First Lessons In Beekeeping Book

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

First Lessons in Beekeeping by Camille Dadant (link is to the Dadant family wiki) is a classic book which keeps resurfacing in new editions every decade or so. The information and illustrations in this edition are cleaned up somewhat, but largely unchanged as far as I can tell. The introduction and preface for example are reprinted from the 1916/17 version of the book.

The book is meticulously written and while not up-to-the-minute (some things have changed), contains a world of good info for the beekeeper for historical and depth purposes.

There isn't anything which can really replace the help of a mentor or bee club for the aspiring apiarist, but this book provides a window into a valuable portion of the last couple hundred years of apiary history. It isn't intended to serve as a primary instruction manual for the uninitiated potential beekeeper.

I have a very early copy of this book in my beekeeping library and it's so well used and marked up that I fully intend to buy another copy in this release in order to have one which isn't in danger of falling apart in my hands.

194 pages, hardback, paperback, trade and ebook formats. Published by Dover, champions and archivists of the obscure, the esoteric and the delightful.

Highly recommend this as supplementary reading, but not to replace a mentor or bee-buddy.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher.