Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Honey
—a sweet material produced by bees from the nectar of flowers, composed of
glucose and fructose sugars dissolved in about 18 percent water; contains small amounts
of sucrose, mineral matter, vitamins, proteins, and enzymes.
Honey flow
—a time when nectar is available and bees make and store honey.
Honey stomach
—a portion of the digestive system in the abdomen of the adult honey
bee used for carrying nectar, honey, or water.
Hygienic Bees
—honey bees that have a genetic trait that pushes them to remove dead,
diseased, or mite-infested larvae from a beehive are said to be hygienic.
Hymenoptera
—the order of insects that all bees belong to, as do ants, wasps, and saw-
flies.
Inner cover
—a lightweight cover used under a standard telescoping cover on a bee-
hive.
Italian bees
—most widely used race of honey bees in the United States; originally from
Italy.
Langstroth hive
—our modern-day, man-made, moveable frame hive named for the ori-
ginal designer.
Larva (plural, larvae)
—the second (feeding) stage of bee metamorphosis; a white,
legless, grublike insect.
Laying worker
—a worker that lays drone eggs, usually in colonies that are hopelessly
queenless.
Marked queen
—Some queen producers sell queens that they mark with a spot of paint
on the top surface of the thorax (the middle of three chief divisions of an insect's body).
This makes the queen much easier to find, and indicates whether the queen you have
found is the one you introduced or a new queen. Always use marked queens.
Mating flight
—the flight made by a virgin queen when she mates in the air with several
drones.
Metamorphosis
—the four stages (egg, larva, pupa, adult) through which a bee passes
during its life.
