Whether or not you’re an skilled beekeeper or simply beginning out, working out the which means of more than a few beekeeping phrases is vital to good fortune. Holding bees isn’t just about common hive duties – you wish to have to attempt to grasp bee lifestyles and behaviors. Your find out about or sharing of knowledge with different beekeepers can be extra productive if you recognize the correct bee phrases to make use of.
One difficult side for newbie beekeepers is finding out the names and purposes of such a lot of issues. With out an right kind working out of phrases related to beekeeping, it’s tricky to observe excellent hive control.
Table of Contents
ToggleBeekeeping Terminology is No longer All the time Transparent
Whilst first 12 months beekeepers have probably the most to be informed in connection with beekeeping terminology, any folks can in finding ourselves somewhat perplexed.
One of the crucial trade phrases used within the beekeeping are somewhat regional. And, our pronunciation can range an excellent deal too.
Most likely, that doesn’t truly subject except you’re giving a proper presentation – however it’s nonetheless excellent to get it proper.
Alphabetical Record of Beekeeping Phrases
This listing is a information to most of the maximum frequently used phrases related to beekeeping. It must can help you acquire some readability and self belief when discussing your bees with others.
- Africanized Honey Bees – Africanized Honey Bees (AHB) are a hybrid created when queens of Apis mellifera scutellata escaped a analysis challenge and crossed with current Ecu Honey Bees. Just like our common honeybees in lots of regards – they’re a lot more defensive and will pose a danger to public protection.
- Absconding (Abscond) – When all the colony leaves their hive (leaving no functioning circle of relatives at the back of) this is named an abscond. There are a number of causes bees might abscond from the hive. Illness, pest infestations and loyal disruptions are a number of the maximum not unusual causes.
- Alarm Pheromones – The honey bee alarm pheromone (iso-pentyl acetate) is launched by means of guard bees when the hive is underneath assault. With the smell of bananas, this chemical messenger calls the troops to protect the hive.
- American Foulbrood (AFB) – American Foulbrood is a spore forming bacterial illness of bee brood. It’s extremely contagious and the spores can stay on apparatus for greater than 50 years. In some areas, hives with AFB should be destroyed by means of regulation.
- Apiary – An apiary is a location the place honey bees are saved. Apiaries are available in all sizes from a few hives within the yard to business apiaries with hundreds of colonies. Sure, although you’ve got handiest 2 hives – this is your apiary.
- Attendants (Queen’s Attendants) – The time period attendants in most cases refers to bees that maintain the queen bee. Within the hive, the attendants shape the queen’s retinue. When a beekeeper buys a queen in a cage, she usually has a couple of attendants within to maintain her.
- Balling the Queen – When bees shape a ball across the queen bee, this is named “balling the queen”. This may occur if a brand new queen is launched within the hive too quickly and lead to her loss of life. However, it does no longer all the time lead to loss of life, bees can enclose their queen in a ball to give protection to her.
- Bait Hive – A bait hive is a field or construction this is positioned in a location in hopes of catching a bee swarm. The beekeeper might construct a easy field to function a bait hive or an previous hive field with a small piece of previous comb to trap within the swarm.
- Bearding Bees – Bearding refers to a mass of bees that accumulates at the entrance of the hive on heat, humid days. Bee bearding maximum continuously takes position within the Summer season and is an try to cool this colony. It’s not essentially an indication of swarm arrangements.
- Bee Bread – Bee bread is the beekeeping time period given to bee pollen this is saved within the hive. Contemporary pollen is tricky to digest and spoils simply. When it’s transformed to bee bread during the addition of enzyme wealthy bee saliva, it turns into a nutritious protein supply appropriate for garage.
- Bee Area – Bee house is the volume of house that bees usually stay between their comb- ¼”-3/8”. A smaller house might be full of propolis and a big house in most cases full of comb.
- Brood – Bee brood refers to growing bees within the colony. Eggs, larvae and pupa are all thought to be brood. Open or “milk brood” are bees within the larval level. As soon as the larval level ends, the cells are closed with a wax most sensible changing into “capped brood”.
