Product Description

Ross Conrad brings together the best organic and natural approaches to keeping honeybees healthy and productive. Readers will learn about non-toxic methods of controlling mites, 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. The various chemicals used in beekeeping have, for the past decades, held Varroa Destructor, a mite, and other major pests at bay. However, 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. "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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #92022 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

About the Author
Ross Conrad learned his craft from the late Charles Mraz,
world-renowned beekeeper and founder of Champlain Valley Apiaries in
Vermont. Former president of the Vermont Beekeepers Association, Conrad has
written numerous articles on organic farming, natural healing, and health
issues.

Customer Reviews

organic methods
This is one of the best bee books ever written!

We read up on a number before undertaking a beekeeping course. the author's approach is organic and holistic and the care of the bee is first and foremost. Varroa and various other mites/diseases are entirely avoidable if the surroundings are right.....

Read and bee changed.

Natural Beekeeping - Excellent and Encouraging
With all the troubles besetting our hives, and agriculture at large, its encouraging to read the work of somebody that believes that we don't have to resort to harmful approaches. Ross Conrad provides a good explanation for why we should consider an organic approach and then takes us through all aspects of the process of beekeeping/bee farming. There is a 5 page afterword about Colony Collapse Disorder. Conrad notes that he and others practicing Natural or Organic Apiculture don't appear to have been as severely impacted.

He has a readable style and the book is full of first hand experience.

Excellent Book to start your organic beekeeping
This is a fascinating book on the methods of keeping bees organically. I learned so much and now need to go back and read it again to absorb what I have forgotten. It is the most referenced book on my 'bee' shelf.