Beekeeping Glossary

Beekeeping terms, explained briefly and with sources.

A B C D F G M N R S V W

A

Afterswarm After the prime swarm has left, the parent colony remains with brood and queen cells.

Bearding On hot summer days part of the colony hangs as a cluster outside the entrance.
Bringing In Pollen Pollen is the colony's protein source. According to the Celle Bee Institute, a strong colony needs more than 25 kilograms a year.
Brood Rearing Begins Around the turn of the year, usually from mid-January and in mild winters already in December, the queen begins laying eggs again.
Brood Rearing Declines With shorter days and a declining nectar flow, the queen throttles her laying step by step.
Building Queen Cells Three types of queen cells need to be told apart.

Capping Cells Once the larva is fully grown, the workers seal the cell with an air-permeable wax cap.
Cleaning instinct and hygienic behaviour Two things are often lumped together here.
Cleansing Flight On the first mild days, when the daily high reaches about 10 degrees Celsius and the sun is shining, the bees leave the winter cluster and empty their rectum in flight.
Collecting Resin Bees collect bud resins from poplar, birch, alder, willow, horse chestnut, and conifers, and carry them in the pollen baskets of their hind legs, just like pollen.
Courtship Behavior On warm days, many bees suddenly swirl in front of the hive, heads toward the entrance, flying in ever-larger circles.

Division of Labor by Age A worker changes tasks over the course of her life.
Drone Expulsion After the main nectar flow ends, the workers no longer tolerate the drones.

Flower Constancy A forager sticks to one plant species during a foraging trip, and usually also to the same location.
Food Sharing (Trophallaxis) Bees are constantly passing food to one another.
Full Development With the first strong nectar flow the colony tips into full operation: the queen lays well over a thousand eggs a day, with sources giving figures for peak periods ranging from about 1,200 to 2,000.

Guard Bees At around the 18th to 21st day of life, in the transition from house bee to forager, workers take over guard duty.

Mating Flight About five to ten days after emerging, the young queen flies to the drone congregation areas on warm, calm afternoons.

Nectar Dearth Two periods of the year are tight. Early spring from about mid-February, when the brood nest grows and pollen is scarce.
No Brood In the darkest weeks of the year, brood rearing usually stops entirely and the queen ceases laying.
Nurse Bees Nurse bees feed the brood. They are on duty roughly from the fourth to the tenth or twelfth day of life.

Removal of dead bees and dead bee fall A colony carries its dead out. There is therefore always something lying in front of the hive and on the debris board, and the question is never whether, but how much and what.
Round Dance If the nectar source lies close to the apiary, below about a hundred meters, the forager does not dance a figure eight but runs tight circles, frequently changing direction.

Scenting (Fanning Behavior) The bee raises her abdomen, pulls back the last tergite, and thereby exposes the Nasonov gland.
Silent Supersedure The colony replaces its queen without swarming.
Swarm Season Between May and June a strong colony prepares its natural reproduction.

Ventilating The colony keeps its brood nest at about 35 degrees, regardless of the weather outside.

Waggle Dance A returning forager runs a figure eight on the vertical comb and waggles her abdomen during the straight middle section.
Water Collecting Bees collect water to digest pollen and mix brood food, to regulate humidity in the hive, and to cool the colony in heat.
Winter Cluster When outside temperatures drop to about 8 to 10 degrees, the bees pack tightly together and form a ball.