Tales of an African Beekeeper: Reflections on Bees and Beekeeping - Softcover

In this Second Edition Peter Clark shares over 60 years of hard-won experience as a beekeeper in this conversational and practical guide to beekeeping. The book content has been revised, updated, and restructured based on recent feedback. Writing from South Africa Peter's essential knowledge of the honeybee is transferable to many regions and climates. In Tales of an African Beekeeper you will be entertained as well as find valuable material into which you can dive at will, each of the chapters standing alone to become a lifelong reference book and manual. The Tales of an African Beekeeper, by veteran beekeeper Peter Clark with over 60 years of experience in the field and still working his bees at age 75, will stimulate the enquiring mind of those who are aware that there is such a creature as a bee and that there are people who devote their lives to working with bees. There are folk who have desired to keep bees and this read will whet their appetite and encourage them to get started. There are also those who have started and are not aware of the in-depth nature of the subject that could take them far beyond their wildest dreams. To the seasoned old beekeeper there will be that knowing grin that similar experiences also occurred in his life, but he too will learn something new from these pages. The book will soften the hearts of those who hate and detest bees, those whose only desire is to kill them at first sight. However there are those who have lost a loved one due to a bee sting and they must be pardoned from wishing to take revenge. Discovering the brilliance of the honeybee will ease their burden and they will glean a better understanding of this marvelous creature of God’s creation. The chapters are short and to the point and are designed for a reference at a glance, diving into the relevant topic for just-in-time wisdom. The structure of the book is to begin with a general overview of the bee and beekeeping, and is then broken into the broad topics of Starting Out, Removing Bees, Working With Bees, Honey Production, Things To Watch Out For, and ends with Appendices which deal with the business side of beekeeping and with seasonal management. The chapters on incidences and episodes of bee disasters are true occurrences in which the author was involved. There were many, many more – far too many to describe within the pages of this book. They have been related to illustrate the ongoing life of a beekeeper. The book will appeal to beekeepers, gardeners, farmers and horticulturists, and all lovers of the great outdoors who daily look upon a foraging bee and marvel at this most industrious of workers.