Rating: 
Summary: Simple, Educational and Entertaining ....PERFECT!
Review: Keep in mind this book has a "dummies" slant. It's a great beginner book and I own a copy. I recommend it. Lots of conversational plain english, funny cartoons, photographs, etc. But, buy another book as well to round out your knowledge. For example, Howland doesn't explain *why* you need an inner cover... just says it's part of the hive. He only provides *one* technique for queen introduction (albeit a good one), when there are several others. Then he perpetuates the myth that you should scrape a bee's stinger away rather than pinch it away (Discover magazine, et. al., now dispute this), and when discussing *moving* a hive, he leaves out the "3 mile rule" and the "1 foot per day" approach, etc. He suggests using motor oil moats to prevent ants (works great), but doesn't mention that vegetable oil and Tanglefoot work great also. Like I say, great book, buy it, but get some others too.
Rating: 
Summary: Good for Dummies
Review: Keep in mind this book has a "dummies" slant. It's a great beginner book and I own a copy. I recommend it. Lots of conversational plain english, funny cartoons, photographs, etc. But, buy another book as well to round out your knowledge. For example, Howland doesn't explain *why* you need an inner cover... just says it's part of the hive. He only provides *one* technique for queen introduction (a good one), when there are several others. Then he perpetuates the myth that you should scrape a bee's stinger away rather than pinch it away (Discover magazine, et. al., now dispute this), and when discussing *moving* a hive, he leaves out the "3 mile rule" and the "1 foot per day" approach, etc. He suggests using motor oil moats to prevent ants (works great), but doesn't mention that vegetable oil works great also, without being as noxious. Like I say, great book, buy it, but get some others too.
Rating:
Summary: Good for Dummies
Review: Keep in mind this book has a "dummies" slant. It's a great beginner book and I own a copy. I recommend it. Lots of conversational plain english, funny cartoons, photographs, etc. But, buy another book as well to round out your knowledge. For example, Howland doesn't explain *why* you need an inner cover... just says it's part of the hive. He only provides *one* technique for queen introduction (a good one), when there are several others. Then he perpetuates the myth that you should scrape a bee's stinger away rather than pinch it away (Discover magazine, et. al., now dispute this), and when discussing *moving* a hive, he leaves out the "3 mile rule" and the "1 foot per day" approach, etc. He suggests using motor oil moats to prevent ants (works great), but doesn't mention that vegetable oil works great also, without being as noxious. Like I say, great book, buy it, but get some others too.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Of the many "how to" beekeeping books I have seen, this is absolutely the best. It is organized in a logical, easy to understand format. The information is current. I recommend this book highly for the novice or even the experienced beekeeper.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but...
Review: This is a good book for the beginner. The text is entertaining and thorough, and the pictures are wonderful.
My only dislike is that the instructions are somewhat dogmatic in parts. RE medicating hives, for instance, we're told that feeding bees antibiotics etc. is no different from innoculations. Actually, they are, and overuse of antibiotics is creating resistant strains of disease.
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