Keeping Bees in Horizontal Hives: A Complete Guide to Apiculture

Learn natural beekeeping from Europe’s foremost beekeeping authority. Georges de Layens, inventor of the world’s most popular horizontal hive, shares a lifetime of experience on how to: get started in simplified beekeeping; choose the best hive model for you & your bees; manage your hives with just two visits per year; take advantage of horizontal hives & deep frames; avoid unnecessary complications & procedures; increase an apiary with natural or artificial swarms; transfer bees from one hive model to another; enhance bees’ health drug-free; do without requeening, feeding & other chores; understand honey plants and honeyflows; make award-winning mead (foolproof formula); use foundationless frames, make wax foundation; handle traditional hives (skeps, log hives, etc.); keep bees sustainably using local strains; and MUCH more. Layens’ simple beekeeping boasts over 100 years of successful use, with 1 million hives in use today. Bee-friendly, productive, and fun, keeping bees can be easier than you ever imagined! “This is a delightful book full of wonderfully audacious ideas for U.S. beekeepers. I certainly look forward to building and trying out a horizontal movable-frame hive, inspired and guided by reading this fascinating book.” – Dr. Tom Seeley, author of Honeybee Democracy