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Whether or not you’re an skilled beekeeper or simply beginning out, understanding the that means of varied beekeeping phrases is vital to success. Conserving bees isn’t just about common hive duties – you could try to know bee life and behaviors. Your examine or sharing of knowledge with different beekeepers shall be extra productive if you realize the correct bee phrases to make use of.
One difficult facet for newbie beekeepers is studying the names and capabilities of so many issues. With out an correct understanding of phrases related to beekeeping, it’s troublesome to observe good hive administration.
Beekeeping Terminology is Not At all times Clear
Whereas first yr beekeepers have essentially the most to study in reference to beekeeping terminology, any of us can discover ourselves a bit confused.
A few of the trade phrases used within the beekeeping are a bit regional. And, our pronunciation can range an important deal too.
Maybe, that doesn’t actually matter until you’re giving a proper presentation – however it’s nonetheless good to get it proper.
Alphabetical Listing of Beekeeping Phrases
This listing is a information to lots of the mostly used phrases related to beekeeping. It ought to enable you achieve some readability and confidence 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 mission and crossed with present European Honey Bees. Very similar to our common honeybees in lots of regards – they’re much extra defensive and may pose a menace to public security.
- Absconding (Abscond) – When your entire colony leaves their hive (leaving no functioning household behind) that is referred to as an abscond. There are a number of causes bees might abscond from the hive. Illness, pest infestations and fixed disruptions are among the many most typical causes.
- Alarm Pheromones – The honey bee alarm pheromone (iso-pentyl acetate) is launched by guard bees when the hive is underneath assault. With the scent of bananas, this chemical messenger calls the troops to defend 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 tools for greater than 50 years. In some areas, hives with AFB should be destroyed by regulation.
- Apiary – An apiary is a location the place honey bees are stored. Apiaries are available in all sizes from a few hives within the yard to business apiaries with hundreds of colonies. Sure, even when you’ve got solely 2 hives – that’s your apiary.
- Attendants (Queen’s Attendants) – The time period attendants often refers to bees that look after the queen bee. Within the hive, the attendants kind the queen’s retinue. When a beekeeper buys a queen in a cage, she usually has a couple of attendants inside to look after her.
- Balling the Queen – When bees kind a ball across the queen bee, that is referred to as “balling the queen”. This may occur if a brand new queen is launched within the hive too quickly and end in her dying. However, it doesn’t all the time end in dying, bees can enclose their queen in a ball to guard her.
- Bait Hive – A bait hive is a field or construction that’s 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 outdated hive field with a small piece of outdated comb to lure within the swarm.
- Bearding Bees – Bearding refers to a mass of bees that accumulates on the entrance of the hive on heat, humid days. Bee bearding most frequently takes place within the Summer season and is an try to chill this colony. It’s not essentially an indication of swarm preparations.
- Bee Bread – Bee bread is the beekeeping time period given to bee pollen that’s saved within the hive. Contemporary pollen is difficult to digest and spoils simply. When it’s transformed to bee bread by means of the addition of enzyme wealthy bee saliva, it turns into a nutritious protein supply appropriate for storage.
- Bee Area – Bee area is the quantity of area that bees usually hold between their comb- ¼”-3/8”. A smaller area is prone to be stuffed with propolis and a big area often stuffed with comb.
- Brood – Bee brood refers to growing bees within the colony. Eggs, larvae and pupa are all thought of brood. Open or “milk brood” are bees within the larval stage. As soon as the larval stage ends, the cells are closed with a wax prime turning into “capped brood”.
- Brood Nest – The brood nest is the a part of the hive the place younger bees are being reared. It’s usually positioned within the backside field of the hive referred to as the brood chamber. Nevertheless, the brood nest can change location all year long.
- Brood Sample – The brood sample refers to method brood is specified by the comb. Total, brood of the identical age are positioned shut collectively. Eggs are close to eggs, larva close to larva and the identical for capped brood. A tight brood sample has few empty cells in and among the many brood.
- Burr Comb – Burr or Brace comb are bits of comb that bees construct to fill in any empty areas. Typically these bits of comb join 2 adjoining frames of comb. Burr comb will be discovered wherever within the hive the place the bee area measurements are off.
- Cappings Wax – Cappings wax consult with wax that’s used to cowl full cells of honey. When honey is harvested, the cappings are eliminated to permit liquid honey to stream out. Cappings wax is among the highest quality wax and is very prized.
- Cleaning Flights – Wholesome honey bees poop exterior the hive – not inside. On heat days, the bees fly exterior the hive close to the doorway to expel wastes. If there’s snow on the bottom, don’t be alarmed by the presence of loads of yellow spots close to the hive.
- Cluster (The Bee Cluster) – In a cluster, bees cling collectively in a mass. A swarm of bees will cluster in a close-by tree or bush when first leaving the hive and earlier than going to their new house. The Winter bee cluster permits the colony to preserve and generate warmth.
- Comb (Honeycomb) – Comb refers to a chunk (or sheets) of beeswax constructed by honey bees to carry retailer meals or rear younger. These wax sheets have hundreds of particular person cells.
- Drawn Comb – Drawn comb is the beekeeping time period used to consult with a hive body that’s stuffed with completed beeswax comb. It ought to be full with all of the wax cells completed and prepared to be used.
The time period is commonly confused with (Drone Comb). Drones are male bees. An ideal instance of beekeeping terminology confusion on account of pronunciation. - Drifting – Bees positioned in an apiary can turn into confused and go into the improper hive. That is referred to as drifting. Beekeepers usually try to cut back drifting by adorning beehives with designs or completely different colours on 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 solely half the chromosomes of their sisters. They serve no identified goal within the hive apart from copy.
