Beekeeping Glossary
Essential beekeeping terms — from frames to foragers.
PACKAGE BEES
A screened box containing approximately two to three pounds of adult worker bees and a separately caged, mated queen — typically sourced from commercial producers in warm climates and shipped to beekeepers in early spring. Installing a package is one of the most common ways beginners start their first colony. The process involves introducing the bees to an empty hive and allowing them to gradually accept their new queen before she is released to begin laying.
PAENIBACILLUS LARVAE
The bacterium responsible for American Foulbrood (AFB), one of the most serious and destructive brood diseases in beekeeping. Spores ingested by young larvae germinate in the gut, killing the brood in the capped cell stage. Infected larvae turn brown and ropy with a distinctive sour odor. There is no treatment that eliminates spores — infected equipment must be burned in most jurisdictions. Early detection and reporting to your state apiarist is critical to preventing its spread.
PDB (PARADICHLOROBENZENE)
A chemical fumigant in crystal form used to protect empty stored combs from wax moth damage. It should never be used in hives with bees or honey present, as residues can be harmful.
PHEROMONES
Chemical signals produced by bees that trigger specific behaviors or physiological responses in other members of the colony. These molecular messengers govern everything from alarm responses and foraging recruitment to queen recognition and suppression of worker reproduction.
PIPING
A series of tooting and quacking sounds produced by queens during the swarming and supersedure process as virgin queens communicate with each other and signal their presence in the hive. A virgin queen that has emerged pipes loudly, while capped queen cells respond with a muffled quacking sound.
PLAY FLIGHT
The orientation flights made by young bees venturing outside the hive for the first time, during which they hover and circle near the entrance to memorize the hive's location before their foraging career begins. Beekeepers often notice these as a brief, buzzing cloud of bees in front of the hive on warm afternoons.
POLLEN
The protein-rich powder produced by flower anthers that bees actively collect and bring back to the hive to feed developing larvae and young nurse bees. Without an adequate supply of pollen, a colony cannot rear healthy brood or maintain its population.
POLLEN BASKET
A specialized structure on each of a honey bee's hind legs, consisting of a smooth concave surface fringed by stiff hairs that hold a compacted pellet of pollen in place during flight back to the hive. These bright orange, yellow, or cream-colored pellets are often clearly visible on foragers returning to the entrance.
POLLEN SUBSTITUTE
A protein feed formulated from ingredients such as soy flour, brewer's yeast, or dried egg products that beekeepers offer when natural pollen is scarce. While no substitute perfectly replicates real pollen, these products can help sustain colonies through periods of nutritional stress.
POLLEN SUPPLEMENT
A protein feed that blends real pollen with substitute ingredients, typically offered in early spring to give colonies a nutritional boost before natural forage becomes available. The inclusion of genuine pollen improves palatability and nutritional value compared to a substitute alone.
POLLEN TRAP
A device fitted to the hive entrance that brushes incoming foragers' hind legs across a screen, causing pollen pellets to drop into a collection drawer below. Beekeepers use traps to harvest pollen for sale or storage, though trapping should be done in moderation to avoid depriving the colony of essential protein.
POLLINATION
The process by which pollen is moved from a flower's male structures to its female receptive surface, enabling fertilization and seed or fruit development. Honey bees are among the most effective pollinators of both agricultural crops and wild plants, making their role in ecosystems far broader than honey production alone.
PRIMARY SWARM
The first and typically largest swarm to depart a colony, led by the existing mated queen who leaves with a large group of workers to establish a new home. Because this swarm contains the proven queen, it generally has the strongest chance of successfully founding a new colony.
PROBOSCIS
The elongated, tube-like tongue of the honey bee used to collect nectar from flowers and to exchange liquid food between bees through trophallaxis. Bee proboscis length varies among races and is a factor in which flower species a bee can efficiently exploit for nectar.
PROPOLIS
A sticky, resinous substance that bees gather from tree buds and plant sap, then use inside the hive to seal gaps, coat rough surfaces, and reinforce comb attachments. Beyond its structural role, propolis has potent antimicrobial properties that contribute to the overall health of the colony.
PUPA
The capped developmental stage during which a honey bee larva undergoes a complete transformation into an adult, reorganizing its internal structures to form the legs, wings, eyes, and organs of the mature bee. This process takes roughly twelve days for a worker, after which the young bee chews through the wax cap to emerge.