I have several books on bee keeping.  Most, either intentionally or not, drive the reader towards maximizing honey product more or less at all cost.  I tend to flow more with Gene Logsdon’s philosophy of letting the bees do their thing.  Give them a home, treat them well, and share a bit of their excess is most years.

That said, I highly recommend people buy a couple of different books and read them.  Just realize that bee keeping is still mostly art.  Don’t believe me?  Go Google “Bee hive ventilation” and see the wars that still rage over such a basic issue.

Anyhow, here is one book I found useful:

If your thinking your going to make a bunch of money with bees, or want a couple of hundred hives, I HIGHLY suggest reading: