Wiki Beekeeping

What is  Apimaye Hive ? Plastic beehive, I nsulated to withstand extreme weather and designed to prevent moisture buildup inside the beehive.  Apimaye Thermo Hives

What is  Bee Protective Clothing ? Beekeepers wear various levels of protection depending on the temperament of their bees and the reaction of the bees to nectar availability. At minimum, most beekeepers wear a brimmed hat and a bee veil made of fine mesh netting. The next level of protection involves leather bee gloves with long gauntlets and some way of keeping bees from crawling up one's trouser legs. In extreme cases, specially fabricated beekeeping suits can serve as barriers to the bees' stingers. Example of bee suit

What is  Worker comb ? Comb measuring about five cells to the inch, in which workers are reared and honey and pollen are stored.

What is  Worker bee ? An unfertilised female bee that constitutes as the majority of a colony’s population. A female bee whose reproductive organs are undeveloped. The majority of the honey bees are worker bees and they do all the work in the colony except for laying fertile eggs. A sterile female member of the colony that works in the hive, including caring for the young, cleaning the hive, guard duty and also forages for food and water outside the hive or nest. The female honey bee that constitutes the majority of the colony’s population. Worker bees do most of the chores for the colony (except egg laying, which is done by the queen).

What is  Winter cluster ? A ball-like arrangement of adult bees within the hive during winter. A tightly packed cluster of bees that forms to maintain warmth during the colder winter months.

What is  WBC ? A type of hive.

What is  Wax moth ? Larvae of the moth Golleria mellonclia, which can seriously damage brood and empty combs. Galleria mellonella.

What is  Wax glands ? Glands that secrete beeswax, which are in pairs on the underside of the last four abdominal segments.

What is  Waggle dance ? A figure of 8 motion carried out by bees to indicate location of a pollen/nectar source.

What is  Virgin queen ? A queen which is not mated. An unmated queen bee.

What is  Veil ? A protective netting that covers the beekeepers face.

What is  Varroa ? A parasitic mite which attaches itself to bees. A honey bee mite Varroa destructor (formerly Varroa jacobsoni), a parasitic mite of adult and pupal stages of honey bees. Varroa Mite Treatment Comparison https://makinghoney.info/varroa-mite-treatment-comparison/

What is  Uniting ? Combining two or more colonies to form one larger colony. The process of joining two colonies into one. Often one or both colonies are weak.

What is  Uncapping tank ? Container over which frames of honey are uncapped and used to collect any residue honey.

What is  Uncapping knife ? A knife used to shave or remove the cappings from combs of sealed honey prior to extraction. These can be heated by steam or electricity. A device used to slice the wax capping off honeycomb that is to be extracted. (These special knives usually are heated electrically or by steam.) winter cluster. A sharp, heated knife for removing cappings from honey combs prior to extracting honey. Tools used to shave off the wax cappings of sealed honey prior to extraction.

What is  Top bar hive ? A type of hive originally found in Africa.

What is  Top bar ? The top part of a frame.

What is  Terramycin ? An antibiotic used to control American and European foulbrood. An antibiotic used for the treatment of bacterial disease.

What is  Swarming ? The natural process of propagating a colony of honey bees.

What is  Swarm cell ? Queen cells usually found on the bottom of the combs before swarming.

What is  Swarm ? A large number of worker bees, drones, and usually the old queen that leaves the parent colony to establish a new colony. A collection of bees and a queen that has left one hive in search of a new home (usually because the original colony had become too crowded). Bees typically leave behind about half of the original colony and the makings for a new queen (queen cells or swarm cells). The act itself is called swarming. A collection of bees that is currently without a home site and looking for a new one. A settled cluster or flying mass of bees, including the queen, workers and drones that left the parent colony to form a new colony elsewhere. On some occasions, a swarm may be queenless.

What is  Surplus honey ? Honey removed from the hive which exceeds that needed by bees for their own use. Refers to the honey that is above and beyond what a colony needs for its own use. It is this “extra” honey that the beekeeper harvests for his/her own use.

What is  Supering ? The act and process of adding supers to a hive in an effort to collect honey to harvest. The act of adding shallow (honey) supers to a colony.

What is  Supercedure, supersedure/supersede ? The natural occurrence of a colony replacing an old or ailing queen with a new queen. (A cell containing a queen larva destined to replace the old queen is called a supercedure cell.) The natural process of a colony of bees replacing its queen with a new one. The natural replacement of an established queen by a newly reared queen in the same hive. Replacement by the bees of an old queen or failing queen with a new young queen raised by the bees of the same colony.

What is  Super ? Any hive body, or smaller box, used for the storage of surplus honey which the beekeeper will harvest. Normally it is placed over or above the brood chamber. Betterbee offers shallow, medium, and deep supers. A box placed on a hive with frames to collect honey. A box, or boxes, above the bottom box of the hive.

What is  Sugar solution ? A mixture of dissolved sugar and water fed to bees.

What is  Sucrose ? Principal sugar found in nectar.

What is  Streptococcus pluton ? Bacteria that cause European foulbrood.

What is  Stinger ? The modified structure of a worker honey bee used as a weapon of offense. Honey bees have a barbed stinger which stays embedded in the recipient of sting cause the bee to later die. The part of the bee’s anatomy that everyone knows. The hypodermic- like stinger is located at the end of the adult female bee’s abdomen. Remember, bees don’t bite! They sting.

What is  Sting ? The defence mechanism of a bee that is capable of releasing venom into its victim.

What is  Spur embedder ? A handheld device used for embedding wires into foundation with the purpose of reinforcing the foundation.

What is  Spring dwindle ? The normal drop in population at the end of winter when old over-wintered bees die off and are not yet replaced by newly raised bees.