Here’s a quick dictionary of beekeeping
terms:
Apiary:
A group of bee colonies in one location, a collection of hives that is also called
a “bee yard.”
Apiculture:
The science and art of studying honeybees and using them
for human benefit.
Beeswax: Wax
that bees secrete from a gland on the bottom of their abdomens and then form into
the honeycomb.
Brood: Young
stages of the bee that include eggs, larvae, and pupae.
Colony:
An entire honeybee family living together in a hive; the
mother of all the bees in the colony is called the queen bee.
Comb:
A beeswax structure made up of two layers of cells that
hold the broods and honey. In a manmade hive, these are built on wooden
frames
and are often called frames by beekeepers.
Comb
Honey: Honey that is still sealed in the comb.
This is used to feed the broods and the bees during winter.
Field
Bee (Forager): A worker bee that leaves the hive
to collect nectar, pollen, water and propolis (a waxy substance that bees use
in the hive like a cement).
Honey Flow:
Period when bees are collecting nectar in plentiful amounts
from plants and making lots of honey.
House
Bee: A young worker bee that is one day to two
weeks old and works only in the hive.
Pollen:
Cells from flowers that bees collect as food for their
broods. It’s how they get their protein.
Queen:
A female bee who can lay eggs; there is usually only one
queen in a colony and she is the mother of all the drone and worker bees in the
hive.
Swarm: A
group of worker bees and queen that leave the hive to establish a new colony of
bees when there is more than one queen in a colony.
Keeper of the
Bees
Beekeeping can become a great hobby once you learn the basic rules
of setting up and keeping a hive. You may want to keep bees for the delicious
honey they produce, their benefits as pollinators, or maybe just to learn about
one of nature’s most interesting insects.
Honeybees are social insects,
which means that they all cooperate in building their nest, collecting food, and
raising the larvae. Several thousand bees live together in a single colony and
each bee has to do its job or else the colony wouldn’t be able to survive.
A colony usually has one queen and in the peak of honey production in late spring
and summer, it can have up to fifty or sixty thousand worker and drone bees.
To get started raising bees, you need to have the basic parts of a hive,
an established colony of bees, protective gear, and the equipment to handle the
bees.
The hive is usually a manmade structure in which the bees live.
You can buy a new or used hive that’s already put together, or you can build
a new hive. It’s also important to have bee veils to protect your face and
neck from being stung, and canvas or leather gloves to protect your hands. Wearing
light, tan, or white clothes is best when handling bees. A bee smoker and hive
tool are necessary tools to have on-hand when working with bees.
There are
also many ways to get your colony of bees to fill a hive. You can buy established
colonies, collect a swarm of bees, or move a colony from a wall or tree in your
area. Most hives have two colonies, or families.
Beekeeping takes a lot of work and can be pretty hard, so you really need to study before you start your own hive.
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