Reading material
Below are links to some classic beekeeping publications:
Farrar 1944 Productive-management-of-honeybee-colonies
USDA 1967 Beekeeping in the United States Scroll down to Moeller’s “Managing Colonies for High Honey Yields”
I also recommend (or have had recommended):
Storey’s Guide to Keeping Honey Bees, 2nd Edition: Honey Production, Pollination, Health, Malcolm Stanford. Malcolm has an easy-to-read writing style.
Honey Bee Hobbyist by Norm Gary—good overall understanding, rather than how-to
First Lessons in Beekeeping, Dadant
The Beekeeper’s Handbook by Diana Sammataro & Alfonse Avitabile. This is a well-loved textbook.
Homegrown Honey Bees by Alethea Morrison. Very down-home book by a beekeeper’s learning experience.
The Honey Revolution: Restoring the Health of Future Generations by Ron Fessenden
Almond Pollination Handbook Traynor
A Book of Bees, Sue Hubble. Beautiful prose about a beekeeper’s love of bees and beekeeping.
Bumblebee Economics, Bernd Heinrich. This book was instrumental to my understanding of the biology of the bee.
Beekeeping for Dummies. I haven’t yet read, but a number of beginners have told me that they found it helpful.
If there are others that you feel that I should add to this page, please let me know!