Natural Beekeeping

"Beekeepers face new challenges in keeping bees alive and healthy but until now there's been no holistic orientation on beekeeping. Natural Beekeeping offers up an alternative to chemical practices and delivers a program of natural hive management [to]...produce naturally resistant, healthier hives. Both novices and neo-pros receive tips on everything from genetics and breeding to pests and harvesting, with chapters coming from one who learned from world-renowned beekeeper Charles Mraz.

Any collection strong in organic gardening, harvesting or beekeeping needs Natural Beekeeping."

—Midwest Book Review

Long-term solutions for healthy beehives.

The various chemicals used in beekeeping have, for the past decades, held Varroa Destructor, a mite, and other major pests at bay, but chemical resistance is building and evolution threatens to overtake the best that laboratory chemists have to offer. In fact, there is evidence that chemical treatments are making the problem worse. Natural Beekeeping flips the script on traditional approaches by proposing a program of selective breeding and natural hive management.

Conrad brings together the best organic and natural approaches to keeping honeybees healthy and productive. Readers will learn about nontoxic methods of controlling mites, eliminating American foulbrood disease (without the use of antibiotics), breeding strategies, and many other tips and techniques for maintaining healthy hives. Specific concepts and detailed management techniques are covered in a matter-of-fact, easy-to-implement way.

Natural Beekeeping describes opportunities for the seasoned professional to modify existing operations, increase profits, and eliminate the use of chemical treatments. Beginners will need no other book to guide them. Whether you are an experienced apiculturist looking for ideas to develop an integrated pest management approach or someone who wants to sell honey at a premium price, this is the book you've been waiting for.