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  • Lending Library books
  • Check Out Page
  • 2023 IBA Bee School
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The IBA Dictionary of Beekeeping Terminology


Bee Vocabulary Project:

Here are 50 beekeeping words we think are important.

 1. Apiary: A place where bees are kept; a collection of beehives.

 2. Beehive: A man-made structure in which honeybees live and raise their young.

 3. Brood: The eggs, larvae, and pupae of bees developing in the hive.

 4. Brood Chamber: The part of the hive where the queen lays eggs and brood is raised.

 5. Drone: The male honeybee whose primary role is to mate with a queen.

 6. Worker Bee: A female bee that does not reproduce but performs various tasks for the hive, such as foraging and brood care.

 7. Queen: The sole egg-laying female in a hive, responsible for colony reproduction. The only fertile female in a hive.

 8. Comb: The wax structure made by bees, consisting of hexagonal cells used to store honey, pollen, and brood.

 9. Honey Super: A hive box placed above the brood chamber to collect surplus honey.

 10. Frame: A wooden or plastic structure that holds the comb within the hive and usually 8 or 10 in a conventional Langstroth style hive.

 11. Foundation: A pre-formed sheet of beeswax or plastic placed in frames to guide bees in building comb.

 12. Swarming: The natural process of colony reproduction where a new queen and a portion of the bees leave to form a new colony.

 13. Hive Tool: A tool used by beekeepers to open hives, scrape off excess wax, and manipulate frames.

 14. Smoker: A device that produces smoke to calm bees during hive inspections.

 15. Nectar: A sugary liquid secreted by flowers, collected by bees to make honey.

 16. Pollen: The male reproductive cells of flowers, collected by bees as a protein source.

 17. Propolis: A resinous substance collected by bees from tree buds, used to seal cracks and strengthen the hive.

 18. Royal Jelly: A special feed produced by worker bees, used to nourish larvae and queens.  It’s produced in their mandibular gland.

 19. Varroa Mite: A parasitic mite that carries viruses that infect honeybee colonies, causing death and disease.

 20. Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD): A phenomenon where worker bees disappear from the hive, leaving the queen and brood behind.

 21. Bee Space: The precise space (about 3/8 inch) that bees need to move freely between combs and structures. Larger and they wax it in; smaller and they propolis it in.

 22. Foraging: The act of bees collecting nectar, pollen, water, and propolis from the environment.

 23. Queen Excluder: A screen placed between the brood chamber and honey super, allowing workers but not the queen to pass through.

 24. Larva: The second stage of bee development, following the egg stage.

 25. Pupa: The stage of bee development where the larva transforms into an adult bee.

 26. Apis mellifera: The scientific name for the European honeybee.

 27. Drone Congregation Area (DCA): A specific area where drones gather to mate with queens.

 28. Guard Bee: A worker bee that defends the hive entrance from intruders.

 29. Nectar Flow or “the Flow”: A period when nectar is abundant, and bees are actively collecting nectar to make honey.

 30. Extracting: The process of removing honey from the comb, usually using a centrifugal extractor.

 31. Package Bees: A group of bees with a queen, sold to start a new colony.

 32. Nuc (Nucleus Colony): A small colony created from a larger one, used for starting new hives.

 33. Beeswax: A natural wax produced by bees, used to build comb.

 34. Foundationless: A beekeeping method where frames are used without pre-formed foundation, allowing bees to build natural comb.

 35. Open Mating: Natural mating of queen bees in DCA’s with drones from various colonies in the environment.

 36. Closed Mating: Controlled mating of queens with selected drones to ensure specific traits.

 37. Bearding: Bees clustering outside the hive entrance, usually due to high temperatures inside.  When this occurs there is usually brood loss from excess temperatures.

 38. Absconding: When an entire colony leaves the hive permanently.

 39. Queenright: A hive with a healthy, laying queen.

 40. Queenless: A hive without a queen.

 41. Swarm Trap: A device or box used to attract and capture swarming bees.

 42. Supersedure: The replacement of an old or failing queen by the bees.

 43. Capped Honey: Honey that has been sealed in the comb by bees with a wax cap.

 44. Grafting:  Utilizing a queenless colony to draw queen cells from young worker larva you have transferred into wax or plastic cups on a cell bar.

 45. Hive Stand: A structure that elevates the hive off the ground allowing some protection from moisture, ants and small mammals.

 46. Comb Honey: Honey sold in its original comb.

 47. Post-Solstice Queen:  A queen made after the summer solstice to improve the winter survival rate by having a young healthy prolific queen that will also have a lower tendency to swarm in the spring.

 48. Skeps: Traditional beehives made from straw or wicker.

 49. Waggle Dance: A behavior performed by forager bees to communicate the location of food sources.

 50. Requeening: The process of introducing a new queen to a hive for the purpose of improving genetics, replacing a failing queen, or preparing for winter with a post-solstice queen.

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 Illiana Beekeepers Alliance Inc - All Rights Reserved. 

The Illiana Beekeepers Alliance is an all inclusive and education based club focused on applying science, technology, and mentoring to create and maintain generations of innovative, knowledgeable beekeepers; making better beekeepers through mentor-ship to improve local bee stock.

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  • IBA HOME PAGE
  • Officers & Bylaws
  • Find a Mentor
  • Indiana Beekeeping Clubs
  • Plant Pollinator Gardens
  • Lending Library books
  • 2023 IBA Bee School
  • VARROA MITE MANAGEMENT
  • IBA Beekeeper Dictionary
  • Midwest Beekeeping School