Keeping Bees with a Smile , livre ebook

Praise for Keeping Bees with a Smile
In Keeping Bees with a Smile , author Fedor Lazutin proposes that we take a more humane and holistic look at our relationship with the European honey bee. And while the established beekeeping industry doesn t want to hear it, Lazutin s approach is one that mimics nature and is more humane for the bees and humans alike-leading to a healthier life for both. This second edition, as beautifully translated and edited by Dr. Leo Sharashkin, has been revised and updated with many additional color illustrations and photos, as well as appendices packed with more information. I had the opportunity to hear master beekeeper Sharashkin speak several years ago and have found great success by using the methods he and Lazutin promote. We no longer medicate, we no longer lose colonies (and sleep), and we populate our new home-built hive boxes with feral swarms that we attract. This book should be on every beekeeper s bookshelf as it represents a paradigm shift, worthy of consideration by everyone that calls herself a beekeeper.
- Hank Will, author, Plowing with Pigs , and Editorial Director, Mother Earth News
Keeping Bees with a Smile-2nd Edition is an updated version of Lazutin s wonderful book on natural beekeeping in a horizontal hive. If you want to learn about natural methods of beekeeping with minimal work and no boxes to lift from someone with a lot of experience, an optimistic view, and a natural philosophy, you should read this book.
- Michael Bush, author, The Practical Beekeeper , www.bushfarms.com
At its core, Keeping Bees with a Smile offers an appreciation for all forms of life and a glimpse of how beautifully all can work together if we allow the rules of nature to be our guide. The decline of honeybee health in the last decade has helped renew interest in beekeeping, and this book provides a blueprint for creating a harmonious relationship between bees and their human partners. These foundational principles can be adapted and applied in different geographical areas and climates, helping us build more resilient and sustainable communities and reconnect with the natural world.
- Bonnie Morse, Director, Bee Audacious
Keeping Bees with a Smile has already shaken up the thinking of the independent-minded beekeepers in North America and Europe. Fedor Lazutin, one of Russia s foremost natural beekeepers, describes a beekeeping system based on a trust of a bee colony as a living being capable of solving life s challenges without human assistance. Beginner friendly and complete with fascinating photographs, it is a valuable guide for independent-minded beekeepers who are seeking ways to keep bees without treating them with chemicals, disrupting their homes, and otherwise intruding on their lives.
- Dr. Thomas D. Seeley, Professor, Cornell University, author, Honeybee Democracy and The Lives of Bees
This book is a reminder that bees can thrive on their own if we just allow them to do so. It is also a fascinating story of how beekeepers from another culture solve their own problems by using their historical wisdom and just letting the bees be themselves. Instead of making beekeeping part of industrial agriculture, simple and straightforward solutions to the bees health problems still exist-and the clear guidance of Keeping Bees with a Smile is great help in this direction. It also emphasizes that we must do our part to restore a clean and diverse environment, and shows ways to do so. If honey bees can thrive in the future, we will, too.
- Kirk Webster, treatment-free beekeeper, Vermont
Keeping Bees with a Smile carefully sets out a natural beekeeping approach based on horizontal hives and minimal colony manipulation. Keep only bees of the local race; nurture their natural means to stay healthy; use extra-deep combs; propagate colonies by swarming-the book is full of important lessons for all beekeepers. It also includes numerous insights and excerpts from Russian beekeeping texts otherwise unavailable to English readers. Fedor Lazutin s nature-based, simple method ensures vigorous and productive bees, while also saving time and money. Thorough and well written, with excellent color pictures-we love Keeping Bees with a Smile !
- Dr. Nicola Bradbear, Director, Bees for Development
Keeping Bees with a Smile
KEEPING BEES
with a smile
PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF
NATURAL BEEKEEPING
SECOND EDITION
by Fedor Lazutin
Translated from the Russian by Mark Pettus, PhD
Edited by Leo Sharashkin, PhD
Copyright 2020 by Elena Lazutina and HorizontalHive.com
All rights reserved.
Cover design by Diane McIntosh. Cover image iStock.
All photos Elena Lazutina unless otherwise indicated.
Printed in Canada. First printing April, 2020.
This book is intended to be educational and informative. It is not intended to serve as a guide. The author and publisher disclaim all responsibility for any liability, loss or risk that may be associated with the application of any of the contents of this book.
Inquiries regarding requests to reprint all or part of Keeping Bees with a Smile, Revised Edition should be addressed to New Society Publishers at the address below. To order directly from the publishers, please call toll-free (North America) 1-800-567-6772, or order online at www.newsociety.com
Any other inquiries can be directed by mail to:
New Society Publishers
P.O. Box 189, Gabriola Island, BC V0R 1X0, Canada
(250) 247-9737
L IBRARY AND A RCHIVES C ANADA C ATALOGUING IN P UBLICATION
Title: Keeping bees with a smile : principles and practice of natural beekeeping / by Fedor Lazutin; translated from the Russian by Mark Pettus, PhD; edited by Leo Sharashkin, PhD; artist, Andrey Andreev; technical drawings, Fedor Lazutin, Alexander Razboinikov, Leo Sharashkin; hive drawings (version 4), Chris Bloom.
