This Page contains the definition of some of the beekeeping terms in my logbook.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
| A | ||
| Abdomen - the posterior or third region of the body
of a bee enclosing the honey stomach, true stomach, intestine, sting, and
reproductive organs.
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| Absconding swarm - an entire colony of bees that
abandons the hive because of disease, wax moth, or other maladies.
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| Alighting board - a small projection or platform at
the entrance of the hive.
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| American foulbrood - a brood disease of honey bees
caused by the spore-forming bacterium, Bacillus larvae.
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| Anaphylactic shock - constriction of the muscles
surrounding the bronchial tubes of a human, caused by hypersensitivity to
venom and resulting in sudden death unless immediate medical attention is
received.
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| Apiary - colonies, hives, and other equipment
assembled in one location for beekeeping operations; bee yard.
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| Apiculture - the science and art of raising honey
bees.
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| Apis mellifera - scientific name of the honey bee
found in the United States.
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| B | ||
| Bee bread - a mixture of collected pollen and nectar
or honey, deposited in the cells of a comb to be used as food by the bees.
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| Bee brush - a brush or whisk broom used to remove
bees from combs.
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| Bee escape - a device used to remove bees from honey
supers and buildings by permitting bees to pass one way but preventing their
return.
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| Beehive - a box or receptacle with movable frames,
used for housing a colony of bees.
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| Bee metamorphosis - the three stages through which a
bee passes before reaching maturity: egg, larva, and pupa.
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| Bee space - 1/4 to 3/8-inch space between combs and
hive parts in which bees build no comb or deposit only a small amount of
propolis.
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| Beeswax - a complex mixture of organic compounds
secreted by special glands on the last four visible segments on the ventral
side of the worker bee's abdomen and used for building comb. Its melting
point is from 143.6 to 147.2 degrees F.
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| Bee venom - the poison secreted by special glands
attached to the stinger of the bee.
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| Bottom board - the floor of a beehive.
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| Brace comb - a bit of comb built between two combs to
fasten them together, between a comb and adjacent wood, or between two
wooden parts such as top bars.
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| Brood - bees not yet emerged from their cells: eggs,
larvae, and pupae.
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| Brood chamber - the part of the hive in which the
brood is reared; may include one or more hive bodies and the combs within.
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| C | ||
| Capped brood - pupae whose cells have been sealed
with a porous cover by mature bees to isolate them during their nonfeeding
pupal period; also called sealed brood.
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| Cappings - the thin wax covering of cells full of
honey; the cell coverings after they are sliced from the surface of a
honey-filled comb.
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| Castes - the three types of bees that comprise the
adult population of a honey bee colony: workers, drones, and queen.
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| Cell - the hexagonal compartment of a honey comb.
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| Chilled brood - immature bees that have died from
exposure to cold; commonly caused by mismanagement.
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| Chunk honey - honey cut from frames and placed in
jars along with liquid honey.
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| Clarifying - removing visible foreign material from
honey or wax to increase its purity.
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| Cluster - a large group of bees hanging together, one
upon another.
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| Colony - the aggregate of worker bees, drones, queen,
and developing brood living together as a family unit in a hive or other
dwelling.
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| Comb - a mass of six-sided cells made by honey bees
in which brood is reared and honey and pollen are stored; composed of two
layers united at their bases.
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| Comb foundation - a commercially made structure
consisting of thin sheets of beeswax with the cell bases of worker cells
embossed on both sides in the same manner as they are produced naturally by
honey bees.
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| Comb honey - honey produced and sold in the comb, in
either thin wooden sections (4 x 4 inches or 4 x 5 inches) or circular
plastic frames.
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| Creamed honey - honey which has been allowed to
crystallize, usually under controlled conditions, to produce a tiny crystal.
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| Cross-pollination - the transfer of pollen from an
anther of one plant to the stigma of a different plant of the same species.
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| Crystallization - see "Granulation."
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| Cut-comb honey - comb honey cut into various sizes,
the edges drained, and the pieces wrapped or packed individually.
