CHAPTER 1

       ABOUT BEES

       TYPES OF BEE SPECIES

       TYPES OF BEES IN A HIVE

       THE EGGS AND DEVELOPMENT STAGES OF A BEE

       LIFE CYCLE OF A BEE

       CHAPTER 2

       WHY BEEKEEPING IS IMPORTANT

       SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF BEEKEEPING

       CHALLENGES OF BEEKEEPING

       CHAPTER 3

       HISTORY OF BEEKEEPING

       EFFECT OF DISAPPEARING BEES

       RECOMMENDATIONS FOR DISAPPEARING BEES

       CHAPTER 4

       PROCESS OF BEEKEEPING

       DETERMINANTS OF A HIVES LOCATIONS

       BREEDING BEES

       DISEASES AND PESTS OF BEES

       Chapter 5

       PROCESS OF HONEY PRODUCTION

       THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS

       MARKETING HONEY

       STORING HONEY

       SHELF LIFE OF HONEY

       CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION

      Apiculture is an aspect of agriculture that is primarily concerned with the practice of managing, maintaining, and keeping bees, their colonies, and their hives. The entire bee colony ecosystem that consists of the royal jelly, raw honey, and beeswax is known as the Apiary. Apart from being sustainable, good for health, these products are also very much sought.

      If you are just a beginner and have ever had thoughts of keeping your bees, then this beekeeping book is for you. In this book specifically written for adults who are interested in natural beekeeping and need a book that not only explains the basics of beekeeping for the beginner but also shows how to manage the business side of keeping bees to make it a profitable business churning out profit consistently.

      So, if all you wanted was to be a backyard beekeeper or a hobbyist or simply a small-time farmer hoping to use his homestead to start a business selling honey and other bee products, this guide which has pictures to illustrates the point has been designed to get you started in no time, and you know what, it's fairly easy to learn the process of managing how to keep bees.

      As with many other aspects of life, many factors come into play before deciding to embark on a beekeeping adventure, so before you dive right in, you may want to first consider if keeping bees is suitable for you.

      That means that the first step to the long journey of becoming a successful keeper of bees is to acquire as much knowledge as possible about the bees to acquaint yourself with all the potential variables that have the capacity to affect the outcome of your honey bees.

      This beginner's pack will show you how to select your hive for your first beehive, help you prepare for possible challenges you may face in the future. Each day you go out to see your bees can become a new experience in itself as you get to see something different every time you get into your hive, this book was written to make each beekeeping experience an interesting one for you.

      To be able to make appropriate management decisions, especially when preparing to start commercial beekeeping, it is important to know the importance of being flexible in your approach and to develop an uncanny ability to figure out your bees act the way they do at one time and then turn around to behave in a totally different way at other times. The ability to differentiate each of these supposedly simple actions and how those actions can impact their wellbeing is what usually differentiates a successful beekeeper from a failed beekeeping practice.

      So, ride along with us as we expose and simplify the aspects of beekeeping for you in a language that is simple to understand.