Backyard Bees: Fully Revised and Updated

Bees need our help. Under threat from insecticides and habitat loss, they're in decline the world over. It's time to show some love to our favourite pollinators, whether by installing a hive in your garden or on your rooftop, or simply by adding more bee-friendly plants to your patch. Backyard Bees is the bestselling Australian bee guide to walk you through everything you need to know, now fully updated and in its 3rd edition.

Author Doug Purdie offers friendly, expert advice on keeping happy, healthy bees and harvesting the liquid gold, including tips on choosing a hive and equipment, and a chapter on the Flow Hive, the innovative beehive design that has taken beekeeping by storm.

For the first time, Doug includes information on managing the destructive Varroa mite, which has been deadly to beehives worldwide and is now rampant in Australia.

You'll also find case studies and anecdotes from beekeepers from all walks of life, and 20 delicious recipes for all that honey, from Toasted Honey Granola to Bees Knees Cocktails.

Not ready to keep bees? This edition also includes new chapters on supporting your local bee population without a hive, with tips for planting bee-friendly gardens and creating habitats and homes for solitary bees.

So join the beekeeping revolution. Once introduced to the charms of beekeeping and the taste of warm honeycomb direct from the hive, you'll be hooked.

Paperback, 248 pages, published by Murdoch Books, 2021

About the author

As co-founder of The Urban Beehive, Doug Purdie managed more than 100 beehives on city rooftops, balconies, backyards and public gardens around Sydney. He is a beekeeping teacher and speaker, a past president of the NSW Amateur Beekeepers' Association and is featured regularly as a bee expert on TV and in other media. In his role as a NSW Bee Biosecurity Officer, he also trains beekeepers in managing the destructive Varroa pest.