Dictionary

American foulbrood	A major bee disease. It was the bane of beekeepers and resulted in the establishment of inspection of bees in all states. It is characterized by dying larva that look like sticky goo of a coffee color and give off an offensive odor.
*Apis mellifera*	A social bee which is native to Africa, Europe, West Asia and has been introduced to North and South America, Australia, New Zealand and many countries in Central and East Asia. The genus, Apis, includes five species of honey bees. A. mellifera is the common or commonly called "European honey bee."
Apiary	A collection of colonies of bees; a yard where bees are kept.
Apiculture	The culture of bees -- Beekeeping
Apistan	A approved treatment for varroa mite infestation. Provided in strips which are placed into the brood chamber.
Balling a queen	A behavior of honey bees to form a dense cluster around a queen especially a strange queen. This ball can be an inch or more in diameter and in many cases the queen is killed.
Bee bread	The pollen of flowers gathered by bees mixed with a little honey and fed to larva.
Bee Go	A product sold to drive bees from honey supers. It is used with a fume board. Bad smelling stuff. It is not shipped by many bee supply dealers. Bees don't like it either.
Bee space	First noted by L.L. Langstroth and created a revolution in how bee equipment would be manufactured. This is the space between comb and parts of the bee hive that allow a bee to pass through. It is measured as 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch and if less room than that exist the bees will propolize the space and if greater than that the bees will build comb into the space.
Brace comb	A bit of comb built between two adjacent combs or frames to fasten them together. Sometimes this is referred to as Burr comb.
Breeder queen	Raising queen honey bees is a very specialized skill. However, all the effort to raise new queens is no good without using outstanding mother queens that display the characteristics that are considered good. A breeder queen is a selected queen based upon the good characteristics that she has been able to demonstrate to the queen breeder. The cost of a good breeder queen can run into the many hundred dollar range.
Brood	Young bees in the larval and pupa state which have not yet emerged from their cells.
Brood chamber Brood nest	That part of a hive where brood is being raised.
Capped brood	Brood sealed over by the bees -- this occurs in 8 to 9 days after the egg is laid.
Carniolan bees	A popular bee among many beekeepers. It is black or nearly black, gentle, over winters well with small clusters, a good honey producer, but has a tendency to swarm excessively.
Caucasian bee	A gentle race of black bees. Not as available or popular as other breeds. They are gentle but are inclined to swarm and propolize excessively.
Cell cup	It is the base of a queen cell that one often sees on the face of comb where a queen cell had existed at one time. Queen breeders also refer to the artificial wax or plastic cups they use to graft larva into as cell cups.
Cleansing flight	During the winter when temperatures reach a level at which the bees can fly from the hive, the bees will fly from the hive and void their feces in the air. This is characterized by splotches of what looks like tobacco spit on snow.
Colony	A social group of bees having a queen, worker bees and some drones which live in a dwelling such as a hive or tree and are perennial inhabitants of that dwelling.
Comb foundation	Thin sheets of wax stamped to imitate a natural comb to serve as a base for the bees to build new comb.
Comb honey	A product of the bee hive. All honey is stored in comb but most honey sold is extracted (removed from the comb). Comb honey is capped honey in wax comb that is marketed in a number of ways. Remarkable to me is the fact that many people no longer know what comb honey is!
CheckMite+	Not approved for use in all states. It is an organic phosphate strip used in the brood chamber to treat for varroa mites.
*Diptera*	a genus which includes flies.
Dividing Division	A term used to describing making two or more hives from one hive of bees. It is usually referred to as splitting a hive.
Drifting	Some bees return to the wrong hive and because they are carrying nectar are admitted to the wrong hive. This occurs usually when several hives are located in straight rows close together.
Drone Drone comb	The male honey bee Cells built in comb which are larger than worker cells. Drone cells will equal 4 to the inch while worker cells will equal 5 to the inch. Bees build drone cells in voids in the comb.
