Best Beekeeping Magazine for a new Beek?

[Country Heart]

Just looking for recommendations for good beekeeping magazines.  I would like to add one to my Christmas Wish List.   :)

[Michael Bush]

Both Bee Culture and American Bee Journal are good magazines.  Bee Culture does seem to have more for the hobbyist while ABJ seems to have more for the commercial side, but they overlap a lot.  In recent years the editorial policy of Bee Culture has been much more accepting of the "treatment free" philosophy than ABJ.

[T Beek]

If I 'had' to choose I'd pick Bee Culture, but since I don't I get both.  MB is right about 'treatment free' and Bee Culture, not that ABJ goes out of their way to disclaim it or anything like that.  For me they are both valued reads that I anticipate each month.

thomas

[VolunteerK9]

I like them both. You wont go wrong with either of the two.

[FRAMEshift]

I read Catch the Buzz emails from Bee Culture (no subscription necessary) to keep up with bee news.  But beekeeping has been around a long time and my sense is that the bee mags tend to be very repetitive.  The money might be better spent buying a copy of Michael Bush's book, The Practical Beekeeper.  You get more info and in a more organized form than you would ever find in  any magazine.

[T Beek]

Very good point.  I feel it is best to follow one style (one beek) if at all possible as one gets acquainted w/ bees (less confusing), and MB's book is full of valuable info for anyone. 

Despite the repetition I highly value the mags.  I've got a stack from the forties, talk about fasinating.  There's always something new in the new ones along with something old too.

thomas

[Michael Bush]

>beekeeping has been around a long time and my sense is that the bee mags tend to be very repetitive.

I used to get ABJ back in the 80s and I went to the library to read Bee Culture (couldn't afford both).  Eventually I decided, as you've just said, that bees don't change and the basics don't change and mostly the magazines, just made me wish I could afford the latest gadget.  So I dropped the subscription when it expired.  I used to get an occasional free one of both at the bee conferences, but there didn't seem to be that much new.  I restarted my Bee Culture subscription about a year and a half ago, mostly because of the change in attitude towards treatment free beekeeping.

But when you're starting out everything is new and sometimes you do read some tip that never crossed your mind.  I started getting both again recently.  We will see how long they keep my interest.  :)

[VolunteerK9]

And Im kind of a packrat..I just hate throwing away a perfectly good magazine, so I have all my back issues for reference. An article that might have been totally way above my head a year ago, rereading it later, starts to make sense :)

[Jim134]

An article that might have been totally way above my head a year ago, rereading it later, starts to make sense :)

:lau: :lau: :lau:


   BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)

[beeghost]

I just subscribed to Bee Culture a couple weeks ago, should be receiving my first issue soon, cant wait!!

[jaseemtp]

Get both if you can afford it.

[Country Heart]

Thanks to everyone for all the great advice.

I have signed up for Catch the Buzz, subscribed to Bee Culture and am already through the first volume in Michael's book.

    Tracy   :bee:

[WaterCanyonBeeCo]

Appreciate the info from all here. I also signed up for Catch the Buzz.

Just finished Michael's book(vol 1) yesterday. So much info.

Cheers!

[diggity]

I enjoy Bee Culture, though I must say they really need to do a better job of editing.  I'll admit to being a bit nitpicky (the improper use of apostrophes is my favorite pet peeve), but recognizing that you have a problem is the most important step in fixing it, so I try to look past the misspellings, stray commas, run-on sentences, and other grammatical errors and see if the the content passes muster.  In other words, does the article have a point, and did I get it?  I know I can be as thick as a whale omelet, but there have been a few times when the point was completely lost on me.  I think a better editing staff would not only catch the grammatical mistakes, but also make sure that the author sticks to the topic and delivers it clearly and concisely. 

Don't get me wrong... I like the magazine and look forward to receiving it each month.  It's well worth the subscription price.  I just wish there weren't times I walked away thinking "Huh?"

[bud1]

diggity (i will leave off all the little ,.") just would like to point out most bee keepers arent english professors but a fountain of knowledge in other respects we are an bee forum   last meet here  some beekeepers were checking nukes  2 one a ambulance driver and the other a 30-40yr comercial both saw there were virgins there where the ones checking saw the hives as queenless and both probally have never set foot on a college campus 

[diggity]

Don't worry Bud1, I'm certainly not an English professor either.   ;)

I really do enjoy Bee Culture.  Just sayin' they could use a good editor.  After all, we do pay money for it.

[Vance G]

It would be hard to do a magazine that would capture a large audience when there is so very much information all over the web and everyplace you find something interesting there are paths to more information.  I want a magazine mostly for the advertizements to see who is selling what.   I am getting Bee Culture and see there slant, so it is about time to switch and when ABJ gets old switch back.

[cowboygourmet]

Hey dude,  They both bee good !!!!!

[tefer2]

I recieve both and like to have the real paper version vs the digital subscription. I have several older bee keeps that enjoy the free reading that I provide for them each month after I'm done.