Care of Bees in Warré & Top Bar Hives Paperback by Joe Bleasdale

Beekeepers might find "Care of Bees in Warré and Top Bar Hives" by Joe Bleasdale helpful because it serves as a simple and straightforward guide, particularly beneficial for beginners to beekeeping or those new to managing bees using top bar hives.

 The book focuses on the Warré hive, which is composed of a series of smaller boxes allowing for the construction of eight combs in each box, and the Horizontal Hive, which usually has enough room for twenty combs.

The author, Joe Bleasdale, provides essential information on the natural history and development of the colony and lists typical management tasks a beekeeper needs to carry out over the year, with advice and practical instructions tailored to top bar hives.

 The book also gives a realistic appraisal of the systems, including their drawbacks, and dispels the misconception that bees in top bar hives can be left alone without any beekeeper intervention.

Moreover, Bleasdale emphasizes the importance of allowing bees to deal with varroa mites naturally, advocating against the use of chemicals in bee hives and sharing his successful experience with healthy colonies as a result of chemical-free beekeeping.

The book is illustrated with line drawings and color photographs, which can aid in understanding the content.

In addition to the practical guidance, the book also addresses the increasing interest in alternative beekeeping methods and encourages beekeepers to limit the number of times a colony is disrupted, aligning with more natural and sustainable beekeeping practices.

Given Bleasdale's extensive experience as a beekeeper and his approach to beekeeping without chemicals, the book can be a valuable resource for beekeepers looking to adopt more natural methods and understand the specific requirements of managing Warré and top bar hives