Beekeeping Books
Santa
Clara Valley Beekeepers Guild
The Santa Clara County Library has many useful books available so you can look before you buy. To see the complete list using their web catalog search on the subject key words "bee culture" but beware, many are in the children's section. The following list has been found useful to some who were thinking about getting into beekeeping or recently started in beekeeping.
Beekeeping in California from the University of California
We have two versions of this older book avaialable for download.
Many things in beekeeping have not changed in over a 100 years so, even those
these books are dated, they are a good overview for one who 'just wants to know'
and/or just about thinking of keeping some bees. (Not available
in local library.)
Beekeeping for Dummies by Howland Blackiston
Begin To Keep Bees by Franklin H. Carrier
A good book for a beginners in our area as the author lives in the valley so
he does not spend a lot of time discussing the hard winters of the eastern states.
He also gives a "check list" for each operation you will need to do
so you know exactly each step -- easier than digging it out of paragraphs of
text. (Older Book)
The Beekeeper's Handbook by Sammataro and Avitabile
Keeping Bees by John Vivian (Older Book)
Note: Older books may not contain up to date information on the control of mites so should be used along recent editions or information available on the web. Don't pass them up because of this as they contain a lot of good information.
General Bee Books
There are lots of other bees in the world besides the honey bee we see in California. Some of these and some of the more important are covered in these books.
The Honey Bee by J. Gould & C. Gould
The Bee Book by D. More
Bees of the World by O'Toole and Raw
The World History of Beekeeping and Honey Hunting by Eva Crane