Entrance reducer	Any device used to reduce the entrance to the hive.
Enzymes	These are produced by the honey bees glands. Secretions of enzymes break down complex sugars into simple sugars.
European foulbrood	Not to be confused with American foulbrood. This disease is less serious. It affects only the larvae of the honey bee and cells are not capped over. Dead larva do not have a coffee color. The dead larva are usually yellow or tan colored.
Escape board	A number of devices are called escape board. The major purpose of an escape board is to allow bees to leave a honey super but not return. Used to remove bees from honey supers.
Extracting Extractor	Extracting honey is removing honey from comb by using an extractor. An extractor is a machine used to remove honey from comb. It operates by centrifugal force. There are different kinds of extractors but they all use the centrifugal force principle.
Fermentation	The process of breaking down sugars into alcohol. It is the bane of honey producers who have high moisture content in their honey. It is good for those who want to make honey wine.
Flight Flight path	Bees fly when the weather temperature is above 55 degrees. However, windy or rainy weather will reduce bee flight days. This is the path to and from a hive. Generally bees will fly straight toward the nectar/pollen plants. They leave the hive on a path roughly at 15 to 45 degrees from the entrance.
Foulbrood	See American and European foulbrood above.
Foundation	A base for the bees to build comb. The beekeeper can choose several different materials for foundation in frames. These include: all wax, plastic bonded (Duragilt), or plastic with either no wax coating or with wax coating.
Fume board	A lid called a board which sits on the upper honey super. It has a rim to keep the material next to the cover from touching any honey. A bee repellent such as Bee Go or Honey Robber are sprinkled on the cloth and then the honey board is put on the honey super. Bees get out fast in warm weather.
Fumidil	An antibiotic used to eliminate Nosema disease. Used in the spring and fall with over-wintered colonies mixed with syrup fed to the bees.
Grafting	A term used to describe the process of removing a young larva from its cell and placing it into a queen cell cup for the purpose of raising queens.
Hive Staples	A staple sold for the purpose of fastening hive bodies together or to the bottom board. They are 2" x 3/4" in size. About 250 per pound.
Honey	Honey is a wholesome natural sweetener. It is produced from nectar.
Honeydew	A honey made from a sweet liquid excreted by aphids and other insects. Honeydew can properly be referred to as an excrement collected by the honey bees. Not considered a good honey but I have found some who desire it.
Honey Harvest/Honey flow	The time when bees are collecting more honey than the requirement for their daily needs.
*Hymenoptera*	A family of insects which include: bees, ants, wasp. They have four wings.
Increase	The act of increasing the number of hives one owns. This is done by: division, purchasing new hives, starting new hives with packages or nuc's.
Italian bees	The most common race of bees found in the United States. This bee is golden brown in color. Many strains (named varieties) can be purchased. Mostly just known as Italian. It builds up large populations of bees, gathers very good honey crops, is gentle to work with, and not as likely to swarm as carniolan bees.
Larvae	The second stage of a young bees development. This is the worm stage in which the very young larvae grow very rapidly and are fed with copious amounts of royal jelly and bee bread.
*Lepidoptera*	A genus which includes butterflies.
Lining	A term not used much any more. It involved bee lining or finding a bee line. If one finds bees flying back to their nest, it is rather easy to follow them to the nest site. In days of old, it was common for a person to locate a bee tree and harvest the honey or bees from it.
Metamorphosis	The developing process of a honey bee. Honey bees go through a complete metamorphosis. That is they go through four stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult development.
Migratory beekeeping	Moving bees for honey crops or pollination. Many commercial beekeepers move bees on a regular business to increase income from the bees. They are called migratory beekeepers.
