Give Away: Keeping Bees!

Keeping Bees

Fellow beekeepers and wanna "bees", I'm so excited to be able to review a new book by Ashly English, Keeping Bees, and share a copy with one of you! Now some of you may be wondering if there could possibly be anything new to say about bees. Well, actually there really is a lot since beekeeping practices are evolving as we speak. But there's more to this book that I want to tell you about.


Ashley is a kindred spirit who earned degrees in holistic nutrition and sociology. Hmmm... interesting since bees have a community of their own. (Bet she never thought her degree would lead her to that kind of community!) Writing from her North Carolina homestead at the end of a dirt road, Ashley confesses that she wanted to ramp up the production of her vegetable garden when she learned her friend's garden doubled after introducing bees to her yard. So after countless bee club meetings and such, she put her experience and acquired knowledge from her own journey into a book for the Homemade Living Series. 

Now I told you that there was more to this book. And it's apparent to me that Ashley has other skills beside beekeeping. Seems to me she has the gift of organization and teaching, because I've looked at a lot of beekeeping books, and none are laid out as nicely as Keeping Bees! For me, this is very desirable because after reading a resource book, I want to be able to reference things quickly because I've got lots of things to do. 


The use of colored insets, detailed pictures (both colored and drawings), and clear headings throughout, helps the eye by being both pleasing and practical. And the charts, checklists, and bullet points are excellent (I love these things!). My favorite is on the last page just before the Resources. There you'll find a Bee Care Checklist for the four seasons. I can tell you right now, I'm going to use that a lot!

I know you're wondering what else is in it. Let's see...


• questions and concerns before purchasing bees
• hive hierarchy and "beespace"
• hive housing, location, and feeding requirements
• how to intall honeybees (in detail!)
• providing the best health and wellness for your hive
• how to extract honey
• profiles of different beekeepers from a variety of backgrounds
• honey-based recipes!

Give-Away


Sterling Publishing Company is kindly offering a Homestead Revival™ reader the opportunity to win...


• One copy of Keeping Bees by Ashley English
• And a jar of honey!


To enter...


• Leave a comment telling me if you are a beekeeper or if you'd like to become a beekeeper and why you keep or want to keep bees. (Please leave an email address if you do not have a blog so I can contact you if you are the winner.)


• Enter again by blogging, tweeting, or facebook this give-away to your readers and friends. You must link to Homestead Revival™ and leave a comment telling me you've done so.


This give-away ends Friday, March 18, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. PST!


Be sure to visit Ashley at her blog, Small Measure!

All photos from Keeping Bees. A copy of this book was sent to me for review; other than that, I've not been compensated in any way for writing a review of this book. As always, I will give you my honest and personal opinion on items I review and promote.