Bees and Beekeeping Glossary

A Bee and Beekeeping Glossary- Stretched to fit the Alphabet

Bee Facts

Each cell in a honeycomb slopes slightly upward, to prevent the developing larvae from slipping out.

Even after cleaning herself, over 10,000 grains of pollen may remain on a bee after pollen collecting.


Pick a letter to find one or more words related to bees and beekeeping that start with that letter.

ABC DEF GHI JKL MNO PQR STU VWX YZ

A

Abscond - When bees leave a hive, usually occurs in spring when populations have increased. The queen and a group of workers will leave, sending scouts ahead to locate a new nest area.

Apiary - A place where bees are kept.

B

Bee Space - The preferred distance between frames in a hive. Approximately 3/8ths of an inch. If frames are too far apart, bees will build burr comb between the frames.

Brood - The offspring of a queen which include all the larvae and developing bees of different ages.

Burr Comb - Comb built at odd angles or affixed to sides or the top of a hive box.

C

Caucasian - A strain of honeybee.

Comb - Wax built into hexagonal cells used for rearing brood, and storage of pollen, nectar and honey.

D

Drone - A male bee. Drones are required for a single mating with the queen. They are allowed in hives but usually thrown out in the fall.

E

Extractor - Used to separate honey from comb. Commonly a centrifuge which holds frames upright; the honey is "spun" out and the comb reused.

F

Foul Brood - A severe bacterial disease of honeybees which is transmitted by spores which can remain dormant on beekeeping equipment.

G

Guard Bees - Hive bees around the age of three weeks become guards and watch the hive entrance only letting in bees that are part of the colony.

Galardia - Scientific name for Indian Blanket, a source of pollen and nectar for bees .

H

Hexagonal - Six-sided, the shape of cells in honeycomb.

Hive - A Langstroth or "Top-Bar" box in which bees establish a colony.

Honeyflow - The peak of honey production, dependant on weather and food availability.

I

Instar - The developmental stages of a bee larva.

Italian Bee - A strain of gentle honeybees.

J

Japanese Honeybees - This strain of honeybee defends a hive against wasps by forming a ball around the invader and raising the internal temperature of the ball to a level that is lethal to the wasp.

K

Killer-bee - The inaccurate name associated with Africanized Honeybees.

L

Langstroth - The movable frame hive box developed by Lorenzo Langstroth, born in Philadelphia in 1810. Langstroth also discovered "bee-space".

Larvae - Baby bees; the developmental stages of a bee from egg to pupae (cocoon).

M

Moisture Level - A major difference between nectar (20% to 40% water) and honey (less than 18% water).

N

Nectar - Sugar solution provided by plants and collected by bees.

Nosema Disease - A honeybee disease caused by a protozoan.

Nurse Bee - A bee at the life stage where she feeds and cares for developing bee larvae.

O

Observation Hive - An upright glass covered hive usually composed of three frames.

P

Pollen - The male reproductive cells of a plant, which provide proteins and nutrients for bees.

Propolis - A sticky plant compound collected by bees and used as a sealant in the hive.

Q

Queen Bee - The mother of all bees in a colony.

Queen Substance - A pheromone (chemical scent) secreted by the queen which is responsible for the social cohesion of a hive. The removal of the queen and her scent is detected by hive residents within 30 minutes.

Queen Right - A colony with a healthy queen in residence. Lack of a queen will cause workers to rear a new queen from a larva of three days old or less.

R

Re-Queen - The practice of replacing the queen in a beehive every year.

Robber Bees - Bees which sneak into weak or dying hives to steal honey or wax.

Royal Jelly - A rich nutritive substance fed to the Queen or to a bee less than three days old which will result in it developing into a queen, if the queen has been lost from a colony.

S

Solitary Bees - Bees which do not live in groups. There are 200 species of bee in Central Texas and most are solitary bees.

Sting - An inevitable consequence of beekeeping.

Super - A segment of a Langstroth Hive, a box.

T

Tracheal Mite - A mite which causes weakness or death in infected honeybees.

U

Uncapping - The removal of the wax cover of honey cells prior to extraction.

V

Varroa Mite - An external mite which causes weakness or death in infected bees.

W

Worker - Most of the bees in a hive, they're all females except for drones.

Wax - Produced by wax glands on the "belly" of a bee and used to construct the combs of a beehive.

Wax Moth - A horrible pest of weak hives or stored hive boxes. Very destructive.

X

Xylem - Water conducting vessels of plants, needed for plants to produce nectar for bees.

Y

Yellow-Jacket - A "wanna-bee", this yellow and black stinging insect is sometimes mistaken for a honeybee.

Z

Zea mays - The scientific name for corn, a plant which does not require bee pollination.

Compiled by Carol K. Malcolm February 1997
Back to the Education   page, or
last modified 26 April 1998