Beekeeping Terms: 12 To Know Upfront
As with any new hobby, understanding some basic beekeeping terms can accelerate your learning process.
Start your beekeeping education knowing these 12 basic beekeeping terms:
- Hive
- Frame
- Foundation
- Comb
- Smoker
- Queen bee
- Drone bee
- Worker bee
- Bee space
- Propolis
- Bee package
- Nuc
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Check out our gift ideas for a beekeeper you know…or for yourself. In addition to standard beekeeping supplies, we’ve highlighted some unique beekeeping-related items.
1. Hive
“Hive” can refer to the actual group of bees, though the group is more accurately called a “colony”. The “hive” is the structure beekeepers use to house a colony.
There are three main styles of hive boxes you’ll come across (and I won’t count these toward the 12 terms):
- Langstroth hive boxes are rectangular and vertically stacked. They vary in width and depth depending on the intended use and how many frames they hold. I suspect you will start with Langstroth boxes as they are the ones most common in North America and are the ones we recommend for beginning beekeepers.
- Warre hive boxes are square and also vertically stacked. Unlike Langstroth boxes, they are consistent in size. They may use frames. However, bees build wax comb affixed to bars within the hive.
- Top bar hives are single-body horizontal boxes. Like Warre hives, they use bars, not frames.
See our article about the best type of beehive for beginners for more information
2. Frame
Frame and foundation are two beekeeping terms referring to critical hive components.
A plastic or wood frame is designed for the bees to build honeycomb. Frames can be deep, medium, or shallow, depending on the box you are using. The width of the boxes determines the number of frames it holds (10 or 8 or less).
3. Foundation
Foundation is a thin sheet of beeswax (possibly with wires) or a sheet of plastic coated with beeswax. Foundation is inserted into a frame. Bees use the foundation as a base to build their wax comb.
While many beekeepers use foundation, it is not necessary. As mentioned earlier, Warre and Top Bar hives do not use frames and, therefore, have no foundation. Even in Langstroth hives, you can use foundation-less frames.
Foundation-less frames create special issues like cross-combing. For a new beekeeper, foundation is a simpler way to get started. You can transition to foundation-less later (like we did).
For more information, see Beehive Frames And Foundations (A Beginner’s Guide).
4. Comb
Comb is the hexagonal (six-sided) wax structure where the queen lays her eggs, the brood develops, and the bees store pollen and honey.
If you’re like me, you will be in awe the first time you open your hive and fine, freshly drawn, translucent comb. It’s an engineering marvel of nature. Nearby are bees on foundation-less drawn comb.
See our article about wax honeycomb for more information.
5. Smoker
A smoker is a metal container used for smoldering material to produce smoke. The smoker limits the amount of oxygen for the fuel to produce a smoldering effect. A leather or plastic bellow provides fresh air as needed. Properly prepared, a smoker will smolder for quite a while.
I usually use wood shavings and dried pine needles. Don’t use anything with chemicals (like shavings from pressure-treated wood).
Smoke calms the bees during a hive inspection. Puffing some smoke on the bees causes them to gorge on honey as an emergency preparation for leaving the hive in the event of a fire. Smoke also disrupts the bees’ transmission of alarm pheromones.
The smoker is your friend. Keep it handy, but try to use it sparingly.
See our article for more information about bee smokers and how to use them.
6 – 8. Beekeeping Terms About Bees
Okay. You probably think this is stupid. You know what a bee is…more or less. But do you know the beekeeping terms for various castes of bees and their assigned chores?
For more detailed information on bees, start with our article What Are Honey Bees? A Beginner’s Guide To The Honey Bee or read the individual posts mentioned below.
Queen Bee
Of course, you know the queen bee.
The queen lays eggs to manage the colony’s population. Once mated, she is the only bee that lays fertilized eggs. She produces as many as 2,000 eggs per day.
The queen is longer and more tapered than the other bees. Her health is critical to the health of your hive. The colony takes its cue from her pheromone levels, which decline with age.
Learn more! Read our article about the queen bee, her role in the hive and her importance to the colony.
Worker Bees
The worker bees are females, other than the queen, and are the smallest bees in the colony. The majority of bees in a colony are worker bees.
During their life span of about six weeks, workers take on different chores as they age:
- Cleaning cells
- Taking care of the queen and nursing the brood (nurse bees)
- Fanning to maintain proper temperature and humidity in the hive
- Removing debris
- Storing food brought in by foragers and turning it into honey
- Propolizing cracks and crevices
- Removing dead bees (mortuary bees)
- Building the wax comb
- Guarding the hive (you’ll meet these guard bees)
- Foraging for nectar and pollen
Learn more! Read What Is A Worker Bee? for more information about these industrious females bees.
Drones
Drones are the male bees.
Drones are larger than other bees, though not as long as the queen. They have no stinger and are not built to forage.
The drone’s sole functions are to mate with virgin queens and help maintain the hive. In the fall, they are evicted from the hive to preserve food stores for the winter. The queen will make new drones the following spring by laying unfertilized eggs. Oh…and after a drone mates with the queen, his abdomen is ripped from his body as he pulls away, and he dies. Yikes!
Learn more about drone bees here.
9. Bee Space
When you assemble your first hive, you’ll notice symmetry in the spacing between frames, the space between the frames and the hive walls, and the space between the frames in one box and the frames in the box below it. This bee space of about 3/8″ leaves room for bees to move freely within the hive.
This gap is left free of wax and propolis (described below). Bees leave this space naturally in the wild.
The importance of bee space is also covered in our article about Langstroth hives.
10. Propolis
Propolis, also called bee glue, is a sticky, resinous mixture created from saliva, beeswax, and fluids secreted by plants that are picked up while foraging.
Bees propolize cracks and crevices. Openings smaller than the bee space are likely to be closed up. They will glue frames and the inner cover to the hive box. Propolis is one reason you need a hive tool for an inspection. The hive tool provides leverage to break the propolis bond and remove hive components.
You might also want to check out the potential medical uses of propolis as it “seems to have activity against bacteria, viruses, and fungi.” according to WebMD.
For more infromation see What Is Propolis?
11 -12 Bee Package and Nuc
Suppliers provide bees in two primary formats : bee packages and nucleus colonies (“nucs’ for short and pronounced “newks”).
A bee package is a box full of bees (approximately three pounds or 10,000 bees) along with a caged queen. The package includes sugar syrup to feed the bees until they are put in your hive.
A nuc is a one-box mini-hive with bees, a queen, and some frames with brood and food stores.
For more details see our articles about how to install a bee package and What is a Nuc?
Conclusion
Getting familiar with terminology is a key part of learning beekeeping.
Check out our series on how to start beekeeping for more information on all the topics covered in this article.
Additional Reading
What are some good books to learn beekeeping terminology?
My two favorite books on beekeeping are The Beekeeper’s Handbook and The Backyard Beekeeper. Beekeeping for dummies is extremely popular. These books are available on Amazon.
The Beekeeper’s Handbook – Fifth Edition
This has been our #1 book since we started beekeeping. It’s not just for beginners.
Beekeeping for dummies
Possibly the most recommended book for beginning beekeepers. Don’t be a dummy.
The Backyard Beekeeper – Fifth Edition
The Backyard Beekeeper is geared toward the hobby beekeeper with limited space.
The Beekeeper’s Handbook – Fifth Edition
This has been our #1 book since we started beekeeping. It’s not just for beginners.
Beekeeping for dummies
Possibly the most recommended book for beginning beekeepers. Don’t be a dummy.
The Backyard Beekeeper – Fifth Edition
The Backyard Beekeeper is geared toward the hobby beekeeper with limited space.
