Beekeeping ABC

List, where you can find brief explanations of the bee terminology we use.

There is much more specialized vocabulary used in the field, but to keep this list somewhat manageable, we have compiled only the specialized vocabulary found on the pages of Metsätupa honey.

bee breed = In Finland, four different honey bee breeds are mainly kept: Carniolan, Italian, Buckfast, and the dark bee of the North. Our hives house Italians, as the same breed was already kept in the neighboring area. Mixing of breeds is avoided because mixed breeds may swarm more easily and be more aggressive towards their keeper.

brooding = The queen's task is to lay abundantly so that there are enough worker bees in the hive to ensure its well-being. A fresh, evenly laid comb tells the beekeeper of the queen's presence, even if the queen herself does not appear during that hive visit.

cleansing flight = Bees hold their needs throughout the winter. When the first sufficiently warm and calm day of spring arrives, the bees go on a cleansing flight to empty their intestines. It is important that the hive is not disturbed in the spring before the cleansing flight, so that the bees do not have an accident inside the hive.

division and making a division = A procedure in which the frames and bees of the hive are divided into two or more parts. Divisions, and sometimes also the original hive, receive a new queen. Divisions are made when there is a desire to increase the number of hives.

drone = A male bee whose only task is to mate with a young queen that has gone on a nuptial flight. Most drones never get to fulfill their task. Unlike female bees and the queen, drones do not have a stinger at all.

drone frame = A regular brood frame from which half of the comb has been cut away with a knife. Bees build slightly larger cells suitable for drone larvae in the empty space, and the queen lays drones in them. Once the cells are covered with wax, the beekeeper cuts the comb away. Since varroa mites prefer to hide in these cells to reproduce, this reduces the number of mites even during the harvest season.

escape board = A wooden board with a large hole in the middle and a plastic escape below it. It is placed under a full honey super at the end of summer. Bees pass through the hole in the board and through the escape tunnels to the lower layers, but due to the small openings of the escape, they do not immediately know how to return the same way. The escape is usually kept in place for only a couple of days, as if it is left too long, the bees eventually learn to go back the wrong way as well.

entrance = A wide opening at the bottom of the hive. The entrance can be reduced with an entrance reducer if, for example, a smaller division needs to defend its hive more easily. In winter, a mouse guard with several smaller openings, which are passable for bees but not for mice, is placed in front of the entrance.

feeding box = There are many different types of feeding boxes and methods. We use a Honey Paw brand styrofoam box, which keeps the solution warm longer and can hold a bucket of winter feed at a time.

frame (brood, honey, or pollen) = Generally a rectangular frame made of wood, into which bees build their comb. There are usually ten frames in one hive section, and they contain, depending on the location, brood and eggs, pollen, nectar, or honey covered with wax.

frame tongs = A tool that makes it easy to lift frames in the hive for the beekeeper to see. During extraction, cake lifters are used to lift full honey frames onto the uncapping stand. Honey frames are often also referred to as honey cakes.

hive box or hive section = A box that usually contains 10 frames and is made of wood, styrofoam, or a combination of these. Sections can be stacked on top of each other as many as the beekeeper can lift. The lower sections usually contain brood and pollen frames, while the upper sections contain honey frames. The most popular box sizes in Finland are Farrar and Langstroth.

hive visit = A management procedure during which the frames of the brood section of the hive are inspected. This is done from spring to autumn approximately every 7-9 days, so that any intention to swarm, lack of space, or queenlessness can be responded to in time.

landing board = A wooden board about the width of the hive on which returning bees can land. It is usually used in the spring as a landing platform in front of the entrance and in the winter raised against the hive wall as a protection for the entrance. In summer, the landing board is removed so that ants do not march in a line through it into the entrance.

light hive = A hive whose roof, hive sections, and bottom are made of durable styrofoam. It saves the beekeeper's back and insulates well both in the summer heat and in the winter cold. In winter, it requires a protective net around it to guard against woodpeckers.

mite control = The varroa mite is an external parasite of bees and the beekeeper's most persistent arch-enemy. Mites are controlled in the summer by removing drone combs from the hive, where mites prefer to reproduce. After the harvest in the autumn, mites are controlled using natural acids, such as formic acid, thymol, and oxalic acid. If mite control is not done at all, the hive will eventually die from virus diseases caused by the mites.

swarm = Bees reproduce by swarming. The old queen lays eggs in the queen cells built by the bees, after which she is run by the bees into flight condition. The old queen leaves with the swarm to find a new nesting place. Preventing swarming is one of the beekeeper's most important tasks, as kept bees cannot survive in the Finnish wilderness. The genetics of the queen has a significant impact on how eagerly the hive wants to swarm during the summer.

queen = The queen bee, the most important and largest bee in the hive.

queen excluder = A grid made of metal or plastic through which the queen cannot pass. An excluder can ensure that the queen remains in the brood sections and does not get lost laying in the honey sections. The queen is also easier to find when it is known that she resides in the lowest boxes of the hive. The use of the excluder begins in early summer as the number of boxes in the hive increases and is removed in the autumn when feeding begins.

winter ball = Unlike many other insects, bees do not hibernate in winter. Instead of hibernating, they keep each other warm by forming a ball that varies in size according to the temperature. During the winter, the ball moves slowly up through the hive, while eating the winter food packed into the cells in the autumn.

winter bee = In August, the queen begins laying winter bees. When winter bees develop into adults, there is no longer anything to collect from nature. Therefore, their first tasks include packing winter food into the cells. After that, their purpose is to keep the queen and each other warm until spring. In spring, they collect pollen and nectar for the hive, with which they raise the first summer bees of the coming summer.

winter feeding = When the last honey supers are taken from the hives for extraction in the autumn, winter feeding of the bees begins at the same time. There is always some honey left in the hive, but Finland has a long winter and bees need energy to survive it. Winter food is made from water and sugar, which the bees suck from the feeding box and pack into the cells themselves. Pure sugar does not fill the bees' intestines in the same way as honey, so it is easier for the bees to wait for the spring cleansing flight.

woodpecker net = A metal net placed over and around the hive for winter, which prevents woodpeckers from pecking holes in the sides of light hives throughout the winter.