Keeping Bees with a Smile: Principles and Practice of Natural Beekeeping

by Fedor Lazutin, Leo Sharashkin (Editor), Mark Pettus (Translator)

Overview

Keep healthy, productive bees without chemicals, stress, or constant intervention. Master beekeeper reveals natural methods that work with bee biology instead of against it, producing more honey with less work while building stronger, disease-resistant colonies.

Why Chemical-Free Beekeeping Works Better:

Conventional beekeeping relies on treatments that weaken bee immunity and create dependency. This natural approach strengthens hives from within, resulting in healthier bees, better honey yields, and dramatically reduced colony losses.

What You'll Master

• Natural hive management - work with bee instincts rather than fighting them 
• Chemical-free disease prevention - build immunity through nutrition and environment
• Stress-free seasonal care - minimal intervention techniques that bees prefer 
• Honey harvesting ethics - take surplus while ensuring winter survival
• Problem diagnosis - read bee behavior to prevent issues before they start

Results You Can Expect:

Beekeepers using these methods report 90% lower colony losses, 40% higher honey yields, and 75% less time spent on hive maintenance compared to conventional chemical-dependent approaches.

Transform beekeeping from constant worry to joyful partnership with nature. Your bees (and your harvest) will thank you.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780865719279
Publisher:	New Society Publishers
Publication date:	04/07/2020
Series:	Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series
Edition description:	Revised & Expanded 2nd Edition
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Fedor Lazutin was one of Europe's leading natural beekeepers, the author of bestselling natural beekeeping guide Keeping Bees with a Smile. He founded a number of model apiaries southwest of Moscow, Russia, championed habitat restoration projects, and served as the first president of Russia's Ecovillage Union.

Leo Sharashkin, PhD, is a full-time natural beekeeper and founder of HorizontalHive.com He has edited numerous books on natural beekeeping, writes for major magazines, and speaks internationally on bee-friendly beekeeping. He holds a PhD in Forestry from the University of Missouri and a master's in Natural Resources from Indiana University. Sharashkin's forest apiaries are composed entirely of local wild honeybees housed in bee-friendly horizontal hives. He lives in the Ozarks of southern Missouri.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Foreword— The Bee Book That Makes Sense: A Roadmap to Natural Beekeeping

Part I: A Path to Natural Apiculture
A Brief Introduction
How It All Got Started
A Small Side Note
The Industrial and Natural Approaches
The Bee Colony's Intelligence
The Goals of This Book
The Tree Hollow as the Bees' Natural Home
Some Useful Facts about Comb
The Bee Colony's Developmental Cycle
A Year in the Life of a Bee Colony
A Word or Two on Wintering
The Ideal Comb: How Deep Is Deep Enough?
Winter Ventilation of the Beehive
Bee Races
The European Dark Bee
Bee Diseases
Symbiosis in Nature (A Philosophical Digression)
Bees and Their Enemies
A Bit of History
The History of the Frame
Modern Systems of Industrial Beekeeping
Bees in the Industrial Hive
A Word or Two about Swarming
"Little to Smile About"
Is There a Way Out?
The History of Horizontal Hives with Extra-Deep Frames
The Modern Horizontal Hive
The Horizontal Hive with Extra-Deep Frames
Using the Extra-Deep Frame

Part II: The Practice of Natural Apiculture
A Description of the Horizontal Hive with 25 Extra-Deep Frames
How to Keep Bees in a Horizontal Hive with Extra-Deep Frames
The Central Commandments of Natural Beekeeping
A Beekeeper's Tasks in Spring and Summer
Fall Procedures: Pulling Honey and Preparing for Winter
How to Make Extra-Deep Frames
Brushstrokes
How to Capture a Swarm in a Swarm Trap
Responsibility
Questions and Answers
Epilogue to Parts I and II

Part III: The Finer Points of Natural Beekeeping
Three Years Later
Principles of Natural Beekeeping Revisited
The Recipe for Success in Beekeeping
Nectar Resources
Bee Race and Colony Strength
On the Mean Bees
The Queen
The Vital Rhythms of a Bee Colony
The Death of Bee Colonies
Various Approaches to Natural Beekeeping
More on Supersedure
Swarming
How to Collect a Swarm
The Hive Entrance
Spring Inspection of Bee Colonies
Spring Buildup of Bee Colonies
Preparing for the Main Honeyflow
The Main Honeyflow and the Second Half of Summer
Pulling Honey and Preparing for Winter
Questions and Answers

