UPMSP Class 12 Beekeeping - Code 215 key terms

The managed keeping of honey bee colonies in hives for honey, beeswax, pollination and other products. It differs from mere honey hunting because the beekeeper controls, feeds and protects the colonies.

The giant rock bee of India, nesting in single large open combs on cliffs, tall trees and buildings. It is highly defensive, migratory, and cannot be kept in standard movable-frame hives.

The dwarf bee of India, building a small single exposed comb around twigs. It is gentle and common in plains and gardens but yields very little surplus honey, so it is not managed commercially.

The Indian hive bee, a subspecies of the Asiatic honey bee kept widely in earthen pots, wall hives and modern wooden boxes. It is smaller than Apis mellifera, tolerant of local conditions, and prone to absconding.

The European honey bee, introduced to India for its high honey yield and gentle temper. It needs cooler, well-shaded sites, more sugar feeding, and careful management against Varroa mites and extreme heat.

Small tropical bees kept in India for pollination and medicinal honey. They lack a functional sting, store honey and pollen in resinous pots rather than wax combs, and need small, well-insulated nest boxes.

The complete social unit living in one nest: usually one queen, thousands of female workers and, in season, several hundred male drones. The colony behaves as a single reproductive and foraging unit.

The single normally developed female in a colony, with a long abdomen and short wings. She lays eggs and releases queen mandibular pheromone that suppresses worker ovary development and holds the colony together.

A female bee whose diet and rearing in a worker cell prevent full sexual development. Workers do all colony labour, from cell cleaning and nursing to foraging, guarding and wax building, and they possess the sting.

The male honey bee, developed from an unfertilised egg by arrhenotokous parthenogenesis. He has a blunt body, large eyes and no sting, does no hive work, and dies after mating with a virgin queen.

The mode of sex determination in honey bees in which unfertilised eggs become haploid males and fertilised eggs become diploid females. It explains why a laying worker colony produces only drones.

A protein-rich secretion from the hypopharyngeal glands of young nurse bees, fed to all larvae for the first three days. Larvae in queen cells receive it continuously, which triggers queen development.

An enlarged, peanut-shaped wax cell built to rear a queen. Swarm cells hang along comb edges, supersedure cells sit on comb face, and emergency cells are remodelled worker cells.

Colony reproduction in which the old queen leaves with about half the workers to found a new nest, leaving queen cells behind. It reduces honey yield and is managed by giving space and removing queen cells.

The abandonment of a hive by the entire colony, leaving brood, stores and comb behind. In India it is triggered by dearth, heat, pests, smoke, disturbance or repeated pesticide poisoning, and is common in Apis cerana.

The honey bee's sucking tongue assembly, formed by the glossa, galeae and labial palps folded into a tube. Its length limits which flowers a bee can work and matters in pollination studies.

The pollen basket, a fringed and polished depression on the outer hind tibia of a worker bee. It holds moistened pollen loads during flight and is absent in queens and drones.

Glands on the underside of a worker's abdomen that secrete wax scales in young adults. Wax is chewed and shaped into comb, so comb building depends on the age and feeding of workers.

A valved opening on the side of the bee's body through which air enters the tracheal system. The bee's gas exchange is unusual because air is pumped by abdominal movements rather than by lungs.

Air tubes that carry oxygen directly to bee tissues, branching into fine tracheoles. This system limits body size and explains why bees tire quickly and need ventilation in the hive.

The set of nectar- and pollen-yielding plants around an apiary, including crops, trees, shrubs and weeds. Beekeepers map its flowering calendar so colonies have continuous forage and surplus honey flows.

A period when abundant flowering allows colonies to collect more nectar than they consume, so surplus honey can be harvested. In India major flows follow monsoon and spring flowering of crops and trees.

A sugary liquid secreted by flowers to attract pollinators. Bees collect it, add enzymes, and evaporate water until the sugar concentration is high enough to store as honey without fermenting.

A worker, usually the oldest in the colony, that flies out to collect nectar, pollen, water or propolis. Foragers communicate the location of rich sources through the waggle and round dances.

A figure-of-eight movement by a returned forager that encodes the direction and distance of a food source. The straight run's angle relative to vertical indicates direction relative to the sun.

The transfer of pollen from anther to stigma, enabling fertilisation and fruit set. Honey bees are the most important managed pollinators, and renting hives to growers is a major income source.

A movable-frame hive built to the bee-space principle, with a brood chamber, supers and removable frames. It permits inspection and honey extraction without destroying comb and is the standard modern hive.

The gap of about 6 to 9 mm that bees leave open rather than filling with comb or propolis. Frame spacing and hive joints are designed around it so frames stay removable.

A box placed above the brood chamber to store surplus honey. It is added during a honey flow and removed at harvest, keeping food stores and brood separate from extracted honey.

A centrifuge that spins uncapped combs so honey is thrown out without breaking the comb. The empty comb is returned to the hive, saving the colony the large energy cost of building new wax.

A metal can with bellows that produces cool smoke to calm bees during inspection. Smoke masks alarm pheromone and prompts bees to gorge honey, reducing stinging.

The site where bee colonies are kept. A good apiary has continuous bee flora, water, shade, wind protection, easy access and separation from houses, livestock and pesticide-sprayed fields.

Moving colonies by truck or cart to follow flowering crops and avoid dearth, heat or pesticide damage. It raises honey yield and pollination income but stresses colonies and spreads pests.

Deliberate production of queens by grafting young larvae or using cell-builder colonies. It lets a beekeeper replace old queens, control stock quality and sell mated queens.

Transferring a very young larva from a worker cell into a queen cup using a fine tool. Grafted larvae are reared as queens by a strong, queenless cell-builder colony.

An external mite that feeds on bee fat body and brood, weakening colonies and spreading viruses. It is the most serious pest of Apis mellifera in India and is managed by screened boards, drone brood removal and approved treatments.

Galleria mellonella, whose larvae tunnel through beeswax comb, especially in weak or stored colonies. Strong colonies, good ventilation and proper storage of combs reduce damage.

A severe bacterial brood disease caused by Paenibacillus larvae, killing larvae after capping and leaving ropy, dark remains. It spreads by spores on equipment, so burning frames and sterilising tools are advised.

The process in which bees evaporate nectar water and add enzymes, raising sugar concentration until honey keeps without fermenting. Capped honey is ripe and safe to harvest.

The percentage of water in honey, measured with a refractometer. Values above about 20 percent risk fermentation, so honey should be harvested capped and stored sealed in dry conditions.

A sticky resin collected from buds and bark, used by bees to seal cracks and sterilise the nest. It is harvested for sale in health products and is also called bee glue.

Wax secreted by worker bees and built into comb. It is harvested from old combs and cappings and sold for candles, cosmetics and foundation sheets, adding value beyond honey.

A structured examination of frames for queen presence, brood pattern, stores, pests and disease. Records of dates, findings and actions help the beekeeper track colony performance season by season.