Glossary
- abdomen - the rear section of a insect body containing the digestive
and reproductive organs.
- absconding - departure from the hive by the entire
colony.
- anther - the part of the flower that contains pollen.
- apiarist - a beekeeper.
- apiary - a collection of managed bee colonies.
- apiculture - the science of beekeeping.
- Apis mellifera - the genus and species name for the honey bee.
This name, given by Linnaeus in 1758, is Latin for honey bearer.
- beeswax - a substance secreted on the underside of the
abdomen of worker bees used to build comb.
- brood - developing bees (eggs, larvae, pupae) that have
not yet emerged from their cells.
- cap - a covering that closes a cell containing pupa or
honey.
- cell - a single hexagonal unit of comb.
- colony - a community of bee having a single queen, thousands
of worker bees, and for many parts of the year, drones.
- colony division - exiting of a part of a bee colony to form a
new hive.
- comb - the hexagonal structure used to store honey and
raise brood.
- dance - a series of movements made by a forager bee or a
scout bee to communicate the location and type of resource.
- drone - a male bee.
- entomology - the science of insects.
- foraging - the act of gathering pollen and nectar from flowers by
worker bees.
- forager bee - a foraging worker bee.
- feral - domesticated animals that have escaped captivity.
- foundation - wax coating in the base of a frame. The coating
has an imprint of the hexagonal design of the comb to encourage bees to
build their comb in line with the design.
- frame - wooden rectangle with a sheet of foundation to
support a comb.
- head - the front section of a insect body containing antennae and
other sensory apparatus.
- hive - the home for a bee colony.
- honey - sweet viscous material produced from nectar.
- house bee - a young worker bee whose activities are confined
to the hive.
- larva (plural, larvae) - middle stage of a developing bee;
unsealed brood.
- mating flight - an excursion taken by drones in order to mate
with a queen.
- nectar - a sweet liquid secreted in flowers and on leaves of plants.
- nuptial flights - a series of mating excursions made by a young
queen.
- orientation flights - flights taken by house bees in
preparation for becoming foragers.
- pollen - dust like grains on the tops of anthers containing
the flower's sperm
- pollination - the transfer of pollen from an anther to a
stigma of a flower.
- pupa (plural, pupae) - final stage of a developing bee;
sealed brood.
- queen - a female bee that lays all the eggs in the colony
- queen cell - a special vertically hanging cell used to place
an egg that will become a queen.
- royal jelly - food for queen larvae.
- Schwirrlauf - a whir dance made by scout bees to
announce the time for colony division.
- scout bees - bees that search and select a new hive site.
- skep - a straw hive without movable frames.
- spermatheca - a pouch-like stucture on a queen's abdomen for
storing sperm.
- stinger - 1/8'' long hollow tube with a barbed tip attached to a
pocket at the end of the abdomen used to eject venom.
- super - section of a mangaed hive used for honey
storage, typically above the brood chamber.
- supercedure - the taking over of an old queen by a daughter
queen.
- swarm - a colony of bees found outside the hive, may be
absconding or in colony division.
- thorax - the middle section of an insect body to which the wings and
legs are attached.
- worker bee - an unmated female bee.