If the idea of keeping bees and collecting their honey and other products for your personal or commercial use appeals to you, then this guide is just what you are looking for.

Maintaining bee colonies in hives by humans is known as apiculture. Api is a Latin word which means bee. You, the beekeeper or the apiarist, can keep bees and collect their honey, beeswax, pollen, Royal Jelly, and propolis. The place where you keep your bees is called a bee yard or apiary.

It seems that humans have been collecting honey from wild bees since 15,000 years ago. In North Africa, humans began to keep bees in pottery vessels about 9,000 years ago. People began to use simple hives to domesticate bees in Egypt about 4,500 years ago. Smoke was used and the honey was collected in jars, and in fact some of these jars were found in the tombs of pharaohs, such as Tutankhamun.

In the 18th century, Europeans figured out how a moveable comb hive could be constructed so that the honey could be harvested without killing the entire bee colony.

But how do you get started with keeping bees? How and which hives should you buy? How do you install these hives, and what gear do you need to maintain bees? Find out the answers to all these questions in this simple guide.