Beekeeping Glossary

Bottom board: Since hive bodies have no bottom, this piece is considered the ground floor.

Broodlessness: Comb without larvae.

Capped comb: A cell in the built comb that is covered over by the bees with wax.

Checkerboarding: The method of putting a hive box with alternating frames of capped honey with empty frames above the brood nest.  Said to prevent swarming.

Chilled brood: Brood that has died because of lower than normal temperatures for the brood. The brood must be kept warm at all times which is the job of the clustering nurse bees. Beekeeper should be aware of this requirement of the brood when opening up the hive box.

Clothianidin: A pesticide marketed as “Poncho” by Bayer, is widely used on corn, as well as canola, soy, sugar beets, sunflowers and wheat.

Colony Collapse Disorder (aka CCD): An alarming phenomenon in which worker bees from a beehive disappear and do not return to their home hive. The cause or causes are still unknown.

Comb: Also known as honeycomb, comb is a structure of small hexagonal cells constructed from beeswax by bees and used to store honey and larvae.

Defensive: Behavior when bees are more likely to be protective and sting.

Drawn comb: The wax cells built out by the bees from the inserted sheet of foundation supplied by the beekeeper.  Drawn comb is ready for storage of pollen, honey, or brood.

Epi-pen: An injector used to treat signs and symptoms of an allergic emergency, some of which include hives, redness of the skin, tightness in the throat, breathing problems and/or a decrease in blood pressure which can be caused by triggers such as food, stinging and biting insects, medicines, or latex.

Feral beehive: An unmanaged population of bees living in a variety of nest sites, both artificial and natural. Also see swarm.

Follower boards: Boards, usually plywood, the size of frames used to reduce the size of the brood nest. Placed on the outside of frames in the box, we also use them as insulation from water and heat for the bees as recommended by Serge Labesque.

Forager bee: A female bee that lacks the full reproductive capacity of the colony’s queen bee. This is the bee that does all the other tasks related to the hive, i.e.certain non-reproductive activities relative to a queen, and in specific, forages for nectar and/or pollen.

Foundationless: In lieu of placing a whole sheet of wax in a frame, the beekeeper will give the bees a clue such as a strip of wax, a top bar, or even a popsicle stick placed in the frame’s groove in order to get them to draw out straight comb.  The advantage is that the bees can draw out natural comb and there are none of the lingering chemicals that can be found in man-made wax foundation.

Frame cleaner: A tool used to clean the frame grooves of wax and propolis.

Guard bees: The bees guarding the entrance of the hive from invaders.

Hive tool: Metal tool for prying apart hive boxes or frames.

Larval life cycle: Development of the bee from egg to its grub stage. The length of time varies between queens, workers, and drones.

Mites: The tracheal mite (acarapis woodi) is an internal parasite that lives, and reproduces in the tracheas of the bees. The varroa mite (now two types, varroa destructor and varroa jacobsoni) is an external parasitic mite that attaches at the body of the bee and weakens the bee by sucking hemolymph. Infected bees will have deformed wing virus (DWV) and a significant infestation will weaken and lead to the death of the colony.

Monitoring tray: A removable, usually durable white plastic board that slides underneath the screened area of a bottom board. The boards may be drawn with large grids as a visual aid to track mite activity. They can also be covered with oil or petroleum jelly as part of your mite control program.

Nosema: Is a disease that invades the intestinal tracts of bees. Nosema is normally only a problem when the bees can not leave the hive to eliminate waste.

Nuc Box: A smaller version of a normal beehive, designed to hold fewer frames usually resulting from a colony division.

Observation hive: A hive paneled with glass or clear plastic that allows for the examination of bees at work.

Pollen: Tiny grains made by the male part of a flower. Can be seen collected on the back legs of the forager bee.

Queen pheromone: Multifaceted and highly developed set of chemical signals that, when emitted by the queen, influence both the behavior and physiology of the colony.

Robber bees: Bees that steal honey from other hives (not their home hive). Robbing activity is most likely to happen during seasons of nectar dearth.

Smoker: Instrument used to blow smoke on bees to induce “calmness” and reduce stinging behavior.

Sticky board: See monitoring tray.

Stinger: Consists of three parts: a stylus and two barbed lancets. The main component of bee venom responsible for pain in is the toxin melittin, histamine and other biogenic amines.

Swarm: When worker bees leave the original hive location with the old queen; it is the natural means of reproduction of honey bee colonies.

Thorax: The middle section of the bee’s body.

Varroa mite: See mites.

Veil: This is a protective mesh used in conjunction with a beekeeper’s hat or helmet that protects one’s face, head, and neck from bee stings.

Ventilation board (Serge-style): A hive cover that sits underneath the exterior hive top with a screened rear area that allows moist air to escape, increases circulation, and protects the bees from water drips.

Wax foundation: A sheet of wax with the natural honeycomb patterns of the bees on its surface that is made by milling sheets of wax through a roller mill with specially patterned rollers.

Wax starter strips: See foundationless.

Wax tube fastener: A tool used for securing foundation into grooved top bar frames. It is a metal cylinder filled by lowering into a container of hot, liquid beeswax. The wax is retained in cylinder by placing a finger over air hole. When the foundation is in place, remove the finger from the air hole to allow the wax to flow out to cement the foundation to the top bar.