Mites	Tracheal mites -- Introduced in the mid 80's to the U.S. Probably were here prior to that. They caused the famous Isle of Wight disease. They live in the trachea of the honey bee and cause weakness leading to death. Varroa mites -- Also introduced in the mid 80's to the U.S. They live on the external skeleton of the honey bee. They are parasites which feed on developing larvae and emerge from the cell with the new adult bee. They are very destructive to a hive.
nectar	A sugar sweet liquid secreted by the nectaries of certain plants and collected by bees to make honey. A liquid with some sugar content produced by various plants.
nectaries	plant cells that produce nectar.
Nucs	A small hive of bees usually have 3 to 5 frames. Pronounced: Nuke. Used to start new hives and also used by queen breeders to raise new queens. Also called Nucleus or Nuclei
Observation hive	Any hive built to allow a person to see what happens inside the hive through a viewing window. Many are of just one frame and do not survive the winter season.
Ocelli	Three individual eyes located on the top of a honey bees head forming a triangle.
Out apiary / out yard	Many beekeepers will keep bees at another location than their home. This is called an out apiary while bees at home are called the home apiary.
*ommatidia*	Facets in the eye of a honey bee.
Oxytetracycline	An antibiotic sold under the name Terramycin to control both American and European foulbrood. It is also used by many livestock producers. It is available at almost all farm stores.
Package bees	A screen cage with from 2 to 5 pounds of honey bees with a queen. A temporary shipping cage with bees. Bees will not survive after the sugar syrup is exhausted by the bees unless moved to a hive before that happens.
Parthenogenesis	An egg laid by a female that has not been fertilized by a male. It results in a haploid individual (a male). Male honey bees have no father! They do however have a grandfather.
Paradichlorobenzene	A chemical used to control wax moths.
Pheromone	A substance given off by insects -- secreted by glands -- that cause members of that species to react in a definite way. Honey bees respond to pheromones from various glands.
Piping	A noise produced by a queen. This is heard mostly in a hive with a number of young virgin queens.
Poison sac	Contains the venom which is injected by the sting.
pollen	Made up of many pollen grains which are male gametophytes.
Pollen Supplement pollen substitute	A mixture of natural pollen and material such as brewers' yeast, powdered milk, or soy flour -- used to stimulate brood production. Pollen substitute lacks the natural pollen. Thus provides only a portion of the nutrients honeybees need to produce larval food. Also used to stimulate brood production
proboscis	A complicated structure used by the honey bee to take up liquids such as nectar, water, and honey. Also used for food exchange between bees.
*propolis*	*Often called bee glue* It is a resinous substance generally brown in color gathered by bees from trees. It is used by the bees to seal up cracks and holes in the hive. They also enclose or encapsulate things that bother them such as menthol bags placed by the beekeeper inside the hive. It is sticky in warm weather and brittle in cold weather.
Queenless	A hive without a queen.
Queenright	A hive with a queen.
Queen Excluder	A device with openings for honey bees to pass through but with narrow openings to keep queens and drones out. Excluders are made of both wood and or metal. To use them depends on the beekeepers management techniques.
Queen introduction	The act by the beekeeper of installing a new queen into a hive of bees. If the old queen is not first found and killed or removed from the hive, the bees will most likely kill the new queen. A cage protecting the new queen is used in this process.
Quilt	Not many beekeepers use a quilt in today's modern methods but it serves a useful purpose of providing a thin cushion over the frames to retain warmth for the bees below. It is also porous and breaths out moisture.
Rabbet	Often called a frame rest. This is cut into the top inside edge of the hive ends and forms a recessed ridge for the frames to rest on.
Raw honey	Pure natural honey that has not processed by heating.
Refractometer	An instrument used to determine the amount of moisture in a substance. It determines accurately the moisture content of honey.
Requeening	Replacing an old queen in a hive with a new queen. See queen introduction above.
Reversing	This method of beekeeping is removing the bottom board from a hive of bees both in the spring and the fall of the year and turning it over. Deep side for winter, shallow side for summer. It was a good time to clean the bottom board of debris.
