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Illustrated with line drawings and colour photographs. The version with full colour photographs is also available from Amazon. _______________________ From the review in the international beekeeping magazine, The Beekeepers Quarterly, March 2015: "Over the last few years there has been an increase in interest in alternative beekeeping methods and several books have been published showing how bees can be managed in a more natural and sustainable way, with the beekeeper being encouraged to limit the number of times a colony is disrupted. Joe Bleasdale's new book is a simple and straightforward guide, ideal for both beginners to beekeeping and those new to wanting to manage their bees for the first time using top bar hives. Whilst there are many types of hives in which bees can be kept just using top bars, Joe concentrates on the Warre hive, this being composed of a series of boxes, smaller than conventional hives, which allows for the construction of eight combs in each box, and the Horizontal Hive which usually has enough room for twenty combs. Before going into any management details, Joe gives the reader the main information which is needed as regards the natural history and development of the colony, and throughout the book there are listed typical management tasks which a beekeeper needs to carry out over the year, but in each case his advice and practical instructions are geared to top bar hives. Joe gives a realistic appraisal of the differences between Warre and Horizontal hives, including the drawbacks inherent in each system. Beekeepers often have the idea that bees in top bar hives and sustainable beekeeping etc, mean that they can be more or less left alone to get on with things unaided. Joe firmly dispels this and shows that various interactions between the beekeeper and the colony are needed in order for honey to be harvested (the main goal of beekeeping) and to prevent the issue of swarms which can become a nuisance to neighbours. A very, very important message in the book is that bees are able to deal with varroa if they are given the chance to do so. Indeed, Joe is against the use of s in bee hives and, having not used them for years, he has proved that his system of beekeeping has worked, with y colonies being the result. There is a lot of food for thought in this small book which is an excellent introduction to anyone who might be having thoughts on keeping bees in an alternative and -free way."