The Barefoot Beekeeper [Paperback]

With the intention of taking up bee keeping for the bees sake rather than for what could be taken from them untill I read this book I was left dissapointed by the attitudes that seemed to prevail through much of the beekeeping fraternity. What a breath of fresh air Mr chandler is with his natural holistic approach to keeping bees. His honest book has renewed my enthusiasm and faith in the subject. The book contains details of how to construct a simple hive suited to the needs of the occupants with more than enough background and advice for any beginner or those wishing to change their approach to keeping bees. There are also details of his web site and others which offer tremendous support for the aspiring apiarist. If chemicals and manipulation are not for you then this is the book to buy. I would not hesitate to reccomend this book to any one thinking of taking up bee keeping and would respectively suggest that those who have been using other methods read this book with an open mind.

This is a simple but brilliant book explaining how to keep bees in a natural, sustainable way. Forget specialist equipment and "traditional" intensive farming methods which stress the bees and lower their natural resilience. A bit of simple woodwork and an empathetic but responsible approach to husbanding a wild animal will reward you with your own honey and, more importantly, help support the dwindling bee population.
If you only buy one book about beekeeping, make sure it's this one.

I have built a topbar hive (to Phil's design in this book) and have had a colony of bees in it for 9 months. I also keep regular hives.

The colony survived one of the coldest winters ever - with the open mesh floor open to the elements. Proof (if any were needed) that bees don't mind cold. It's damp that they don't like, and the OMF certainly provides a lot of ventilation.

But .... I have some practical issues with the design.

1. Despite being exactly to the spec, the bees built comb across the bars and stuck it to the side of the hive inside. This means that that comb cannot be removed to be inspected. If you are unconcerned about whether your bees are a source of disease for other hives in the area, this is fine. But a conscientious beek should do their best to ensure a healthy hive - and you can't do that if you can't remove the comb for inspection.

2. Despite the use of a circular saw and really careful construction, it's a bit tricky to get the internal end-stops to be bee-proof.

3. If you want to treat for varroa (and most beeks do), it's not easy because there is no top-bee-space on which to put the thymol (a natural substance, before anyone gets too excited.)

4. For the same reason, it's quite hard to feed the bees. You need to be quite ingenious and adept at handiwork.

Summary. Topbar hives are best undertaken by skilled woodworkers and skilled beekeepers, not beginners. And if it's honey you're after, go for regular hives.

Addendum: 11.09.2011
My top bar colony died. It was the only colony that I was unable to treat for varroa and it was the only colony that died. Anecdotal, rather than convincing scientific, proof of my previous review.

I am interested that most positive reviewers have not actually kept bees!

I really do have an open mind and I love to try different methods, probably before I am proficient enough to do so.

I expect there to be a backlash against top bar/Kenyan hives because they are more difficult to manage than conventional hives. So new beeks will find that they have more dead colonies that their conventional colleagues.

But if your Darwinian goal is bees that evolve to resist varroa, then your dead colonies will contribute to evolution of the european bee. Good luck with that! You will need a lot of patience and a long life :-) And a lot of dead bees.