To eliminate a (disease) problem by removing (often by burning) or treating bees and beekeeping equipment so that there is no possibility of contaminating other bees.

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

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

A mite, called the Tracheal mite, which infests the bees’ breathing or tracheal system; sometimes called Acarine Disease, this refers to bees that are heavily infested with the Tracheal mite.

A rimmed hive cover containing a pad of absorbent material into which benzadehyde or butyric anhydride (bee repellents) is poured. Used to remove bees from honey supers.

No longer used due to food safety awareness

Swarms which leave a colony with a virgin queen, after the first (or prime) swarm has departed in the same season; afterswarms are also referred to as secondary or tertiary swarms.

A term used indiscriminately to describe the African honey bee Apis mellifera scutellata (formerly A.m. adansonii) or its hybrids; an African bee released in Brazil and known for its volatile nature, its aggressive behavior may cause concern to the non-beekeeping public.

A chemical (iso-pentyl acetate) substance released near the worker bee’s sting, which alerts other bees to danger; also called alarm pheromone.

A small projection or platform at the entrance of the hive.

A brood disease of honey bees caused by the spore-forming bacterium, Bacillus larvae and characterized by a ropy or gummy condition of affected larvae. It is the most widespread and destructive of the brood diseases, afflicting queen, drone, and worker larvae alike. Adult bees, however, are not affected by AFB. Bacillus larvae occurs in two forms: vegetative (rod-shaped bacterial cells) and spores. Only the spore stage is infectious to honey bees. The spores germinate into the vegetative stage soon after they enter the larval gut and continue to multiply until larval death. American foulbrood spores are highly-resistant to desiccation, heat, and chemical disinfectants. These spores can remain virulent for more than forty years in combs and honey. Spores are easily transported by either infested bees or infected equipment. Beekeepers moving contaminated equipment are, by far, the greatest source of AFB spread. Considerable progress was made in the application of chemotherapeutic agents to control American foulbrood. Of the sulpha drugs, sulphathiazole and sulphadiazine showed greatest effectiveness as preventive agents, though it was important to point out that the application of such drugs required careful supervision and that indiscriminate use, with undue reliance on their effectiveness, could result in masking the disease and therefore aid in its dissemination . The effect of antibiotics was also examined under laboratory and field conditions. Terramycin, fed in honey or syrup, provided the most effective protection; however, the sulpha drugs retained their potency on storage much longer than the antibiotics tested. Visual signs of AFB begin to show up in the hive after young, susceptible larvae eat the spores that have been mixed in the brood food fed by nurse bees. If left untreated, infection spreads rapidly until the colony population is so weakened it dies during cold months by the ravages of the wax moth, or just by sheer lack of population, since all larvae die.

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.

From the Greek anthros (flower), referring to the pollen-bearing portion on top of the stamen or male part of a flower.

One of two long segmented sensory filaments located on the head of the bee, which enable bees to smell and taste.

A collection of one or more populated beehives at a certain location.

The science and art of raising honey bees.

Binomial name of the honey bee.

See Bee Venom

An automated device that removes the cappings from honey combs, usually by moving heated knives, metal teeth, or flails.

Named for the ball of bees formed when a hive decides to kill a queen perceived as intruding or defective. Normally performed by surrounding the intruder with a mass of defending workers, who vibrate their muscles so vigorously that it raises the temperature of the intruder to a lethal level.

A honey extractor that spins out one side of the frame at a time.

A gas or electrically driven blower used to blow bees from supers full of honey.

Bitter, yellowish pollen stored in honeycomb cells and used by bees for food.

A brush or whisk broom used to remove bees from combs.

An underground room used for storing bee hives during long sub-zero winters; difficult to use as constant temperature and humidity must be maintained to ensure colony survival.

A mechanical device that allows bees to pass through it in only one direction. Often a leaf spring or cone design used to eliminate bees from particular supers in a hive or from buildings.

See Propolis

Normally refers to a human-made container in which the colony lives

An individual who oversees the maintenance of one or more colonies of bees

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

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.

The apparatus at the tip of an adult female bee that can inject venom into the victim being stung.

The different species of honey bees are distinguished from all other bee species by the possession of small barbs on the sting, but these barbs are found only in the workers. The sting and associated venom sac are also modified so as to pull free of the body once lodged (autotomy), and the sting apparatus has its own musculature and ganglion which allow it to keep delivering venom once detached.

A pair of coveralls, usually white, made for beekeepers to protect them from stings and keep their clothes clean; some come equipped with zip-on veils.

A cloth or wire netting for protecting the beekeeper's head and neck from stings.

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

Wax secreted by glands located on the underside of four abdominal segments of the honey bee. It is used by bees to construct comb.

