Beekeeping Glossary
Essential beekeeping terms — from frames to foragers.
CANDY BOARD
A solid sugar supplement placed directly over the winter cluster to provide emergency carbohydrate feed when bees cannot access their honey stores or when stores run low. It also helps absorb excess moisture inside the hive during winter.
CAPPED BROOD
Developing bee larvae that have been sealed inside their cells with a wax covering, signaling they are entering the pupal stage. Worker brood caps appear slightly domed and tan-colored, while drone brood caps are noticeably more raised and bullet-shaped. A solid, consistent pattern of capped brood across a frame is one of the best signs of a healthy, productive queen.
CAPPINGS
The thin wax lids bees use to seal honey-filled cells once the moisture content is low enough for long-term storage. During extraction, beekeepers slice or scratch these cappings off to expose the honey beneath. The removed cappings themselves are rich in beeswax and residual honey, making them a prized byproduct worth rendering for candles, lip balm, or other wax products.
CASTES
The three distinct types of individuals that make up a honey bee colony — the queen, the workers, and the drones. Each caste has a specific body structure, lifespan, and role. The queen lays eggs, workers handle every other colony task from nursing to foraging, and drones exist primarily to mate with virgin queens. A balanced colony requires all three castes working in concert.
CELL
A single six-sided wax compartment within the comb, built by worker bees with remarkable geometric precision. Cells serve double duty in the hive: the colony uses them to raise brood and to store honey and pollen. Cell size varies slightly depending on purpose — worker brood cells are smaller than drone cells, and queen cells are dramatically larger and shaped like a peanut.
CELL BUILDER
A specially prepared colony used in queen rearing to draw out, feed, and cap grafted queen cells. Cell builders are typically queenless or queen-right colonies set up with abundant nurse bees and ample food stores to maximize the quality of queens they produce.
CHALKBROOD
A fungal disease of honey bee brood caused by Ascosphaera apis, which turns infected larvae into hard, chalky white or gray mummies that can often be found at the hive entrance or on the bottom board. It is most common in cool, damp conditions and is usually managed by improving hive ventilation and requeening with hygienic stock.
CHECKERBOARDING
A swarm-prevention technique in which frames of capped honey in the super above the brood nest are alternated with empty drawn frames, creating a checkerboard pattern. This tricks the colony into perceiving open space above the brood nest and reduces the urge to swarm.
CHILLED BROOD
Developing larvae or pupae that have died from exposure to cold temperatures, typically when the adult bee population cannot generate enough warmth to cover all the brood. It often appears as discolored, sunken, or patchy capped cells. Chilled brood can result from a sudden cold snap, a sharp drop in population after splitting a colony, or removing too many bees during an inspection on a cool day.
CHUNK HONEY
A style of honey packaging that combines the best of two worlds — a jar filled partway with a cut piece of capped honeycomb, then topped off with liquid extracted honey. The result is visually striking and offers customers both the rich chew of comb honey and the pourable convenience of liquid honey. It makes a wonderful gift and is a crowd-pleaser at farmers markets.
CLARIFYING
The process of removing suspended wax particles, air bubbles, and fine debris from extracted honey to produce a cleaner, clearer final product. This is typically done by allowing honey to rest undisturbed in a tank so impurities float to the surface and can be skimmed off. Gentle warming can speed the process, but high heat should be avoided to preserve honey's flavor and beneficial enzymes.
CLARIFYING TANK
A specialized holding vessel, usually made of food-grade stainless steel, used to settle and clarify honey after extraction. Most clarifying tanks feature a bottom-mounted gate valve for controlled dispensing and a lid to keep honey clean during the settling period. Allowing honey to rest in a clarifying tank for one to three days produces a noticeably cleaner, better-looking product ready for bottling.
CLUSTER
The tight, ball-shaped formation bees adopt inside the hive during cold weather to generate and conserve heat. Worker bees on the outer shell of the cluster pack closely together, while those inside shiver their flight muscles to produce warmth. The cluster moves slowly through the hive over winter, consuming stored honey as it goes. Its size and position are critical factors in colony survival through the cold months.
COLONY
The complete, interdependent community of honey bees living together in a single hive, functioning almost like a single superorganism. A healthy colony typically includes one mated queen, tens of thousands of worker bees, and a few hundred to several thousand drones depending on the season. Every member plays a role in the collective survival of the group, from temperature regulation and food storage to defense and reproduction.
COMB
The intricate structure of hexagonal wax cells that bees construct inside the hive, forming the physical foundation of colony life. Worker bees produce beeswax from glands on their abdomens and shape it into comb with extraordinary consistency. The colony uses comb to store honey and pollen and to rear all of its young. Well-drawn, straight comb on frames makes inspections easier and the beekeeper's life considerably simpler.
COMB FOUNDATION
A pre-formed sheet of beeswax or plastic, stamped with a hexagonal cell pattern, that beekeepers place inside frames to guide bees in building straight, uniform comb. Without foundation, bees may draw comb at odd angles that make frame removal difficult. Foundation gives the bees a head start and encourages them to draw comb in alignment with the frame, which is especially helpful for new colonies working to build up quickly.
COMB HONEY
Honey sold or consumed still sealed inside its original beeswax comb, exactly as the bees built and stored it. Many people consider it the purest form of honey because it requires no extraction equipment and undergoes no processing whatsoever. The wax is edible and adds a subtle, pleasant chew. Producing quality comb honey takes careful hive management to encourage bees to cap comb cleanly and evenly.
CREAMED HONEY
Honey that has been intentionally encouraged to crystallize into a smooth, spreadable consistency through a controlled process. A small quantity of finely crystallized honey is blended into liquid honey as a seed, then stored at a cool temperature until the whole batch solidifies uniformly. The result is velvety, easy to spread, and resists the coarse, grainy crystallization that can happen naturally. It is also known as whipped or spun honey.
CRIMP-WIRED FOUNDATION
A style of beeswax foundation that is reinforced with vertical wires crimped directly into the wax sheet during manufacturing. The embedded wires add structural strength, helping the foundation resist sagging or breaking during extraction when frames spin at high speed in a honey extractor. It is a reliable and widely used option for beekeepers who extract honey, offering durability without requiring the beekeeper to wire their own frames.
CROSS-POLLINATION
The transfer of pollen from the flower of one plant to the flower of a genetically different plant of the same species, enabling fertilization and fruit or seed production. Honey bees are among the most effective agents of cross-pollination because they forage consistently on one flower type per trip and visit enormous numbers of blooms daily. Many of the fruits, vegetables, and nuts humans rely on depend on this service that bees provide.
CRYSTALLIZATION
The natural process by which liquid honey gradually transforms into a solid or semi-solid state as glucose molecules form crystals and separate from the solution. Nearly all raw honey will crystallize eventually — some varieties within weeks, others after many months. Crystallization does not mean honey has spoiled; it is simply a physical change. Gently warming crystallized honey in a warm water bath will reliably return it to a liquid state.
CUT-COMB HONEY
Sections of fully capped honeycomb cut directly from frames and packaged as-is for sale or gift. Unlike chunk honey, cut-comb honey is presented on its own without added liquid honey surrounding it. The comb is typically cut into small squares or rectangles and packed in shallow plastic or wood containers. It commands a premium price and is valued for its natural presentation and the satisfying experience of eating honey straight from the comb.