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| D | ||
| Demaree - the method of swarm control that separates
the queen from most of the brood within the same hive.
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| Dequeen - to remove a queen from a colony.
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| Dextrose - one of the two principal sugars found in
honey; forms crystals during granulation. Also known as glucose.
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| Dividing - separating a colony to form two or more
units.
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| Division board feeder - a wooden or plastic
compartment which is hung in a hive like a frame and contains sugar syrup to
feed bees.
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| Drawn combs - combs with cells built out by honey
bees from a sheet of foundation.
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| Drone - the male honey bee.
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| Drone comb - comb measuring about four cells per
linear inch that is used for drone rearing and honey storage.
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| Drone layer - an infertile or unmated laying queen.
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| Drumming - pounding on the sides of a hive to make
the bees ascend into another hive placed over it.
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| Dwindling - the rapid dying off of old bees in the
spring; sometimes called spring dwindling or disappearing disease.
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| Dysentery - an abnormal condition of adult bees
characterized by severe diarrhea and usually caused by starvation,
low-quality food, moist surroundings, or nosema infection.
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| E | ||
| Egg - The first stage of bee metamorphosis. The
egg is placed in a cell by the queen bee. A fertilized egg develops into a
worker bee. An unfertilized egg develops into a drone.
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| European foulbrood - an infectious brood disease of
honey bees caused by streptococcus.
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| Extracted honey - honey removed from the comb by
centrifugal force.
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| F | ||
| Fermentation - a chemical breakdown of honey, caused
by sugar-tolerant yeast and associated with honey having a high moisture
content.
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| Fertile queen - a queen, inseminated instrumentally
or mated with a drone, which can lay fertilized eggs.
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| Field bees - worker bees at least three weeks old
that work in the field to collect nectar, pollen, water, and propolis.
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| Food chamber - a hive body filled with honey for
winter stores.
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| Foundation - a thin sheet either of plastic or beeswax, with the cell bases of worker cells embossed on both sides in the way as they are produced naturally by honeybees. Foundation is placed within a wooden frame before installing in the hive. If the foundation is plastic, it is normally sprayed with beeswax, as shown here, to induce the bees to build out the comb on the embossed cells. |
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| Frame - four pieces of wood designed to hold honey
comb, consisting of a top bar, a bottom bar, and two end bars.
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| Fructose - the predominant simple sugar found in
honey; also known as levulose.
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| G | ||
| Grafting - removing a worker larva from its cell and
placing it in an artificial queen cup in order to have it reared into a
queen.
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| Granulation - the formation of sugar (dextrose)
crystals in honey.
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| H | ||
| Hive - a man-made home for bees.
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| Hive body - a wooden box which encloses the frames.
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| Hive stand - a structure that supports the hive.
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| Hive tool - a metal device used to open hives, pry
frames apart, and scrape wax and propolis from the hive parts.
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| Honey - a sweet viscid material produced by bees from
the nectar of flowers, composed largely of a mixture of dextrose and
levulose dissolved in about 17 percent water; contains small amounts of
sucrose, mineral matter, vitamins, proteins, and enzymes.
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| Honey extractor - a machine which removes honey from
the cells of comb by centrifugal force.
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| Honey flow - a time when nectar is plentiful and bees
produce and store surplus honey.
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| Honey house - building used for extracting honey and
storing equipment.
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| Honey stomach - an organ in the abdomen of the honey
bee used for carrying nectar, honey, or water.
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| I | ||
| Increase- to add to the number of colonies, usually
by dividing those on hand.
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| Inner cover - a lightweight cover used under a
standard telescoping cover on a beehive.
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| Invertase - an enzyme produced by the honey bee which
helps to transform sucrose to dextrose and levulose.
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| L | ||
| Larva (plural, larvae) - the second stage of
bee metamorphosis; a white, legless, grublike insect.
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| Laying worker - a worker which lays infertile eggs,
producing only drones, usually in colonies that are hopelessly queenless.
