Transitioning from a curious beekeeper to a successful one is no easy task. After 13 years of beekeeping, let me warn you now: there are no shortcuts. The lengthy annual cycles involved with keeping bees requires a long-term approach to learning many lessons and books need to become your friend. That's the nice thing about downtime and winter months: books.

From my perspective, show me a reading beekeeper, and I'll show you a successful beekeeper. Along with finding a mentor and a local beekeeping club, you'll want to ensure you are reading as many books as you can.

I usually suggest starting with the "the old dead guys" like Langstroth, Miller, Adams and more. These are the folks that pioneered so much of what we take for granted today. Much, if not most, of what you'll learn from the "ancients" will guide you well in the present.

Now let me introduce you to just some of the treasured books that you'll want to start adding to your library. These books represent a wide spectrum of practice and philosophy with much disagreement among them. I find that this is both useful and even necessary for those truly interested in developing well-rounded ideas, giving you the raw material with which to test and make your own decisions. I recommend: