Raising Resilient Bees: Heritage Techniques to Mitigate Mites, Preserve Locally Adapted Genetics, and Grow Your Apiary

“[F]ascinating and thought-provoking. . . The McEwens demonstrate creative, out-of-the-box thinking and challenge traditional ways of keeping bees.”—American Bee Journal

With over 100 color photographs and illustrations, this is the comprehensive beekeeping handbook for new and experienced beekeepers, offering a sustainable, natural, and repeatable model.

Global pests and diseases present an unprecedented challenge for the modern honey bee. Hobby and commercial beekeepers alike continue to experience troubling rates of mortality for their colonies, with potentially deleterious consequences for the stability of our wider ecosystems and overall food security. It is time for a global focus on restoring the health of the shared apiary through naturally reared, genetically diverse, and resilient lines of bees.

Authors Eric and Joy McEwen translate these goals into real practice, thereby safeguarding the honey bee from the unknown threats of the future. They offer two decades worth of beekeeping experience, experiments, and professional production to deliver groundbreaking methods in queen-rearing, varroa mite management, and Natural Nest hive design. Inside, you’ll discover:

• Revived and adapted heritage Integrated Pest Management techniques
• How to naturally rear queens and select for resilient, mite-resistant genetic lines without relying on swarming or grafting
• Key tenets of apicentric beekeeping
• Advice for establishing a flourishing and sustainable business with beekeeping at the center
• How to naturally rear bees with distinctive characteristics suitable to their locale

As in large-scale agriculture, the trend toward genetic homogenization is having long-term implications for bees’ capacity to withstand diverse environmental stressors. With expert advice, enthusiasm, and easy-to-follow instructions, Raising Resilient Bees delivers important and timely information for every beekeeper to create a healthier future.