Robbing	Honey bees take advantage of weak hives by entering hives that can not defend themselves and steal their honey. Careless beekeeping practices can also lead to robbing.
Royal Jelly	A milky food secreted by the pharyngeal glands of nurse bees to feed young larvae.
Screened bottom board	This is a bottom board with an opening in the center covered by a wire screen. It can be designed in several different ways. Some will have sliding debris tray under the wire to remove debris and check for varroa mite fall. The screen remains in place the year round and the tray is used to keep air from blowing into the hive from below.
Section Section holder	For the beekeeper producing comb honey, one of the choices of equipment is the section honey super with section holders and section boxes. The sections are basswood boxes usually 4 1/4" x 4 1/4" and a comb honey super will hold 28 of these sections. The individual sections rest on a section holder which is required to hold the individual boxes in the super.
Skep	A hive which is dome shaped and often seen in photographs depicting bees. It was traditionally made from reeds or straw. It did not have moveable frames and thus, is illegal to use in many states as a bee hive. They are often used for decoration.
Slumgum	This is a material that is left behind when processing wax. It is made up of cocoons, pollen, and other waste products of the hive. Generally it is dark brown/black. It does still contain some wax and burns readily.
Supersedure	On certain occasions a hive of bees will attempt to replace their queen. It may be possible to find two queen in a hive that has begun to supersede it's queen. The young queen will replace the old queen and there is no danger to the young queen from the older queen. Supercedure cells are usually located near the middle of the comb rather than at the bottom and are few in number.
Swarming	It is normal for bees to swarm! The process is called swarming. A prime swarm is a large swarm containing the old queen and about 1/2 of the bees from the mother colony. It is possible for a hive to cast off several swarms -- the later swarm/swarms will contain young virgin queens. These swarms are usually not much larger than a grapefruit.
Swarming season	Honey bees swarm naturally in the spring of the year. The month will depend upon seasonal weather -- earlier in the South and Southwest, and later in the North and Northwest. Swarms issue (leave the hive) about the time you see apple blossoms and dandelions. They can continue into the summer months but this is characterized by crowded hive conditions.
Terramycin	An antibiotic sold under the name Terramycin to control both American and European foulbrood. It is also used by many livestock producers. It is available at almost all farm stores.
Tested queen	When buying queens you should expect all queens to be laying eggs. By tested, the person selling the queen is saying that this particular queen has been observed and is laying well. The cost of a tested queen is much higher than an untested queen but that doesn't necessarily mean that the tested queen will be better. It only means that this queen is certified by the producer to do a good job for you. It is not to be confused with the term "breeder queen".
Travel stain	This is caused by bees crossing/walking on the surface of newly capped honey comb. The best comb honey is lacking the yellowing and darkened appearance on the surface of the honey cappings. Good comb honey has pure white cappings and no travel stain. It is caused by leaving the honey on the hive for too long a period.
Uncapping	Before honey can be removed from honey comb, it must be uncapped. Usually an uncapping knife is used for this but other methods used are uncapping planes, chain uncappers in commercial operations, capping scratchers, and other devices.
Varroa	An external mite on the honey bee. Formerly known as Varroa jacobsoni it is now officially known as Varroa destructor. It is treated by using various products such as: Apistan strips, checkMite+, and other methods.
Wintering	The process of getting bees through the winter alive. Management for good wintering begins in the early fall. I would include making sure the bees have enough winter stores, a good queen, no disease, and a large population of worker bees. Things the beekeeper might do include wrapping a hive to provide the bees with more protection than the wood of the hive body, putting up wind breaks, and providing good ventilation.
Wiring frames	Brood frames in which wax foundation is used must be wired to prevent the honey comb from falling out or sagging. Thin wire is strung between the end bars through holes drilled into the end bars. This wire is then embedded into the wax foundation with either a spur wire embedder or an electrical current.
X factor	Any thing that can go wrong most likely will.