A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |   bacillus larvae a straight, rod-shaped, bacterium which reproduces by forming spores; causes the disease American foulbrood in honeybees. The reproductive spores of bacillus larvae are especially hardy, sometimes surviving from 40 to 60 years. See also: American foulbrood |
| bee blower a high-speed, powered air blower used to remove bees from the honeycombs before honey extraction |
 Darker-colored cells contain bee bread | beebread See it bitter yellowish brown pollen stored up in honeycomb cells and used by bees as food, mixed with nectar or honey; the illustration here shows honeybees on a frame of comb, and the beebread is the dark-colored pollen stored in the cells. |
 Honeybee Brush |  bee brush  See ita soft brush used to remove honeybees from combs during hive inspection or honey harvesting |
| bee escape a frame that is inserted between the brood boxes and the honey supers to allow worker bees to escape from the supers but not return; used as a method for evacuating all worker bees from a honey super before removing the supers for honey extraction; bee escapes require a day to evacuate all workers from the supers; BeeCARE recommends a fume board and benzaldehyde for faster results. |
 Langstroth-style hives | beehive See it a container for housing honeybees, consisting of a base, a lower rectangular hive body containing removable frames for brood, one or more upper supers that provide room for the storage honey, and a weather tight top cover See also: Starter Hive |
 Beekeeper uniting two hives | beekeeping See it the practice of keeping honeybee hives in an apiary, typically for the purposes of enjoyment as a hobby, use or sale of the honey and beeswax, or crop pollination. One who practices beekeeping is called a "beekeeper". |
 Worker bees tending to honeycomb cells containing eggs | bee metamorphosis See it the process whereby a honeybee grows through several developmental stages, from an egg into an adult bee. A queen lays an egg into a brood cell, the egg develops into a larva, which then becomes a pupa, and finally matures into an adult bee. See also: Honeybee Metamorphosis |
 Each frame is separated by a bee space | bee space See it the space between combs and other hive parts which gives the bees proper room to work; a smaller space prevents them from building comb properly and a larger space encourages bees to build brace comb or burr comb; a bee space is normally a 1/4 to 3/8-inch gap. In this illustration, bees can be seen crawling up from between the frames, which are spaced so that the bees will build out the combs on each frame where the combs will be the proper bee space apart. |
 Bee Suit | bee suit See it a long, full-body Suit, usually made from light cotton and polyester, which a beekeeper wears for protection and comfort while opening the beehives in the apiary or while handling wild honeybee swarms See also: Basic Beekeeping Equipment, Protective Clothing |
 Wild honeybees in a bee tree | bee tree See also: Feral Colony |
 Collapsible bee veil integrated into a bee suit | bee veil See it a fine-mesh netting worn on the head that protects the beekeeper from stings on the head and neck See also: Basic Beekeeping Equipment, Protective Clothing |
 Honeybee stinger, which injects bee venom | bee venom See it poisonous matter delivered by honeybees by stinging, which is mainly a defensive reaction; the poison is secreted by special glands attached to the sting of the bee. When a honeybee stings a creature with thick, soft skin, such as a human, its barbed stinger and sting sac are pulled out of the bee's abdomen, which kills the bee. A honeybee that stings another insect while defending its hive or honey source normally will not die, unless it is also stung. See also: anaphylactic shock, sting |
 Beeswax containing capped honey (white cells at top), uncapped nectar (open cells in the center), and brood cells (darker, capped cells toward the bottom) | beeswax  See ita wax created and used by honeybees as the building material for constructing their nest. Young worker bees secrete beeswax from wax glands on the underside of their abdomen. The bees chew the wax and build the honeycomb from this chewed wax substance. The wax becomes hard when formed into the cell walls of the comb, but becomes soft and flexible when warmed above 100°F. The melting point of beeswax is around 145°F. Pure beeswax that has not been coated with protein contaminants, such as larval tissues, etc., is very light-colored yellow, almost white, as illustrated here. Beeswax is useful for various applications, including candle-making, cosmetics, modeling, and furniture polish. The wax can be rendered by melting the honeycomb using boiling water, straining the wax to filter out any foreign particles, and cooling it. |
| benzaldehyde a clear, nontoxic liquid used to drive honeybees from supers in preparation for honey extraction. Benzaldehyde smells like almond oil, but is usually made from toluene; also called artificial bitter almond oil. |
 Boardman feeder used for watering the hive | boardman feeder See it an inverted jar for feeding honeybees in warm weather, with a base that fits outside the hive on one side of the hive entrance. BeeCARE does not recommend this feeder for feeding syrup, as this use encourages hive robbing by other bees and insects and requires front manipulation of the hive for refilling. For these and other reasons, we recommend only using a hive-top feeder for feeding syrup. However, a Boardman feeder is suitable for watering the hive. See also: Boardman Feeder, Feeding and Watering, Dual-Access Hive-top Feeder, Watering |
 Old-style bottom board
|  bottom board See itthe beehive's interior floor; the bottom board may sit on various platforms, such as landing boards, hive stands or pallets. BeeCARE's exclusive Ramped Bottom Board and Ultimate Bottom Board are superior alternatives to the old-style bottom board. See also: Starter Hive, Ramped Bottom Board, Ultimate Bottom Board |
 Brace comb built out from an empty frame | brace comb See it honeycomb built between two combs to fasten them together, between a comb and adjacent wood, or between two wooden parts such as a frame's top bars. See also: burr comb |
 Queen and her brood | brood See it the eggs and young of the honeybee, still in the brood cells in one of the juvenile stages of metamorphosis: egg, larva, or pupa See also: bee metamorphosis, capped brood |
 Open brood box with six empty frames, during setup of a new beehive | brood box See it a hive box in which the brood are raised; brood boxes are placed below the honey supers. The brood chamber is contained within a brood box. See also: Starter Hive, brood chamber, brood, honey super, hive box |
 Inspecting a brood chamber | brood chamber See it the interior of the hive boxes that contain the brood nest in a man-made beehive; the part of the comb set aside for brood rearing |
 Brood Cluster in a new colony | brood cluster  See itthe mass of adult honeybees and brood, which designates the location of the brood nest in the hive See also: winter cluster |
 View of a brood nest from the tops of the frames | brood nest See it the area of the hive containing the highest concentration of brood cells and adult honeybees; the area where the queen is actively laying eggs; the brood nest may gradually move into other portions of the hive as the worker bees build more comb and the queen moves into the areas of newly-built comb to lay more eggs. The nest also moves with the queen as she moves into areas of the hive that previously contained brood and now have empty cells, in which she can lay more eggs. |
 Slatted Brood Rack for additional ventilation and wind control | Brood Rack See it a BeeCARE-exclusive wooden rack that contains slats, used for better hive ventilation and congestion control. The Brood Rack fits between the bottom board and the lower brood chamber. Honeybees use the slats as a perch when ventilating the hive by fanning their wings, and the large slat at the front of the rack breaks up the wind turbulence that often occurs near the entrance. This increased ventilation control encourages the workers to develop comb closer to the front of the frames, and the queen lays eggs in this additional space. This better utilizes the lower brood chamber and producing more brood. The rack also produces less comb gnawing and less congestion at the front entrance. BeeCARE recommends a Brood Rack on every one of your hives. See also: Starter Hive, brood, brood box, hive box |
 Burr comb honeybees built onto the bottom of a hive-top feeder | burr comb See it a bit of wax built upon a comb or upon a wooden part in a hive but not connected to any other part See also: brace comb |
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