The shallowest or section super used with wooden section boxes to make comb honey; has a built-in beeway or bee space.

A colorless nontoxic liquid aldehyde C₆H₅CHO that has an odor like that of bitter almond oil, that occurs in many essential oils (as bitter almond oil and peach-kernel oil) and is usually made from toluene; used to drive bees out of honey supers, but is used chiefly in flavoring and perfumery, in pharmaceutical preparations, and in synthesis (as of dyes) -- called also artificial bitter almond oil [German benzaldehyd, from benz- + aldehyd aldehyde]

Refers to the appearance of a dried down larva or pupa which died of a foulbrood disease.

A small, wooden feeder placed at the hive entrance and holding an inverted pint or quart glass jar of sugar syrup.

A plastic or stainless steel tank holding 5 or more gallons of honey and equipped with a honey gate to fill honey jars.

The floor of a beehive.

A spar 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.

The scientific name of a wingless fly commonly known as the bee louse

Any immature stage of development: egg, larva, or pupa. Also, collectively, all immature bees in the hive.

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

Any drawn comb in which eggs, larvae, or pupae are found.

The area inside the hive body devoted to brood rearing.

The process involving egg laying, feeding larvae, and keeping pupae warm, which produces more adult bees.

A strain of bees developed by Brother Adam at Buckfast Abbey in England, bred for disease resistance, disinclination to swarm, hardiness, comb building and good temper.

See Brace Comb.

See Package.

A fondant type candy placed in one end of a queen cage to delay her release.

Immature bees whose cells have been sealed over with a brown wax cover by other worker bees; inside, the non-feeding larvae are isolated and can spin cocoons prior to pupating.

The thin wax covering over honey; once cut off of extracting frames they are referred to as cappings and are a source of premium beeswax.

Melter used to liquefy the wax from cappings as they are removed from honey combs.

A fork-like device used to remove wax cappings covering honey, so it can be extracted.

A centrifuge with wire-screened baskets used to separate honey from wax.

A grayish race of honey bee Apis mellifera carnica named for Carniola, Austria but originating in the Balkan region; while they are gentle and do not propolize, they tend to swarm more than other races.

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

A black race of honey bee A. mellifera caucasica, originating in the Caucasus mountains; gentle but tend to propolize excessively.

One of the hexagonal compartments of a honeycomb in which brood is reared or food is stored.

A wooden strip on which queen cups are placed for rearing queen bees.

Base of an artificial queen cell, made of beeswax or plastic and used for rearing queen bees.

A disease affecting bee larvae, caused by a fungus Ascosphaera apis, larvae eventually turn into hard, chalky white “mummies”.

Immature bees that have died from exposure to cold; commonly caused by mismanagement.

The tendency for bees to fill only the center frames of honey supers; happens when bees are given too much room too fast.

A group of nuclear bodies (from the nucleus) containing genes; responsible for the differentiation and activity of a cell, and undergoing characteristic division stages such as mitosis.

Honey in the comb, but not in sections, frequently cut and packed into jars then filled with liquid honey.

Terminology referring to the clipping of a portion of a queen's wings and the affixing of a dot of colored materialon the top of her thorax.

Loosely, any group of bees that forms a relatively compact aggregation. A winter cluster is composed of all the bees in the colony huddled as closely together as necessary to maintain the required temperature. As the ambient temperature increases, the cluster expands until it loses its identity but it will reappear if the temperature drops.

A thin silk covering secreted by larval honey bees in their cells in preparation for pupation.

A community of bees living in close association and contributing to their mutual support by their labor. It is composed of a queen and worker bees, and during spring and summer drone bees are present. The terms colony and hive are often used interchangeably.

A mass of hexagonal cells made of beeswax and containing brood and food.

Wax foundation with the cell walls drawn out by the bees, completing the comb.

Honey Comb cut into various sizes, the edges drained, and the pieces wrapped or packed individually

A cone-shaped bee escape, which permits bees, a one-way exit; used in a special escape board to free honey supers of bees.

The flat, wooden piece placed on top of the hive to confine and protect the bees.

Honey that has undergone a controlled granulation to produce a finely textured candied or crystallized honey which spreads easily at room temperature.

Comb foundation into which crimp wire is embedded vertically during foundation manufacture

Movement of pollen between blossoms of one variety of plant species and a second, compatible variety to produce hybrid seed. (See also Pollination.)

A period of time when there is no available forage for bees, due to weather conditions (rain, drought) or time of year.

A hive placed to attract stray swarms.

A swarm prevention technique based on removal and isolation of a colony's brood at the top of a multiple-story hive.

A starch digesting enzyme in honey adversely affected by heat; used in some countries to test quality and heating history of stored honey.

The ability of an organism to avoid a particular disease; primarily due to genetic immunity or avoidance behavior.