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| Levulose - see "Fructose."
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| M | ||
| Mating flight - the flight taken by a virgin queen
while she mates in the air with several drones.
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| Mead - honey wine.
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| Migratory beekeeping - the moving of colonies of bees
from one locality to another during a single season to take advantage of two
or more honey flows.
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| N | ||
| Nectar - a sweet liquid secreted by the nectaries of
plants; the raw product of honey.
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| Nectaries - the organs of plants which secrete
nectar, located within the flower (floral nectaries) or on other portions of
the plant (extrafloral nectaries).
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| Nosema - a disease of the adult honey bee caused by
the protozoan Nosema apis.
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| Nucleus (plural, nuclei) - a small hive of bees,
usually covering from two to five frames of comb and used primarily for
starting new colonies, rearing or storing queens; also called "nuc."
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| Nurse bees - young bees, three to ten days old, which
feed and take care of developing brood.
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| O | ||
| Observation hive - a hive made largely of glass or
clear plastic to permit observation of bees at work.
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| Out-apiary - an apiary situated away from the home of
the beekeeper.
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| P | ||
| Package bees - a quantity of adult bees (2 to 5
pounds), with or without a queen, contained in a screened shipping cage.
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| Paralysis - a virus disease of adult bees which
affects their ability to use legs or wings normally.
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| Parthenogenesis - the development of young from
unfertilized eggs. In honey bees the un-fertilized eggs produce drones.
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| PDB (Paradichlorobenzene) - crystals used to fumigate
combs against wax moth.
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| Piping - a series of sounds made by a queen,
frequently before she emerges from her cell.
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| Play flight - short flight taken in front of or near
the hive to acquaint young bees with their immediate surroundings; sometimes
mistaken for robbing or preparation for swarming.
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| Pollen - the male reproductive cell bodies produced
by anthers of flowers, collected and used by honey bees as their source of
protein.
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| Pollen basket - a flattened depression surrounded by
curved spines or hairs, located on the outer surface of the bee's hind legs
and adapted for carrying pollen gathered from flowers or propolis to the
hive.
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| Pollen cakes - moist mixtures of either pollen
supplements or substitutes fed to the bees in early spring to stimulate
brood rearing.
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| Pollen insert - a device inserted in the entrance of
a colony into which hand-collected pollen is placed. As the bees leave the
hive and pass through the trap, some of the pollen adheres to their bodies
and is carried to the blossom, resulting in cross-pollination.
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| Pollen substitute - any material such as soybean
flour, powdered skim milk, brewer's yeast, or a mixture of these used in
place of pollen to stimulate brood rearing.
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| Pollen supplement - a mixture of pollen and pollen
substitutes used to stimulate brood rearing in periods of pollen shortage.
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| Pollen trap - a device for removing pollen loads from
the pollen baskets of incoming bees.
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| Pollination - the transfer of pollen from the anthers
to the stigma of flowers.
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| Pollinator - the agent that transfers pollen from an
anther to a stigma: bees, flies, beetles, etc.
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| Prime swarm - the first swarm to leave the parent
colony, usually with the old queen.
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| Proboscis - the mouthparts of the bee that form the
sucking tube or tongue.
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| Propolis - sap or resinous materials collected from
trees or plants by bees and used to strengthen the comb, close up cracks,
etc.; also called bee glue.
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| Pupa - the third stage in the development of the
honey bee, during which the organs of the larva are replaced by those that
will be used by an adult.
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| Q | ||
| Queen - a fully developed female bee, larger and
longer than a worker bee.
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| Queen cage - a small cage in which a queen and three
or four worker bees may be confined for shipping and/ or introduction into a
colony.
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| Queen cage candy - candy made by kneading powdered
sugar with invert sugar syrup until it forms a stiff dough; used as food in
queen cages.
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| Queen cell - a special elongated cell, resembling a
peanut shell, in which the queen is reared. It is usually an inch or more
long, has an inside diameter of about 1/3 inch, and hangs down from the comb
in a vertical position.
