted to the species and race, the climate and the vegetation."

Beekeeping in India Beekeeping has been practiced in Indian since time immemorial. The earliest mention of it is in the Vedas and the Ramayana. Success in beekeeping is largely a question of the proper understanding of the biology and behaviour of the honey bees and their proper management including knowledge of their diseases and enemies and the latest equipment for handling them. This book is intended to serve as a handy reference and guide for students of agriculture, extension workers and all those who are interested in beekeeping either as a hobby or profession.

Honeybees and Their Management in India by R.C. Mishra (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) - "The beekeeping practices for domesticated Indian honeybee, Apis cerana indica F. were adopted from the west with suitable modifications suiting to Indian honeybee. There is need to undertake intensive research for therefinement of management practices for improved honey yield and efficient pollination of crops. Production of other valuable hive products like royal jelly, beeswax and bee venom needs commercialization. There is a great diversity in regional agroclimatic conditions and flora. Therefore, for taking up beekeeping, there is a need to carry out some careful studies to explore the potential of each area. This is an attempt to present a world-wide picture of beekeeping, suitable for practical and class-room reference. The book is mainly focussed on Indian literature, though the contents also draw from the knowledge accumulated in more advanced countries. It is a comprehensive account on different aspects of beekeeping, and students, teachers and scientists will profit by studying it. I am sure, the book will generate awareness and catalyse action towards a more effective exploitation of honeybees for honey and other bee products as also for crop production through bee pollination."

Beekeeping in in Uttara Kannada, Central Western Ghats, India (Indian Government)

This is a beginners beekeeping guide to beekeeping in the Central Western Ghats part of India which includes the keeping of Apis Cerana, Apis Florea, Apis Dorsata and the stingless Trigona. "Beekeeping is a forest and agro-based industry, which is beyond the ordinary realms of industry,in the sense that the humans derive benefits from interaction between two living things like plants and bees without affecting adversely both. On the contrary plants, including many crops,prosper with the abundance of bees (as pollinating agents) and the bees, sheltered both by nature and humans provide mainly honey and other by-products like beeswax, bee-pollen, propolis and royal jelly. Bee-keeping, systematically adopted as a supplement to farming, can bring prosperity to the villages of Uttara Kannada, a district endowed with species rich forests and cultivation of a high diversity crops. Unlike intensive farming or fishing that can corrode the natural resource base, abundance of honey bees in a natural environment benefits both crops and wild plants."

Beekeeping Manual for Farmers in Sikkim, India by Dr. Peter Gross

"Beekeeping has been a traditional household activity in Sikkim for centuries. Rural communities

throughout the state have adopted this activity as substantial part of their sustainable livelihoods. In

addition to providing income and honey, beekeeping supports other products and services such as wax, pollen, medicine and, of particular importance, pollination. The entire state of Sikkim represents an ideal situation to develop beekeeping as an important component of integrated development and sustainable livelihoods. The various bio physical conditions, such as varied natural heritage of rural communities make it an ideal activity for enterprise development. This beekeeping handbook has been compiled from various sources to provides a tool to farmers, governments, NGOs, universities, vocational training institutes, private sector organizations and individual beekeepers in the North Eastern Region to initiate and manage beekeeping activities, as well as facilitate the training of other farmers. It includes a wealth of information on a full range of topics related to beekeeping development. I am confident that the handbook will be one of the important resource materials for beekeeping development in Sikkim." Dr. Peter Gross

Beekeeping in the Phillipines (University of the Phillipines)

The Ancestral Domain and Natural Resource Management in Sagada, Mountain Province, Northern Philippines is an action research program of the Cordillera Studies Center, University of the Philippines College Baguio. In line with the Program’s objective “to test sustainable and equitable community-based natural resource management systems,” beekeeping was introduced to the

community. Today, there is a cooperative of beekeepers in Sagada that seeks to encourage individuals to take up beekeeping. This Kit covers the following aspects of beekeeping, including discussions

particular to Cordillera conditions, in four sections, as follows:

Section 1: An Introduction to Beekeeping

Section 2: The Bee Farm

Section 3: Operation and Maintenance of the Bee Farm

Section 4: Pests and Diseases of Honeybees

Beekeeper's Manual (Belize) - Management and Caring of Africanized Bees for the Production of Honey In the Vaca Forest Reserve in Belize. The primary aim of this Beekeeper’s Manual is to provide information to beekeepers on the integrated management of Africanized Bees. The manual describes the basic management of beekeeping from the formation of a new nucleus to the extraction and marketing of honey. Beekeepers in Belize should not only think that the only product in beekeeping ishoney. Pollen, propolis, wax, royal jelly and venom, the queen, the beehives and the apicultural materials are other products that capture a good market price. This manual takes into consideration climatic changes experienced over the past 5 years and the response of bees to this factor.

Beekeeping (22 page overview) written by Lance Gegner of ATTRA- "This publication is intended as a guide for anyone interested in beginning or expanding a beekeeping enterprise. Whether the bees are kept as pollinators for crops or for the income from their products, producers need to be aware of their states’ apiary laws concerning inspection, registration, and permits, as well as labeling and marketing standards. Producers also need to be aware of pesticide application laws and pesticide notification laws relative to bees. Both beginning and experienced beekeepers need to consider li-ability insurance; the possibility of Africanized hybrid bees taking over the hives; and all the pests and diseases that afflict bees and their colonies."

The first year of beekeeping (Powerpoint) - A fairly good picture based powerpoint from Dr. Deborah Delaney of the University of Delaware which provides a brief but comprehensive description of "Hive Mangement in the First Year of Beekeeping".