- Drone Brood – Cells that include growing drone or male honey bees are referred to as drone brood cells. Bigger than employee bees, drone brood protrudes from the floor of the comb – giving it a attribute bullet form.
- European Foulbrood (EFB) – European Foulbrood is a bacterial illness brought on by Melissococcus plutonius. Whereas it will probably harm colonies, it isn’t as virulent as American Foulbrood. Gentle infestations usually clear up on their very own with higher foraging circumstances.
- Festooning – When younger grownup bees which are engorged with honey hold in chains from the highest of a sheet of comb, that is referred to as festooning bees. It’s believed the bees are concerned in comb constructing and doable different actions.
- Foragers – Foraging bees are the sphere bees. These older employees bees that go away the hive every day in the hunt for sources wanted by the colony.
- Basis – Sheets of basis are inserted into frames that match contained in the hive containers. Embossed cells on the floor of basis guides comb constructing. Basis could also be beeswax or plastic and each can work nicely within the hive.
- Honey Stream – The honey stream is the time of yr when plentiful nectar is on the market in your area. That is when bees are in a position to make honey for themselves and the beekeeper. Some areas have a number of honey flows in a yr and others might solely have 1.
- Honey Home – A honey home is a constructing or room used to course of harvested honey. Contained in the honey extracting and bottling of the crop takes place. In some states, a honey home should be inspected by the division of agriculture.
- Laying Employees – Laying employees in a hive just isn’t a scenario favored by beekeepers. Employee bees aren’t able to mating to allow them to not lay fertilized eggs. Nevertheless, in conditions the place a colony has been with no queen bee or brood for an extended while-workers might start to put eggs that shall be drones.
- Nurse Bees – Nurse bees are younger employees that feed and look after growing brood. They’re often between 5 and 10 days outdated however this will range. After serving as nurse bees for a couple of weeks, they are going to go on to do different duties for the colony.
- Pheromones – Pheromones are exterior chemical substances that bees launch to speak with different members of their species. This permits guard bees to acknowledge returning members of their hive.
- Propolis – Propolis, additionally referred to as bee-glue, is a sticky resinous substance that bees acquire from timber and crops. It’s collected and caught onto the pollen baskets of employee bees – identical to pollen. Beekeepers typically acquire 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 a day within the heat season, she produces queen pheromones that stabilize the colony.
- Queen Cell – A queen cell is a big peanut-shaped cell that protrudes from the comb vertically. Inside is a growing queen and loads of meals for her. The queen bee develops from an egg in 16 days and emerges from the underside of the queen cell.
- Queen Cups – A queen cup is a small acorn formed wax cup. It could or might not ever be developed into a daily queen cell. Some colonies hold a couple of queen cups in place by means of 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 – it’s a “charged queen cup” and has now turn into an official queen cell.
- Queenright Colony – A colony that’s queenright has a laying queen producing fertilized and non fertilized eggs. Whether or not she is one of the best queen on the planet or not, she is producing at the very least some employee brood and appears to be in good well being.
- Robbing – Honey bee robbing habits is when bees from one colony steal honey from one other. That is often a robust colony with a big inhabitants that overwhelms a small colony. Robbing can proceed for days till the smaller colony is useless.
- Skeps – Skeps are hives which are dome-shaped and have been conventional constituted of twisted straw. Their use is discouraged and even unlawful in some areas. It is because they don’t include detachable frames that makes hive inspections doable.
Although they might not be sensible in trendy beekeeping they’re the icon illustration of bees and a few people get pleasure from making mini beehive skep craft replicas.
- Small Hive Beetles – Small Hive Beetles are a serious pest of honey bee colonies significantly within the hotter areas of the US. Native to tropical areas of Africa, SHB have been found within the US in 1998. Southern beekeepers should monitor beetle ranges fastidiously of their colonies.
- Supering – Supering refers to inserting supers or bee containers on the hive in anticipation of a honey crop. The choice 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 seen to the bare eye. Feeding on adults and brood, varroa mites weaken colonies and unfold illnesses. If wanted, beekeepers use numerous varroa mite therapies to maintain them in verify.
- Washboarding – Washboarding honey bees is an exercise that continues to puzzle beekeepers. Bees collect exterior on the entrance of the hive and sway out and again. We actually don’t know why it occurs. However, it’s most typical in late afternoons throughout a time of nectar shortage.
- Wax Moths – An opportunist pest of honey bees grownup wax moths enter the hive to put eggs on the comb. Grownup moths do no harm within the hive. Nevertheless, the moth larvae tunnel by means of comb forsaking webbing and feces.
- Employee Bee – A lot of the bees in a colony are feminine employee bees. They develop from fertilized eggs which are laid by a mated queen. The employee bee does all the duties that make hive life doable.
- Zombie Bees – The time period zombie bees refers to honey bees which are serving as a bunch to a parasitic fly. The Apocephalos borealis fly, lays eggs contained in the bee’s body-killing the honey bee and inflicting erratic habits earlier than dying.
Ultimate Ideas
With observe and expertise, beekeeping phrases do turn into simpler to know. And critically, the bees don’t care for those who spell or pronounce them precisely proper.
The vital factor is to know what they imply so you’ll be able to learn or discuss to different beekeepers (like your native beekeeping associations)and get good recommendation while you need assistance together with your hive.
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