Part IV: How Bee Colonies Winter, And How to Make Wintering as Successful as Possible
Introduction
The Facts: What You Must Know about the Wintering Process of an Individual Bee and of the Colony as a Whole
The Colony's Main Job During the Winter
The Thermal Physics of a Wintering Colony
Bee Respiration in the Winter Cluster
The Role of Water in the Wintering Process
The Search for the Ideal Home for a Bee Colony
The Physiological Condition of a Colony as It Enters the Winter Period
Winter Reserves
The Location of Winter Reserves
The European Dark Bee
Wintering Indoors
Conclusions to Part IV

Afterword
Afterword to the Second Edition: Natural Beekeeping Accessible to All
Appendix 1: How to Make Swarm Traps and Capture Swarms
Appendix 2: How to Produce, Install, and Unite Swarms
Appendix 3: Nucs: What to Expect and How to Handle Them
Appendix 4: Operations Throughout the Year
Appendix 5: How to Build a Horizontal Hive with Extra-Deep Frames (Version 1)
Appendix 6: How to Build a Horizontal Hive with Extra-Deep Frames (Version 2)
Appendix 7: Lazutin Hive Plans (US Version 4— New)
Appendix 8: Summary Handouts
Glossary
Index
About the Author / Editor
About New Society Publishers

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"In Keeping Bees with a Smile, author Fedor Lazutin proposes that we take a more humane and holistic look at our relationship with the European honey bee. And while the established beekeeping industry doesn't want to hear it, Lazutin's approach is one that mimics nature and is more humane for the bees and humans alike— leading to a healthier life for both. This second edition, as beautifully translated and edited by Dr. Leo Sharashkin, has been revised and updated with many additional color illustrations and photos, as well as appendices packed with more information. I had the opportunity to hear master beekeeper Sharashkin speak several years ago and have found great success by using the methods he and Lazutin promote. We no longer medicate, we no longer lose colonies (and sleep), and we populate our new home-built hive boxes with feral swarms that we attract. This book should be on every beekeeper's bookshelf as it represents a paradigm shift, worthy of consideration by everyone that calls herself a beekeeper."
— Hank Will, author, Plowing with Pigs, and Editorial Director, Mother Earth News

"Keeping Bees with a Smile— 2nd Edition is an updated version of Lazutin's wonderful book on natural beekeeping in a horizontal hive. If you want to learn about natural methods of beekeeping with minimal work and no boxes to lift from someone with a lot of experience, an optimistic view, and a natural philosophy, you should read this book."
— Michael Bush, author, The Practical Beekeeper, www.bushfarms.com

"At its core, Keeping Bees with a Smile offers an appreciation for all forms of life and a glimpse of how beautifully all can work together if we allow the rules of nature to be our guide. The decline of honeybee health in the last decade has helped renew interest in beekeeping, and this book provides a blueprint for creating a harmonious relationship between bees and their human partners. These foundational principles can be adapted and applied in different geographical areas and climates, helping us build more resilient and sustainable communities and reconnect with the natural world."
— Bonnie Morse, Director, Bee Audacious

"Keeping Bees with a Smile has already shaken up the thinking of the independent-minded beekeepers in North America and Europe. Fedor Lazutin, one of Russia's foremost natural beekeepers, describes a beekeeping system based on a trust of a bee colony as a living being capable of solving life's challenges without human assistance. Beginner friendly and complete with fascinating photographs, it is a valuable guide for independent-minded beekeepers who are seeking ways to keep bees without treating them with chemicals, disrupting their homes, and otherwise intruding on their lives."
— Dr. Thomas D. Seeley, Professor, Cornell University, author, Honeybee Democracy and The Lives of Bees

"This book is a reminder that bees can thrive on their own if we just allow them to do so. It is also a fascinating story of how beekeepers from another culture solve their own problems by using their histori- cal wisdom and just letting the bees be themselves. Instead of making beekeeping part of industrial agriculture, simple and straightforward solutions to the bees' health problems still exist— and the clear guidance of Keeping Bees with a Smile is great help in this direction. It also emphasizes that we must do our part to restore a clean and diverse environment, and shows ways to do so. If honey bees can thrive in the future, we will, too."
— Kirk Webster, treatment-free beekeeper, Vermont

"Keeping Bees with a Smile carefully sets out a natural beekeeping ap- proach based on horizontal hives and minimal colony manipulation. Keep only bees of the local race; nurture their natural means to stay healthy; use extra-deep combs; propagate colonies by swarming— the book is full of important lessons for all beekeepers. It also includes numerous insights and excerpts from Russian beekeeping texts otherwise unavailable to English readers. Fedor Lazutin's nature-based, simple method ensures vigorous and productive bees, while also saving time and money. Thorough and well written, with excellent color pictures— we love Keeping Bees with a Smile!"
— Dr. Nicola Bradbear, Director, Bees for Development