You can probably guess which book I went for
first --- the one subtitled "An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Keeping
Bees in Your Yard and Garden." I'd been vaguely considering
trying to take a beekeeping course before our bees arrived, and I'm
thrilled to be able to feed my antisocial side and instead read a book
chock full of photos.
The only downside of the book is that its subtitle is accurate --- it's
pretty simple and doesn't introduce more contentious topics I've read
about on the internet (like whether to use a queen excluder or
not). But after reading The Backyard Beekeeper, I still
felt like I had spent a week walking around with an expert. Cut for racy
bee sex scenes....