Bibliography

Collecting awesome books on bees, especially in hardcover, is one of my favorite indulgences.  I stand by these books, unless otherwise noted.  Please note, most books are linked to websites with summaries and the opportunity to purchase.  Please try to purchase from your local bookstore.  Some books can be found used for real cheap.

The Hive and the Honey Bee, Dadant and Sons, Hamilton, IL, 1992.  5th Edition.  A more current edition is available now.  This one does not cover Colony Collapse Disorder or Varroa Mites.

The Dancing Bees, An account of the life and senses of the honey bee, von Frisch, Karl, Harcourt, Brace and Co., New York, NY, 1955.  Hands down the best introduction to honey bees ever.  The book responds to the question, “How do bees experience the world?” and written by none other than the guy who discovered the bee dance.

The Dance Language and Orientation of the Bees, von Frisch, Karl, Belknap Press, Cambridge MA, 1967.  This is all the science behind the bee dance.  Dense and interesting at times.

The Wisdom of the Hive, Seeley, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1995.  One of my favorite parts of this book is how bees allocate labor in the field to make use of nectar availabilities as the weather changes.

Bees in America How the Honey Bee Shaped a Nation, Horn, Tammy, University Press of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, 2005.  This book is great history.  It’s awesome and to me, mildly disturbing at the same time.

Toward Saving the Honeybee, Hauk, Gunther, Biodynamic Gardening and Farming Association, San Fransisco, CA, 2002.  Reading this book I didn’t feel as alone in my love of bees.

Great Masters of Beekeeping, Brown, Ron, Bee Books New and Old, Somerset, UK, 1994.  This is the most concise history of beekeeping ever written.  Also has some great anecdotes about great masters.

In Pursuit of Liquid Gold, Ogden, R B, BBNO, Cornwall, UK, 2001.  This is a study of beekeeping in the UK from an archeological perspective and as the book develops, from a cultural perspective.  A nice, stuffy read.

Pheromones of Social Bees, Free, John B., Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1987.  You know you’re a bee-nerd when you start reading literature like this.  Much of the research seems geared toward creating a synthetic pheromone to manipulate honeybees, but the implications are far greater than that.  It is a scientific, intimate view inside the hive.

A Spring Without Bees: How Colony Collapse Disorder Has Endangered Our Food Supply, Schacker, M., The Lyons Press, Guilford, CT, 2008.  The only lament I have about this book is it was published in 2008 and this story is still unfolding.  I found this book so informative I wrote a review about it.

More to come…