Natural Beekeeping: Organic Approaches to Modern Apiculture by Ross Conrad. As the spring beekeeping season kicks off I'm revisiting this book. It's full of useful information for those who want to keep their hive healthy. In the book Conrad details a holistic, sensible alternative to conventional chemical practices with a program of natural hive management. While we are yet to get varroa here in Australia, we do have plenty of other pests and diseases, and we'd be well advised to be prepared for the arrival of varroa and what that will entail. Conrad outlines 'do no harm' strategies for keeping honey bees healthy and productive with non-toxic methods of controlling mites, selective breeding for naturally resistant bees, as well as plenty of other tips and tricks. Chapters include:
- Why Organic Beekeeping?
- Working the Hive
- Hive Management
- Genetics and Breeding
- Parasitic Mites
- Insect Pests
- Environmental and Human Threats
- The Honey Harvest
- Organics and the Evolution of Beekeeping
Green Kitchen Travels by David Frenkiel and Luise Vindahl. We have David and Luise's first book, The Green Kitchen, and I think this new book is even better. Ninety healthy vegetarian recipes, many of them vegan, with drop-dead gorgeous photography. For me a picture speaks a thousand words and the pictures make me want to cook everything in this book.
Made by Hand by Lena Corwin. I'd been following Lena's blog for quite some time and was looking forward to getting my hands on this book. Being a crafty sort of gal, the projects in this book appeal to me and it is beautifully photographed.
I definitely want to try making the beeswax candles with all the wax I've been purifying from our hive....and would love to have a go at some of the dyeing projects. In fact there are a lot of projects in the book I'd like to tackle.
Any good books you've been reading lately?
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