- Brood Nest – The brood nest is the a part of the hive the place younger bees are being reared. It’s continuously positioned within the backside field of the hive referred to as the brood chamber. Alternatively, the brood nest can trade location all the way through the 12 months.
- Brood Trend – The brood development refers to manner brood is specified by the brush. Total, brood of the similar age are positioned shut in combination. Eggs are close to eggs, larva close to larva and the similar for capped brood. A tight brood development has few empty cells in and a number of the brood.
- Burr Comb – Burr or Brace comb are bits of comb that bees construct to fill in any empty areas. Every now and then those bits of comb attach 2 adjoining frames of comb. Burr comb may also be discovered anyplace within the hive the place the bee house measurements are off.
- Cappings Wax – Cappings wax discuss with wax this is used to hide complete cells of honey. When honey is harvested, the cappings are got rid of to permit liquid honey to float out. Cappings wax is one of the crucial absolute best high quality wax and is extremely prized.
- Cleaning Flights – Wholesome honey bees poop outdoor the hive – no longer within. On heat days, the bees fly outdoor the hive close to the doorway to expel wastes. If there’s snow at the floor, don’t be alarmed by means of the presence of a large number of yellow spots close to the hive.
- Cluster (The Bee Cluster) – In a cluster, bees hold in combination in a mass. A swarm of bees will cluster in a close-by tree or bush when first leaving the hive and prior to going to their new house. The Wintry weather bee cluster lets in the colony to preserve and generate warmth.
- Comb (Honeycomb) – Comb refers to a work (or sheets) of beeswax built by means of honey bees to carry retailer meals or rear younger. Those wax sheets have hundreds of particular person cells.
- Drawn Comb – Drawn comb is the beekeeping time period used to discuss with a hive body that is full of completed beeswax comb. It must be whole with the entire wax cells completed and able to be used.
The time period is continuously perplexed with (Drone Comb). Drones are male bees. An excellent instance of beekeeping terminology confusion because of pronunciation. - Drifting – Bees positioned in an apiary can grow to be perplexed and move into the incorrect hive. This is named drifting. Beekeepers continuously attempt to scale back drifting by means of adorning beehives with designs or other colours at the entrance of the hive.
- Drone Bee – A male honey bee develops from an unfertilized egg and is named a drone bee. Drones are haploid containing handiest part the chromosomes in their sisters. They serve no recognized goal within the hive instead of copy.
- Drone Brood – Cells that comprise growing drone or male honey bees are referred to as drone brood cells. Higher than employee bees, drone brood protrudes from the skin of the brush – giving it a function bullet form.
- Ecu Foulbrood (EFB) – Ecu Foulbrood is a bacterial illness brought about by means of Melissococcus plutonius. Whilst it might injury colonies, it isn’t as virulent as American Foulbrood. Gentle infestations continuously blank up on their very own with higher foraging stipulations.
- Festooning – When younger grownup bees which might be engorged with honey dangle in chains from the highest of a sheet of comb, this is named festooning bees. It’s believed the bees are enthusiastic about comb construction and imaginable different actions.
- Foragers – Foraging bees are the sector bees. The ones older staff bees that depart the hive every day on the lookout for assets wanted by means of the colony.
- Basis – Sheets of basis are inserted into frames that are compatible within the hive containers. Embossed cells at the floor of basis guides comb construction. Basis could also be beeswax or plastic and each can paintings neatly within the hive.
- Honey Drift – The honey float is the time of 12 months when abundant nectar is to be had to your area. That is when bees are ready to make honey for themselves and the beekeeper. Some spaces have more than one honey flows in a 12 months and others might handiest have 1.
- Honey Area – A honey space is a construction or room used to procedure harvested honey. Within the honey extracting and bottling of the crop takes position. In some states, a honey space should be inspected by means of the dep. of agriculture.
- Laying Staff – Laying staff in a hive isn’t a state of affairs preferred by means of beekeepers. Employee bees aren’t able to mating so they may be able to no longer lay fertilized eggs. Alternatively, in scenarios the place a colony has been and not using a queen bee or brood for an extended while-workers might start to lay eggs that can be drones.
- Nurse Bees – Nurse bees are younger staff that feed and maintain growing brood. They’re in most cases between 5 and 10 days previous however this will range. After serving as nurse bees for a couple of weeks, they’re going to move directly to do different tasks for the colony.
