A Guide for Beekeepers

Every beekeeper should seek to have hives that are healthy and productive. Today, the many threats to honey bee health — including parasites, pests, disease, pesticides, and inadequate nutrition — make achieving this goal a major challenge. Successful beekeeping means closely monitoring bee health and taking proactive steps to protect them.

Over the years, a wide range of public and private organizations have developed Best Management Practices (BMPs) for the honey bee industry. Important work has been done by state governments, crop and grower organizations, universities (particularly extension services), state beekeeping organizations and other stakeholders. This guide collects BMPs from many sources into one document to make it easy for beekeepers to find practical information that they can use. Experts from within and outside the Honey Bee Health Coalition, including entomologists, small-scale and commercial beekeepers, apiary inspectors and commercial bee suppliers, have reviewed the BMPs in this guide to make sure that they are accurate and consistent with the latest research findings.

Whether you are just starting out as a beekeeper or have years of experience, you’ll find that this guide offers valuable BMPs on many topics, including:

Safety

Apiary and hive set up and maintenance

Pesticide exposure

Treatment of parasites and bee diseases

Queen health, bee breeding and stock selection

Bee nutrition

Download Best Management Practices for Bee Health