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

A wooden frame, 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick, with two layers of wire screen to separate two colonies within the same hive, one above the other. An entrance is cut on the upper side and placed to the rear of the hive for the upper colony.

Referring to a beehive comprised of two deep supers, one for brood and one for honey.

Movement of bees from their original hive into a neighboring hive. Frequent with drones and surprisingly common with workers.

A male bee that develops from an unfertilized egg.

A specific area to which drones fly waiting for virgin queens to pass by; it is not known how or when they are formed, but drones return to the same spots year after year.

A drone laying queen or less commonly, a laying worker.

Intestinal disorder causing frequent defecation (diarrhea) in affected individuals. Tan, brown, or black fecal smears on combs or outside of hive indicate such a problem.

The first phase in the bee life cycle, usually laid by the queen, is the cylindrical egg 1/16in (1.6 mm) long; it is enclosed with a flexible shell or chorion.

A device allowing rapid embedding of wires in foundation with electrically produced heat.

A notched wooden strip used to regulate the size of the bottom entrance.

A device with dimensions identical to the top of a super that contains one or more bee escapes. Used to empty one or more supers of bees.

(also, sometimes, inner cover)

An infectious brood disease of honey bees caused by Streptococcus pluton.

A mechanical device used to remove honey from uncapped honeycombs by centrifugal force.

A small metal piece fitting into the wire-holes of a frame’s end bar; used to keep the reinforcing wires from cutting into the wood.

A unique cluster of bees that link themselves together by their tarsi (feet)in a loose network between combs in a hive. Normally, these are aggregates of wax-producing bees.

Refers to the availability of nectar and/or pollen. When food substances are available in abundance, it is a "good flow."

Those activities of bees connected with finding and bringing back water, nectar, pollen, or propolis.

A thin sheet of beeswax imprinted with the hexagonalcell bases of a honeycomb; used as a base for the comb when placed in frames.

A rectangle, usually of wood, that is hung inside the hive to support the foundation and comb. Sometimes frame and comb are used interchangeably; that is, a "comb of brood" is a "frame of brood."

See Acid Board.

A container housing a colony of bees. Usually consists of one or more hive bodies below and one or more supers above. (See Beehive and Colony.)

The part of the hive containing combs in which the queen lays eggs. The hive body rests on the bottom board.

A device that elevates the bottom board up off the ground.

An insulated portion of a warehouse with radiant or forced air heating that can produce temperatures up to 100°F.

The grub-like immature stage of a honey bee that increases in size dramatically as it feeds on royal jelly, pollen, and diluted honey.

A dilute sugar solution secreted by glands in different parts of plants, chiefly in flowers.

A small functioning colony of bees (queen, bees, brood) on two to five combs.

A worker bee of the correct age (6 to 12 days postemergence) to produce royal jelly and to feed larval bees, adult queens, and drones.

A small, highly insulated portion of a warehouse, often in the hot room, where temperatures can be elevated to 150°F to melt wax.

A wire-screened wooden box of bulk bees, a queen, and a can of feed used to transport bees to an empty hive.

Male sex cells produced in anthers of flowers. Powderlike and composed of many grains, they are gathered and used by honey bees for food as a source of protein. A good mix of many different pollens is essential for adequate nutrition.

Transfer of viable pollen to a receptive stigma of a flower. In commercial beekeeping, the term refers to the service provided by honey bees in crop production. (See also Cross-Pollination.)

Feed substances fed to bees to provide protein, fats, vitamins, and minerals when pollens are not available.

Pollen Substitute mixed with pollen to increase attractiveness and nutritive value to bees.

A device attached to a hive to remove pollen loads from incoming foraging bees. Pollen "pellets" usually are collected in a drawer that is inaccessible to the bees.

An immature stage between the last larval stage and the true pupal stage in the life cycle of a honey bee.

Plant resins collected by bees and used as a cement to stick hive parts together and to seal openings. Also called bee glue.

The preadult form of bees occurring after the larval stage and maintained without evident change in size and structure until the adult bee emerges from the cell.

Lone, fully developed female in colony. She lays all the eggs and stores sperm for up to 3 years.

A special fondant made from Nulomoline, drivert, and glycerine (see Feeding Bees); used to feed queen and attendant bees in queen cages.

A wire or plastic grid, with slots just large enough for passage of worker bees, used to prohibit the movement of queens between supers.

A hive of bees with no queen.

A colony of bees with a functioning queen.

Comb that has been melted down to beeswax.

To remove the present queen from the colony and replace her with another queen.

Having the characteristic of sticky elasticity and stringing out when stirred and stretched.

A glandular secretion from the heads of worker bees used to feed young larvae and adult worker, drone, and queen bees.