- Pheromones – Pheromones are exterior chemical compounds that bees unlock to keep up a correspondence with different individuals in their species. This permits guard bees to acknowledge returning individuals in their hive.
- Propolis – Propolis, also referred to as bee-glue, is a sticky resinous substance that bees accumulate from bushes and vegetation. It’s amassed and glued onto the pollen baskets of employee bees – similar to pollen. Beekeepers infrequently accumulate bee propolis and promote it.
- Queen Bee – The queen honey bee is a mated feminine bee that lays eggs for the colony. Along with laying as much as 1000 eggs an afternoon within the heat season, she produces queen pheromones that stabilize the colony.
- Queen Mobile – A queen cellular is a big peanut-shaped cellular that protrudes from the brush vertically. Within is a growing queen and quite a lot of meals for her. The queen bee develops from an egg in 16 days and emerges from the ground of the queen cellular.
- Queen Cups – A queen cup is a small acorn fashioned wax cup. It is going to or would possibly not ever be evolved into a typical queen cellular. Some colonies stay a couple of queen cups in position thru out the season.
There appears to be a genetic hyperlink to what number of cups are in a hive. As soon as the queen lays an egg within the cup – this can be a “charged queen cup” and has now grow to be an legit queen cellular.
- Queenright Colony – A colony this is queenright has a laying queen generating fertilized and non fertilized eggs. Whether or not she is the most efficient queen on the earth or no longer, she is generating a minimum of some employee brood and appears to be in excellent well being.
- Robbing – Honey bee robbing habits is when bees from one colony thieve honey from every other. That is in most cases a powerful colony with a big inhabitants that overwhelms a small colony. Robbing can proceed for days till the smaller colony is lifeless.
- Skeps – Skeps are hives which might be dome-shaped and have been conventional constructed from twisted straw. Their use is discouraged or even unlawful in some areas. It is because they don’t comprise detachable frames that makes hive inspections imaginable.
Even though they will not be sensible in fashionable beekeeping they’re the icon illustration of bees and a few folks revel in making mini beehive skep craft replicas.
- Small Hive Beetles – Small Hive Beetles are a significant pest of honey bee colonies specifically within the hotter areas of the United States. Local to tropical areas of Africa, SHB have been came upon in the United States in 1998. Southern beekeepers should track beetle ranges in moderation of their colonies.
- Supering – Supering refers to hanging supers or bee containers at the hive in anticipation of a honey crop. The verdict of when so as to add a honey tremendous depends upon native elements and the situation of the hive.
- Varroa Mites – Varroa mites are exterior pests of honey bees. The small reddish mite is visual to the bare eye. Feeding on adults and brood, varroa mites weaken colonies and unfold illnesses. If wanted, beekeepers use more than a few varroa mite therapies to stay them in take a look at.
- Washboarding – Washboarding honey bees is an job that continues to puzzle beekeepers. Bees acquire outdoor at the entrance of the hive and sway out and again. We in reality don’t know why it occurs. However, it’s maximum not unusual in past due afternoons all through a time of nectar shortage.
- Wax Moths – An opportunist pest of honey bees grownup wax moths input the hive to put eggs at the comb. Grownup moths do no injury within the hive. Alternatively, the moth larvae tunnel thru comb leaving at the back of webbing and feces.
- Employee Bee – Lots of the bees in a colony are feminine employee bees. They broaden from fertilized eggs which might be laid by means of a mated queen. The employee bee does the entire duties that make hive lifestyles imaginable.
- Zombie Bees – The time period zombie bees refers to honey bees which might be serving as a number to a parasitic fly. The Apocephalos borealis fly, lays eggs within the bee’s body-killing the honey bee and inflicting erratic habits prior to loss of life.
Ultimate Ideas
With observe and enjoy, beekeeping phrases do grow to be more straightforward to grasp. And critically, the bees don’t care should you spell or pronounce them precisely proper.
The vital factor is to grasp what they imply so you’ll be able to learn or communicate to different beekeepers (like your native beekeeping associations)and get excellent recommendation when you wish to have lend a hand together with your hive.