Glossary of beekeeping

This page is a glossary of beekeeping.

A

 * Africanized bee – a hybrid bee with characteristics unsuitable for beekeeping
 * Apiary – a yard where beehives are kept
 * Apicology – ecology of bees
 * Apiology – scientific study of bees
 * Apitherapy – a branch of alternative medicine that uses honey bee products including honey, pollen, propolis, royal jelly and bee venom.

B

 * Bee – a member of the order that includes ants and wasps
 * Bee anatomy (mouth)
 * Bee bread – the main source of food for most honey bees and their larvae
 * Beekeeper – also called apiarist or apiculturist, a person who cares for bees
 * Bee learning and communication
 * Bee museums
 * Bee sting
 * Bee venom therapy – also called apitherapy
 * Beehive – a housing for cavity-dwelling bees that allows inspection and honey removal
 * Beekeeping – bees are kept for their products (principally honey), and their utility in pollinating crops
 * Bees and toxic chemicals
 * Brood (honey bee) – the egg, larval, and pupal form of the bee and the comb in which they develop
 * Buckfast bee – a productive breed of bee suitable for damp and cloudy climes

C

 * Carniolan honey bee – a gentle bee good for variable nectar flow
 * Characteristics of common wasps and bees
 * Colony Collapse Disorder – malady of unknown cause characterized by disappearance of bees from hive

D

 * Deseret – the beehive and its symbolism to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons)
 * Diseases of the honey bee
 * Drone bee – the male bee
 * Drone laying queen

H

 * Honey bee – all the species in the genus Apis
 * Honey bee life cycle – the physical stages in the development of a mature bee starting from the egg

I

 * Italian bee – the most well known honey bee subspecies

L

 * Laying worker bee – this worker will produce only drone bees
 * Langstroth hive – commonly seen in developed countries as stacks of white or muted colored boxes at the edges of fields and orchards

N

 * Northern Nectar Sources for Honey Bees – common names and descriptions of northern latitude nectar plants

P

 * Pesticide toxicity to bees
 * Piping queen – queens will make audible sounds at certain times
 * Pollinator decline – loss of bees and other pollinators is an environmental issue

Q

 * Queen bee – a single egg laying bee capable of producing workers, drones, and queens

R

 * Honey bee race
 * Russian honey bee

S

 * Stingless bees – Trigona and Melipona bees kept from ancient times in Central America and Australia
 * Swarming – the means by which bee colonies propagate

T

 * Top-bar hive – an alternative to the Langstroth box hive, with some advantages for casual beekeeping

V

 * Virgin queen – a queen that has not yet bred with drones

W

 * Western honey bee – European honey bees
 * Worker bee – the many tasks performed by this class of bee during her short lifetime and her specialized single-use stinger