Don't be discouraged by some of of our members negative comments about beekeeping books. I think they all have wonderful information and unless you're getting down to "technical" information, the basics are pretty much the same. ABC's & XYZ's is layed out like an encyclopedia which is pretty hard to follow. I recommend having a copy on hand once you get your first hives established as a reference. Most of the basic books like "First Lessons in Beekeeping" from Dadant are really good basic info to get you started. There is no book out there that will cover everything, like everyone else has said you should probably check into a local club. That will get you involved with other people who can pass on their experiences to you.
Something that really helped me is the video series, "Honeybees & Beekeeping, A Year in the Life of an Apiary" with Keith Deleplane. It's from the early 90's and can be pretty cheesy at parts, but the 8 half hour episodes really brings beekeeping to light for newcomers. You can buy it from most beekeeping supply places online.
Another video that's really cool is the Nova show, "Tales from the Hive". It's more about bees than beekeeping, but still really interesting!
Sean Kelly
