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Beehives - Apiary terms Category: Animals and Nature > Beekeeping and apiary Date & country: 27/02/2011, UK Words: 142

Abdomen
the posterior or third region of the body of a bee enclosing the honey stomach, true stomach, intestine, sting, and reproductive organs.

Absconding swarm
an entire colony of bees that abandons the hive because of disease, wax moth, or other maladies.

Alighting board
a small projection or platform at the entrance of the hive.

American foulbrood
a brood disease of honey bees caused by the spore-forming bacterium, Bacillus larvae.

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.

Apiary
colonies, hives, and other equipment assembled in one location for beekeeping operations; bee yard.

Apiculture
the science and art of raising honey bees.

Apis mellifera
scientific name of the honey bee found in the United States.

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.

Bee brush
a brush or whisk broom used to remove bees from combs.

Bee escape
a device used to remove bees from honey supers and buildings by permitting bees to pass one way but preventing their return.

Bee metamorphosis
the three stages through which a bee passes before reaching maturity: egg, larva, and pupa.

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.

Bee venom
the poison secreted by special glands attached to the stinger of the bee.

Beehive
a box or receptacle with movable frames, used for housing a colony of bees.

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.

Bottom board
the floor of a beehive.

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.

Brood
bees not yet emerged from their cells: eggs, larvae, and pupae.

Brood chamber
the part of the hive in which the brood is reared; may include one or more hive bodies and the combs within.

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.

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.

Castes
the three types of bees that comprise the adult population of a honey bee colony: workers, drones, and queen.

Cell
the hexagonal compartment of a honey comb.

Chilled brood
immature bees that have died from exposure to cold; commonly caused by mismanagement.

Chunk honey
honey cut from frames and placed in jars along with liquid honey.

Clarifying
removing visible foreign material from honey or wax to increase its purity.

Cluster
a large group of bees hanging together, one upon another.

Colony
the aggregate of worker bees, drones, queen, and developing brood living together as a family unit in a hive or other dwelling.

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.

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.

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.

Creamed honey
honey which has been allowed to crystallize, usually under controlled conditions, to produce a tiny crystal.

Cross-pollination
the transfer of pollen from an anther of one plant to the stigma of a different plant of the same species.

Crystallization
see "Granulation."

Cut-comb honey
comb honey cut into various sizes, the edges drained, and the pieces wrapped or packed individually.

Demaree
the method of swarm control that separates the queen from most of the brood within the same hive.

Dequeen
to remove a queen from a colony.

Dextrose
one of the two principal sugars found in honey; forms crystals during granulation. Also known as glucose.

Dividing
separating a colony to form two or more units.

Division board feeder
a wooden or plastic compartment which is hung in a hive like a frame and contains sugar syrup to feed bees.

Drawn combs
combs with cells built out by honey bees from a sheet of foundation.

Drone
the male honey bee.

Drone comb
comb measuring about four cells per linear inch that is used for drone rearing and honey storage.

Drone layer
an infertile or unmated laying queen.

Drumming
pounding on the sides of a hive to make the bees ascend into another hive placed over it.

Dwindling
the rapid dying off of old bees in the spring; sometimes called spring dwindling or disappearing disease.

Dysentery
an abnormal condition of adult bees characterized by severe diarrhea and usually caused by starvation, low-quality food, moist surroundings, or nosema infection.

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.

European foulbrood
an infectious brood disease of honey bees caused by streptococcus.

Extracted honey
honey removed from the comb by centrifugal force.

Fermentation
a chemical breakdown of honey, caused by sugar-tolerant yeast and associated with honey having a high moisture content.

Fertile queen
a queen, inseminated instrumentally or mated with a drone, which can lay fertilized eggs.

Field bees
worker bees at least three weeks old that work in the field to collect nectar, pollen, water, and propolis.

Food chamber
a hive body filled with honey for winter stores.

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.

Frame
four pieces of wood designed to hold honey comb, consisting of a top bar, a bottom bar, and two end bars.

Fructose
the predominant simple sugar found in honey; also known as levulose.

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.

Granulation
the formation of sugar (dextrose) crystals in honey.

Hive
a man-made home for bees.

Hive body
a wooden box which encloses the frames.

Hive stand
a structure that supports the hive.

Hive tool
a metal device used to open hives, pry frames apart, and scrape wax and propolis from the hive parts.

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.

Honey extractor
a machine which removes honey from the cells of comb by centrifugal force.

Honey flow
a time when nectar is plentiful and bees produce and store surplus honey.

Honey house
building used for extracting honey and storing equipment.

Honey stomach
an organ in the abdomen of the honey bee used for carrying nectar, honey, or water.

Inner cover
a lightweight cover used under a standard telescoping cover on a beehive.

Invertase
an enzyme produced by the honey bee which helps to transform sucrose to dextrose and levulose.

Larva (plural, larvae)
the second stage of bee metamorphosis; a white, legless, grublike insect.

Laying worker
a worker which lays infertile eggs, producing only drones, usually in colonies that are hopelessly queenless.

Levulose
see "Fructose."

Mating flight
the flight taken by a virgin queen while she mates in the air with several drones.

Mead
honey wine.

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.

Nectar
a sweet liquid secreted by the nectaries of plants; the raw product of honey.

Nectaries
the organs of plants which secrete nectar, located within the flower (floral nectaries) or on other portions of the plant (extrafloral nectaries).

Nosema
a disease of the adult honey bee caused by the protozoan Nosema apis.

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."

Nurse bees
young bees, three to ten days old, which feed and take care of developing brood.

Observation hive
a hive made largely of glass or clear plastic to permit observation of bees at work.

Out-apiary
an apiary situated away from the home of the beekeeper.

Package bees
a quantity of adult bees (2 to 5 pounds), with or without a queen, contained in a screened shipping cage.

Paralysis
a virus disease of adult bees which affects their ability to use legs or wings normally.

Parthenogenesis
the development of young from unfertilized eggs. In honey bees the un-fertilized eggs produce drones.

PDB (Paradichlorobenzene)
crystals used to fumigate combs against wax moth.

Piping
a series of sounds made by a queen, frequently before she emerges from her cell.

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.

Pollen
the male reproductive cell bodies produced by anthers of flowers, collected and used by honey bees as their source of protein.

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.

Pollen cakes
moist mixtures of either pollen supplements or substitutes fed to the bees in early spring to stimulate brood rearing.

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.

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.

Pollen supplement
a mixture of pollen and pollen substitutes used to stimulate brood rearing in periods of pollen shortage.

Pollen trap
a device for removing pollen loads from the pollen baskets of incoming bees.

Pollination
the transfer of pollen from the anthers to the stigma of flowers.

Pollinator
the agent that transfers pollen from an anther to a stigma: bees, flies, beetles, etc.

Prime swarm
the first swarm to leave the parent colony, usually with the old queen.