Beekeeping for Gardeners Reviewed.

Introduction.

It’s been another week of unsettled weather but yesterday was warm so I inspected all 8 main colonies for the first time this season. I was surprised to find all the floors were clear of debris and only one colony had a couple of bits of chalkbrood on the floor. Most of them were building up well with drones flying from one.

I’ve spent a lot of time reviewing books since the last blog and am excited to be sharing one the best books I’ve read in ages.

Do you ever get “goose bumps” when you look at a beautiful work of art like a picture? I did with I opened Richard Rickitt’s book and saw his amazing photography. I got the feeling of deep relaxation like I do when l study closely Magic Eye pictures (publications of 3D illusions by N.E. Thing) and see 3D images within their centres (see above). I was introduced to these books in 1996 when I was waiting nervously in a doctor’s surgery in Hong Kong to consult about my hair which was falling out in alarming handfuls not long after we settled in the city. I was so engrossed in staring at the images and trying to see the hidden pictures that I was totally relaxed when I went into the consulting room.

And now to Richard’s spectacular book, the only criticism I have is that it wasn’t there when I started beekeeping! I’m glad to have it now though as it is a great reference book when teaching beginners and improving my gardening. Just one important thing to mention is that Beekeeping for Gardeners will be released next month (May) but you can pre-order from Northern Bee Books, Bloomsbury Press, and Amazon.

Review.

Title: Beekeeping for Gardeners: The Complete Step-By-Step Guide to Keeping Bees in Your Garden

Author: Richard Rickitt

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: May 2024

Paperback, 304 pages

ISBN: BB: 978-1-3994-0484-6

ePub: 978-1-3994-0483-9

Cost: £20

Available: Bloomsbury, Northern Bee Books, and other good bookstores.

Beekeeping for Gardeners: The Complete Step-By-Step Guide to Keeping Bees in Your Garden is also very much about gardening for beekeepers. Richard Rickitt is an established award-winning author and co-editor of the prestigious best-selling UK magazine BeeCraft. He has over twenty years beekeeping experience and teaches classes at home and abroad. With an extensive knowledge of gardening, and a background in film technology and visual effects, Rickitt is well qualified to write this magnificent book.

This is not just a gem of a book; it is the jewel in the crown. There is nothing like it in beekeeping literature despite many new publications appearing every year. This may be because Rickitt has a deep understanding of the natural world and the evolution of bees and plants which he links perfectly with the environment and our modern challenges. Plants and bees co-evolved at the same time and they are such a perfectly natural blend that one cannot truly understand one without understanding the other.

Another facet of what makes this book unique is the overarching concept of true sustainability. Rickitt describes sustainability in perfect context and gives good examples of how we can promote it. The introduction sets the scene and conveys the background story in sufficient detail for the reader to understand the position today regarding the environment, modern farming, pesticides, ecosystems, and the relationship of honey bees to other insects.

We also learn about the origins of honey bees and their relationship to humankind through the ages. The challenges faced today are explained in an account that is both accurate and up to date. Rickitt explains that honey bees are not in decline, but he remains encouraging to people who might want to start keeping them. However, he begs them to devote time to all our other native bees. He shows us how to care for bumble bees and solitary bees by providing homes and forage.

The environmental impact of too many managed colonies of honey bees in certain areas is discussed and we are encouraged to only keep enough colonies to provide for our enjoyment and a modest quantity of honey. 

The writing style is friendly and authoritative. Explanations are uncomplicated and give just the right amount of information at the correct level to help a newcomer to beekeeping understand the processes described. Communication is clear and concise, and all plants and bees are given both their common and binomial Latin names so that they can be easily identified by everyone across the world.

On almost every page the reader finds the most amazingly clear and high quality-coloured photographs. There are 400 in total, the majority of which have been taken by the author. They are breathtakingly beautiful and in themselves provoke a strong feel-good factor as well as providing good information.

This book comprises three parts with the first one dedicated to beekeeping. The beekeeping year is covered in full and includes; getting practical experience, joining a local association, siting apiaries, hive types, tools, handling techniques, managing swarms, feeding bees, bee health, moving bees, preparing for winter, hive products and processing them, and the importance of using locally adapted bees and local queens. Rickitt mixes humour with his vast knowledge to explain the “when” and “whys” of some of the more complex aspects of beekeeping in a relaxed non-prescriptive manner.

The second part discusses the other bees one finds in a garden. We learn how to identify the common bumble bees and solitary bees, and discover that the UK’s smallest bee is called the small scissor bee and looks just like a fly. We find out which plants different bees require for sustaining good nutrition and the scene is set for gardening.

In the third part, we discover an astounding and thought-provoking fact that there are around 23 million acres of gardens in the UK which is more land than all our nature reserves together. What if these gardens were managed for life-sustaining plants and wildlife? Even if lots of intensively managed arable land was replaced by carefully planned homes and gardens local biodiversity and the environment would surely benefit.

You will be astonished at the amount of useful information shared here which includes the subsequent management of newly created gardens. The advice on topics involving planting for nature is wide-ranging, and includes; incorporating flowers in a lawn, making lawns, meadows, wild gardens, pools, damp gardens, hedges, shrubs, trees, vegetable and herb gardens, making green manure, and farm crops. The plants for each scenario are carefully listed and graded according to their food value for pollinators.

Did you know that, “a strawberry flower has 50-200 stigmas, and it can take 6-15 bee visits to make sure pollen is delivered to them all”? This is just one of the fascinating revelations but you must read the book for yourself to discover more. Whether you are studying beekeeping, agriculture, horticulture, garden improvement, or purely wanting to enjoy beautiful photographs, this book gives exceptionally good value. Beekeeping for Gardeners is for everyone who cares about the future of our planet.