This second edition is devoted to tips and techniques learned over 50 years of working with bees, mostly in the Southeast United States, as well as beekeeping finance. The book is targeted at advanced beginners to experienced professionals. All beekeeping is local, so some of these tips and techniques may not work in your area, but they should be considered. Beekeeping finance tips should be considered for starting and growing your operation. Many businesses fail due to poor financial controls and planning.
This book is organized as more of a reference book. It is intended for the reader to utilize the Table of Contents to find topics of interest, then to read those topics individually. Of course, you are welcome to read the entire book; I believe you will enjoy reading the entire book. The reader should have taken at least a basic beekeeping course so they understand the bee terminology.
Techniques and thoughts updated.
-Bees can regulate a closed hive better.
oScreened bottom boards should only be used with the plastic insert to minimize drafts. It is better to use a solid bottom board.
oWe should not use inner covers with a hole/notch in the rim to allow moisture to escape. Insulated covers should be used so that moisture from consumed honey condenses on the hive sides and not the underside of the cover, where it rains down on the winter cluster. Thick-walled wooden hives should be used to maintain heat inside the hive, along with an entrance reducer on the smallest hole size.
oHives should be placed in the morning and early afternoon sun, with shade in the late afternoon in South Carolina. This will help with disease and pest control.
-Propolis should be allowed to collect on frames and inside the woodenware. Pesticides collect in propolis, and propolis is antimicrobial and antifungal.
-If possible, recommend that eight-frame hives should be used rather than ten-frame hives. Eight-frame hives are more "natural" than 10-frame hives.
oBees typically build five to eight combs in the wild.
oThey are lighter.
oColonies have a greater chance of swarming.
oThey maintain heat better in the winter.
oBees tend to move up rather than out. That is why the outermost frames in a ten-frame hive are sometimes difficult for the bees to draw out.
-Section on treatment-free beekeeping
-Section on tropilaelaps
-The dollars have been updated to today's cost in the financial section. The technique is still the same.
-Section on the Yellow Legged Hornet (YLH) (Vespa velutina). What we know as of May, 2026
David MacFawn is a North Carolina Master Craftsman Beekeeper and an Eastern Apicultural Society Master Beekeeper. He co-founded the South Carolina Master Beekeeping Program, received the South Carolina Beekeeper of the Year Award in 1996 and 2020, and incorporated the South Carolina Beekeepers Association as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. He has published more than 60 articles in American Bee Journal, Bee Culture, and Beekeeping: The First Three Years. A 2021 CIPA EVVY Awards second-place winner, David has also authored seven books for beekeepers. As principal researcher, he led the study Preferred Plants and Nectar Collecting Times for Honey Production. He has provided expert guidance to Bee Downtown, helping identify bee colony characteristics that support stronger organizational dynamics through parallels with hive behavior. David holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and an MBA with concentrations in Finance and Operations Research. After more than 30 years in the computer industry, he continues to contribute to bee research and currently serves as a consultant to Morgan E. Christman on the USDA-NIFA-AFRI-FAS RFA 2026 Seasonal Honey Bee Foraging and Contaminant Exposure in Louisiana Agroecosystems.
