Glossary - The Backyard Beekeeper - page 248

Russian Bees —a line of honey bees that had spent generations exposed to varroa mites
without miticides. They were brought to the U.S. from eastern Russia for their innate
resistance to mites.
Scout bees —foraging bees, primarily searching for pollen, nectar, propolis, water, or a
new home.
Skeps —a woven basketlike container, often covered with mud or dung, used to house
honey bees.
Small hive beetle —a destructive beetle that is a beehive/honey house pest living gen-
erally in the warmer areas of the U.S. Originally from South Africa.
Smoker —a device used to produce smoke, used when working a colony.
Solar wax melter —a glass-covered insulated box used to melt wax from combs and
cappings.
Spermatheca —an internal organ of the queen that stores the sperm of the drone.
Sting —the modified ovipositor of a honey bee used by workers in defense of the hive
and by the queen to kill rival queens.
Sucrose —principal sugar found in nectar.
Super —a hive body used for storing surplus honey placed above the brood chamber.
Supersedure —a natural or emergency replacement of an established queen by a daugh-
ter in the same hive.
Surplus honey —honey stored by bees in the hive that can be used by the beekeeper
and is not needed by the bees.
Swarm —about half the workers, a few drones, and usually the queen that leave the par-
ent colony to establish a new colony.
Swarm cell —developing queen cell usually found on the bottom of the frames reared
by bees before swarming.
Terramycin —an antibiotic used to treat European foulbrood. Also used for American
foulbrood prevention, but it is not effective in killing the spore stage of this disease.