Georges de Layens, inventor of the world's most popular horizontal hive, shares a lifetime of experience on how to: get started in simplified beekeeping; choose the best hive model for you and your bees; manage your hives with just two visits per year; take advantage of horizontal hives and deep frames; avoid unnecessary complications and procedures; increase an apiary with natural or artificial swarms; transfer bees from one hive model to another; enhance bees' health drug-free; do without requeening, feeding, and other chores; understand honey plants and honeyflows; make award-winning mead (foolproof formula); use foundationless frames, make wax foundation; handle traditional hives (skeps, log hives, etc.); keep bees sustainably using local strains; and MUCH more. Layens' simple beekeeping boasts over 100 years of successful use, with 1 million hives in use today. Bee-friendly, productive, and fun, keeping bees can be easier than you ever imagined! "This is a delightful book full of wonderfully audacious ideas for U.S. beekeepers. I certainly look forward to building and trying out a horizontal movable-frame hive, inspired and guided by reading this fascinating book." - Dr. Tom Seeley, author of Honeybee Democracy