Beekeeping for Gardeners

A comprehensive gardener's guide to sustainable beekeeping.

Beekeeping has changed. While once it was a hobby that pursued the rich rewards of honey and wax, many new beekeepers now instead seek the gratification of knowing that they are aiding the survival of one of the world's most important creatures. Keeping bees today is as much about providing the right habitats and resources to help pollinators thrive as it is about chasing every drop of golden honey.

This beautifully illustrated guide to the ancient hobby of beekeeping shows today's gardeners how to create beautiful gardens that are richly rewarding for people and bees alike. Flowers, shrubs, trees and vegetable plots can provide colourful beauty and delicious produce as well as vital pollen and nectar when bees need it the most. There are lists of the top-performing plants and how and where to grow them, including window boxes, lawns, borders, wild gardens and even ponds.

Beekeeping for Gardeners looks at the pleasures and benefits of keeping honey bees in gardens of all types and sizes, both rural and urban. It explains the practicalities involved in keeping bees in the domestic garden setting, as well as on rooftops, allotments, parks, farmland and other locations. Importantly, and unlike any book before, this guide sets the delightful hobby of beekeeping within the context of the wider environment, asking how it can best serve the needs of all types of pollinator and the local ecology in general.

Whether you're looking to attract more bumblebees and solitary bees or want to install a beehive, this wonderful book contains all the guidance you'll need to have a garden buzzing with bees.

Buy Jekka’s Pollinating Gardeners Gift Box; the perfect gift for you and your bees!

Want to know more? Check out different Pollinating Herbs in Jekka's Guide to Pollinating herbs and read Richard’s blog on Gardening for Bees to help get your garden buzzing!

Richard Rickitt is co-editor of BeeCraft, the UK's best-selling beekeeping magazine.
Richard has been keeping bees for more than twenty years and, as well as his own bees, keeps hives for a number of commercial and private clients. He is beekeeper at Westonbirt, the National Arboretum, and teaches beekeeping courses around the UK. He frequently speaks on the subject here, abroad, and on radio and TV, making him one of the UK's best-known beekeepers. He has written hundreds of articles on the subject and is author of  Beekeeping for Gardeners (Bloomsbury).

He will be happy to answer all your questions about honey bees, wild bees and how to garden for bees. 

Come and join Richard for a Master Class or Bee Tour at our Open Days

Book details:

• Published    23 May 2024
  
• Format    Ebook (PDF)
  
• Edition    1st
  
• Extent    304
  
• ISBN    9781399404853
  
• Imprint    Green Books
  
• Illustrations    400 colour photos
  
• Publisher    Bloomsbury Publishing