Image credit: Nick Adams

"The Tree Beekeeping Field Guide' is an essential ebook to help our efforts in seeeking new sustainable ways of living with bees.  Jonathan Powell not only illuminates the nearly lost art and craft of the ‘Zeidler’,  an ancient vocation in the 'culture of honeybees', but also provides the knowledge and resources for an ethical and respectful approach of apiculture. It will inspire many and be of guidance for a new developing paradigm of apiculture."

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Michael Joshin Thiele apisarborea.com

Video: The first UK Zeidler tree hive 

(surprise ending!)

Tree Beekeeping is a 1000 year old tradition of keeping bees in man made cavities inside trees. Once common across Eastern Europe it all but disappeared in the 20th Century, but is now being revived as a form of beekeeping that respects the innate preference of the bee.

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The Tree Beekeeping Field Guide eBook  provides in-depth instructions on the construction of a tree hive and the origins of this fascinating craft. 

The eBook format is perfect for loading onto your phone and reading in the forest!

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The guide is designed for iBooks (free on MacOS and iOS), but it will work in any reader application that can handle EPUB3 format*. There are also many browser plugin readers for eBooks. If you prefer you can also purchase a PDF version, however it lacks the formatting and interactive features of the EPUB version.

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* For a PC we recommend the icecream reader. A list of alternative EPUB3 readers can be found at this link. For Apple devices (MacOS and iOS) use the installed iBooks app. For Android we recommend AI Reader or the free Google Play Book reader

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Table of Contents

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1.   Foreword
2.   Introduction
3.   The Bees
4.   The Tree
5.   Tools
6.   Platform
7.   Access Slot
8.   Cavity
9.   Entrance
10. Entrance Plug
11. Spales
12. Access Door
13. Comb Pegs
14. Insulation Cover
15. Tamga
16. Climbing
17. Log Hives
18. Safety
19. The Future of Tree Beekeeping

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Relevant Organisations
References

Please email the trust. with questions and support issues