Copy of `Beehives - Apiary terms`

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

Proboscis
the mouthparts of the bee that form the sucking tube or tongue.

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.

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.

Queen
a fully developed female bee, larger and longer than a worker bee.

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.

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.

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.

Queen clipping
removing a portion of one or both front wings of a queen to prevent her from flying.

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.

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.

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.

Rendering wax
the process of melting combs and cappings and removing refuse from the wax.

Robbing
stealing of nectar, or honey, by bees from other colonies.

Royal jelly
a highly nutritious glandular secretion of young bees, used to feed the queen and young brood.

Sacbrood
a brood disease of honey bees caused by a virus.

Scout bees
worker bees searching for a new source of pollen, nectar, propolis, water, or a new home for a swarm of bees.

Sealed brood
see "Capped brood."

Self-pollination
the transfer of pollen from anther to stigma of the same plant.

Skep
a beehive made of twisted straw without movable frames.

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.

Smoker
a device in which burlap, wood shavings, or other materials are slowly burned to produce smoke which is used to subdue bees.

Solar wax extractor
a glass-covered insulated box used to melt wax from combs and cappings by the heat of the sun.

Spermatheca
a special organ of the queen in which the sperm of the drones is stored.

Spur embedder
a device used for mechanically embedding wires into foundation by employing hand pressure.

Sting
the modified ovipositor of a worker honey bee used as a weapon of offense.

Sucrose
principal sugar found in nectar.

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.

Surplus honey
honey removed from the hive which exceeds that needed by bees for their own use.

Swarm
the aggregate of worker bees, drones, and usually the old queen that leaves the parent colony to establish a new colony.

Swarm cell
queen cells usually found on the bottom of the combs before swarming.

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.

Thin super foundation
a comb foundation used for comb honey or chunk honey production which is thinner than that used for brood rearing.

Transferring
the process of changing bees and combs from common boxes to movable frame hives.

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.

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.

Uniting
combining two or more colonies to form a larger colony.

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.

Virgin queen
an unmated queen.

Wax moth
larvae of the moth Golleria mellonclia, which seriously damage brood and empty combs.

Winter cluster
the arrangement of adult bees within the hive during winter.

Worker bee
a female bee whose reproductive organs are undeveloped. Worker bees do all the work in the colony except for laying fertile eggs.

Worker comb
comb measuring about five cells to the inch, in which workers are reared and honey and pollen are stored.