Award-Winning Beginning Beekeeping Book

“A Beekeeper’s Diary Won First Place in the 2022 “How to” Category. (Independent Press Award graphic)

Award-Winning Beginning Beekeeping Book

A potential new beekeeper asked me earlier this week about my award-winning beginning beekeeping book. “Have you used it yourself,” she asked.

After 10 years of teaching beginning beekeeping classes and 8 years of running a bee club, I still do, I told her. “A Beekeeper’s Diary Self-Guide to Keeping Bees” has been used in all of my beginning beekeeping classes, starting with the many check lists I’ve developed over the years to help new beekeepers keep track of all of the decisions they have to make.

Even though I know the book is helpful, there’s some pleasure in hearing others think it’s a good product.

The second edition has a very handy detailed index. (Becky’s Graphic Design)

The Independent Press Awards in 2022 is the latest award. They chose “A Beekeeper’s Diary Self-Guide to Keeping Bees” as the best in 2022 the “How to” nonfiction category. The Independent Press Awards bring increased recognition to the thousands of exemplary independent, university, and self-published titles published each year.
​"A Beekeeper's Diary Self-Guide to Beekeeping" has also been approved by Great Plains Master Beekeeping out of University of Nebraska as covering scientifically-based best management practices. The Great Plains Master Beekeeping program started in Nebraska and now includes Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Kansas.
The diary reinforces information new beekeepers receive in beginning beekeeping classes and guides them through the decisions they have to make to get started. The diary has places for documentation, an important skill for good beekeeping. “It’s easy to skip this step in the first year but by your second year you will be thankful that you have those records.”
If a new beekeeper can’t get to a beginning class, the diary will help fill that gap. I like to be practical!
As much as I appreciate the awards, the best reward is to have a struggling beekeeper say “now I get it” after reading the book!

Charlotte

Finding Beekeeping Books

Beekeeping books our local bee club donated to our local library. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Finding Beekeeping Books

One of our new beekeeping students is so excited, she wanted to know what beekeeping books to buy online to give her a head start.

To her surprise, I told her not to buy any books just yet. She can find an excellent selection of beekeeping books at our local public library. How do I know?

Our local bee club donated the beginning beekeeping books a couple of years ago. The idea was to have a nice selection of current beekeeping books so beginning beekeepers would have easy access to a nice selection of reading material.

Now some of these beekeeping books will be read once, maybe twice. When the new beekeeper outgrows the book, it’s time to select something else. Nothing wrong with the first books, that’s why we have them at the library. Some are excellent gateway books, introducing new beekeepers to how to keep bees.

Others have excellent photos but little narrative, and even more are specialty beekeeping area books - how to raise queens and planting for pollinators.

And yes, I have read all of these beekeeping books. That’s why we donated them, my bee buddy David and I determined these were excellent reference books.

How to Check Out Books

If you have never checked out a book from a library, you will need a library card with your membership number on it. Your membership card is free if you live within city limits.

Most libraries also have a membership fee for non-city members. Where I live, the non-city membership fee is $20 a year.

Books can be checked out for 2 weeks at a time, and renewed over the phone if you haven’t finished reading it.

And now, where to find the beekeeping books.

Libraries have a numbering system tied to their catalogs. Here is the sign at our public library showing the catalog topic numbers. Beekeeping books at the Rolla Public Library are in the 637 section.

Turn right at the sign to find Rolla Public library beekeeping books,. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Once at the shelves, it’s time to start looking for the appropriate numbers on the side of the books.

This library section easily distracts me with books on animals. That’s after I get sidetracted by the nearby gardening section.

Tall stack, now which shelf? (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Don’t see any beekeeping books?

Me, either, until I pulled out a book on the absolute bottom shelf. The beekeeping books are all turned sideways so it’s hard to read the spines of the books.

Library Director Rebecca Buckley said the shelves are being re-organized and updated so don’t be surprised if the beekeeping books move again. The key is to follow the subject numbers.

All the way to the bottom, where it isn’t easy to see! (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Check out a book or two that interest you and get comfortable with beekeeping terms. Enjoy the photos. Realize that once you get started, you will be dealing not with static pages of information but tiny buzzing creatures that would rather have you out of their way. it’s definitely a partnership. The bees know what they are doing, now it’s your turn.

So check out a beekeeping book, your adventure is about to start!

Charlotte