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I've joined in with some blogging friends for an online book club, and we are wrapping up this week. By the way, all our readers are invited to join in as well. Each month we'll have a theme to build our book picks around, and our May theme was Spring.
Beekeeping: A Handbook on Honey, Hives & Helping the Bees by Joachim Petterson - This was the bargain book I'd picked up and thought would go with the theme of spring. It is a nice primer book with lots of helpful and interesting information. It starts out explaining a little about the importance of bees as pollinators, and describes some plants that are good draws for honeybees. I found it interesting that the author suggested bee houses or hotels to attract solitary bees. The carpenter bees that are so annoying and drill holes in the exposed wood on my front porch are solitary bees, and I'm not yet convinced I want them around. Pollinators or not. I'd rather attract some honeybees, I think.
Chapter Two is about life in the hive. Chapters Three and Four form the bulk of the book, with lots of practical and detailed descriptions about how to get started with hives. Chapter Four is titled Beekeeping Year-Round and guides readers through an entire beekeeping year. Spring is when you can begin working with your bees again after the long winter break.
One sunny day, when everything has begun to warm up, the bees leave the hive for the first flight of the year. This is called the cleansing flight and it is the beginning of the bees' spring development.
And do you know why it's called a cleansing flight? The bees need to poop after holding it all winter! Gives a new meaning to spring cleaning, doesn't it?
Anyway, the book goes on to detail all the spring tasks of the beekeeper, including cleaning and inspecting the hive - more spring cleaning!
Summer chores and honey harvesting and more are described as well. The final chapter is not very long, but has valuable info on the grades of honey, on beeswax and other bee products, and a few recipes. Photos throughout the book are vivid and attractive, often full page.
I still don't know for sure when I'll be ready to get started with my first hive, but I feel more ready all the time.
At last! The real spring warmth is finally here. A sunny and warm day in April, or perhaps as late as the first week of May, the temperature rises . . . Now it's time for a proper spring inspection of the hives. It's a great feeling to finally get to stick your hands in the hive, feel the warmth of the bees, and sense the sweet smell of wax . . . The bees tend to be quite gentle this early in the spring, but as a beginner you should put on your veil and gloves.
I still haven't received my other pick for this month: The Inviting Life: An Inspirational Guide to Homemaking, Hosting and Opening the Door to Happiness by Laura Calder. The book promised help with "getting yourself motivated for spring cleaning" which I thought would be very useful. However, it still hasn't come from the library. Not sure what the holdup is, because it hasn't been requested by others. Just slow to get to me. Maybe somebody knew that although I recognized my need for help with motivation, I wouldn't actually be ready to get started until more like June. Hopefully whenever it does arrive, I will be properly motivated too! Even if my spring cleaning doesn't get started until early summer.
Visit Hopkins Homeschool to find out more about the online book club, and visit all the participating bloggers to see what they've read as part of this theme!
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1 comments:
Glad you were able to get some through the bee keeping book. Sounds like a good primer for being a keeper.
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