Snowman’s field guide · Southwest Kansas
Beekeeping glossary
Common beekeeping terms and what they mean.
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- Apiary
- A place where bee colonies are kept. Explore →
- Brood
- Developing bees: eggs, larvae and pupae. Explore →
- Brood break
- An interruption in brood production; it can affect opportunities for mites to reproduce. Explore →
- Capped brood
- Developing bees in cells sealed with wax cappings. Varroa can reproduce inside these cells. Explore →
- Colony
- The living community of bees; the hive is its shelter. Explore →
- Dearth
- A period with little available nectar or pollen forage. Explore →
- Drone
- A male honey bee. Explore →
- Flow
- A period when bees are gathering plenty of nectar. It depends on the plants and weather. Explore →
- Forage
- The flowers and resources bees visit for food. Explore →
- Haplodiploidy
- The genetic system in which females usually have two chromosome sets and males one. Explore →
- IPM
- Integrated pest management: monitoring and combining suitable methods to limit pest damage. Explore →
- Nosema
- A common name for microscopic parasites that infect adult bees; also called Vairimorpha. Explore →
- Nuc
- A small established colony on frames, usually with a queen, brood and food. Explore →
- Oxalic acid vaporization
- A treatment for Varroa mites on adult bees, using an approved oxalic acid product according to its label. It does not reach mites under brood cappings. Explore →
- Queen
- The female bee that lays the colony’s eggs. Explore →
- Robbing
- Bees taking stored food from another colony. Explore →
- Super
- An additional hive box, often used to hold surplus honey. Explore →
- Supersedure
- The colony’s replacement of an existing queen. Explore →
- Swarming
- Colony reproduction in which a queen and part of the population leave to establish another nest. Explore →
- Varroa
- A parasitic mite of honey bees and an important carrier of bee viruses. Explore →
- Winter cluster
- Bees grouped together to conserve and generate heat in cold weather. Explore →
- Worker
- A female bee that performs colony care, defense or foraging work. Explore →
Educational guide · Updated October 20, 2026.
Observe your own colony and local conditions. For diagnosis or treatment decisions, use qualified local advice and the current product label.