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| Queen clipping - removing a portion of one or both
front wings of a queen to prevent her from flying.
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| Queen cup - a cup-shaped cell made of beeswax or
plastic which hangs vertically in a hive and which may become a queen cell
if an egg or larva is placed in it and bees add wax to it.
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| Queen excluder - metal or plastic device with spaces
that permit the passage of workers but restrict the movement of drones and
queens to a specific part of the hive.
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| Queen substance - pheromone material secreted from
glands in the queen bee and transmitted throughout the colony by workers to
alert other workers of the queen's presence.
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| R | ||
| Rendering wax - the process of melting combs and
cappings and removing refuse from the wax.
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| Robbing - stealing of nectar, or honey, by bees from
other colonies.
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| Royal jelly - a highly nutritious glandular secretion
of young bees, used to feed the queen and young brood.
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| S | ||
| Sacbrood - a brood disease of honey bees caused by a
virus.
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| Scout bees - worker bees searching for a new source
of pollen, nectar, propolis, water, or a new home for a swarm of bees.
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| Sealed brood - see "Capped brood."
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| Self-pollination - the transfer of pollen from anther
to stigma of the same plant.
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| Skep - a beehive made of twisted straw without
movable frames.
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| Slatted rack - a wooden rack that fits between the
bottom board and hive body. Bees make better use of the lower brood chamber
with increased brood rearing, less comb gnawing, and less congestion at the
front entrance.
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| Smoker - a device in which burlap, wood shavings, or
other materials are slowly burned to produce smoke which is used to subdue
bees.
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| Solar wax extractor - a glass-covered insulated box
used to melt wax from combs and cappings by the heat of the sun.
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| Spermatheca - a special organ of the queen in which
the sperm of the drones is stored.
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| Spur embedder - a device used for mechanically
embedding wires into foundation by employing hand pressure.
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| Sting - the modified ovipositor of a worker honey bee
used as a weapon of offense.
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| Sucrose - principal sugar found in nectar.
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| Supersedure - a natural replacement of an established
queen by a daughter in the same hive. Shortly after the young queen
commences to lay eggs, the old queen disappears.
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| Surplus honey - honey removed from the hive which
exceeds that needed by bees for their own use.
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| Swarm - the aggregate of worker bees, drones, and
usually the old queen that leaves the parent colony to establish a new
colony.
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| Swarm cell - queen cells usually found on the bottom
of the combs before swarming.
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| T | ||
| Tested queen - a queen whose progeny shows she has
mated with a drone of her own race and has other qualities which would make
her a good colony mother.
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| Thin super foundation - a comb foundation used for
comb honey or chunk honey production which is thinner than that used for
brood rearing.
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| Transferring - the process of changing bees and combs
from common boxes to movable frame hives.
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| Travel stain - the dark discoloration on the surface
of comb honey left on the hive for some time, caused by bees tracking
propolis over the surface.
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| U | ||
| Uncapping knife - a knife used to shave or re move
the cappings from combs of sealed honey prior to extraction; usually heated
by steam or electricity.
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| Uniting - combining two or more colonies to form a
larger colony.
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| V | ||
| Venom allergy - a condition in which a person, when
stung, may experience a variety of symptoms ranging from a mild rash or
itchiness to anaphylactic shock. A person who is stung and experiences
abnormal symptoms should consult a physician before working bees again.
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| Virgin queen - an unmated queen.
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| W | ||
| Wax glands - the eight glands that secrete bees wax;
located in pairs on the last four visible ventral abdominal segments.
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| Wax moth - larvae of the moth Golleria mellonclia,
which seriously damage brood and empty combs.
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| Winter cluster - the arrangement of adult bees within
the hive during winter.
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| Worker bee - a female bee whose reproductive organs
are undeveloped. Worker bees do all the work in the colony except for laying
fertile eggs.
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| Worker comb - comb measuring about five cells to the
inch, in which workers are reared and honey and pollen are stored.
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| X | ||
| Z | ||