Names: Lazutin, Fedor, author. | Pettus, Mark, 1978- translator. | Sharashkin, Leonid, editor.
Description: Revised and updated 2nd edition. | Previously published under title: Keeping bees with a smile: a vision and practice of natural apiculture.
Ithaca, New York : Deep Snow Press, 2013. | Includes index.
Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20190206543 | Canadiana (ebook) 20190206551 | ISBN 9780865719279 (softcover) | ISBN 9781550927207 ( PDF ) | ISBN 9781771423168 ( EPUB )
Subjects: LCSH : Bee culture. | LCSH : Honeybee.
Classification: LCC SF 523 . L 398 2020 | DDC 638/.1-dc23
New Society Publishers mission is to publish books that contribute in fundamental ways to building an ecologically sustainable and just society, and to do so with the least possible impact on the environment, in a manner that models this vision.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Foreword-The Bee Book That Makes Sense: A Roadmap to Natural Beekeeping
Part I: A Path to Natural Apiculture
A Brief Introduction
How It All Got Started
A Small Side Note
The Industrial and Natural Approaches
The Bee Colony s Intelligence
The Goals of This Book
The Tree Hollow as the Bees Natural Home
Some Useful Facts about Comb
The Bee Colony s Developmental Cycle
A Year in the Life of a Bee Colony
A Word or Two on Wintering
The Ideal Comb: How Deep Is Deep Enough?
Winter Ventilation of the Beehive
Bee Races
The European Dark Bee
Bee Diseases
Symbiosis in Nature (A Philosophical Digression)
Bees and Their Enemies
A Bit of History
The History of the Frame
Modern Systems of Industrial Beekeeping
Bees in the Industrial Hive
A Word or Two about Swarming
Little to Smile About
Is There a Way Out?
The History of Horizontal Hives with Extra-Deep Frames
The Modern Horizontal Hive
The Horizontal Hive with Extra-Deep Frames
Using the Extra-Deep Frame
Part II: The Practice of Natural Apiculture
A Description of the Horizontal Hive with 25 Extra-Deep Frames
How to Keep Bees in a Horizontal Hive with Extra-Deep Frames
The Central Commandments of Natural Beekeeping
A Beekeeper s Tasks in Spring and Summer
Fall Procedures: Pulling Honey and Preparing for Winter
How to Make Extra-Deep Frames
Brushstrokes
How to Capture a Swarm in a Swarm Trap
Responsibility
Questions and Answers
Epilogue to Parts I and II
Part III: The Finer Points of Natural Beekeeping
Three Years Later
Principles of Natural Beekeeping Revisited
The Recipe for Success in Beekeeping
Nectar Resources
Bee Race and Colony Strength
On the Mean Bees
The Queen
The Vital Rhythms of a Bee Colony
The Death of Bee Colonies
Various Approaches to Natural Beekeeping
More on Supersedure
Swarming
How to Collect a Swarm
The Hive Entrance
Spring Inspection of Bee Colonies
Spring Buildup of Bee Colonies
Preparing for the Main Honeyflow
The Main Honeyflow and the Second Half of Summer
Pulling Honey and Preparing for Winter
Questions and Answers
Part IV: How Bee Colonies Winter, And How to Make Wintering as Successful as Possible
Introduction
The Facts: What You Must Know about the Wintering Process of an Individual Bee and of the Colony as a Whole
The Colony s Main Job During the Winter
The Thermal Physics of a Wintering Colony
Bee Respiration in the Winter Cluster
The Role of Water in the Wintering Process
The Search for the Ideal Home for a Bee Colony
The Physiological Condition of a Colony as It Enters the Winter Period
Winter Reserves
The Location of Winter Reserves
The European Dark Bee
Wintering Indoors
Conclusions to Part IV
Afterword
Afterword to the Second Edition: Natural Beekeeping Accessible to All
Appendix 1: How to Make Swarm Traps and Capture Swarms
Appendix 2: How to Produce, Install, and Unite Swarms
Appendix 3: Nucs: What to Expect and How to Handle Them
Appendix 4: Operations Throughout the Year
Appendix 5: How to Build a Horizontal Hive with Extra-Deep Frames (Version 1)
Appendix 6: How to Build a Horizontal Hive with Extra-Deep Frames (Version 2)
Appendix 7: Lazutin Hive Plans (US Version 4-New)
Appendix 8: Summary Hand