Beekeeping Glossary

An optical instrument used to measure the water content of honey by passing light through a small sample and reading the refraction angle. Honey should contain 18.6% water or less to prevent fermentation, and a refractometer is the standard tool for making this determination before extraction or sale.

The process of replacing a colony's existing queen with a new one, done to improve genetics, increase productivity, reduce defensiveness, or restart a failing colony. Requeening is typically performed every one to two years by many beekeepers, as younger queens are generally more prolific layers.

Aggressive behavior in which bees from one colony attempt to raid and steal stored honey from a neighboring or weakened hive, typically intensifying during periods when nectar is scarce in the field. Beekeepers can recognize robbing by the frantic, fighting activity at the entrance and should act quickly to reduce hive entrances and protect vulnerable colonies.

A mesh screen placed over the hive entrance that forces bees to navigate around the front of the hive to a side entrance, confusing robber bees from other colonies who are unfamiliar with the hive location. Robbing screens are particularly useful during dearth periods when robbing pressure is high.

A protein-rich secretion produced by the hypopharyngeal glands of nurse bees, fed exclusively to queen larvae throughout their development and to all young larvae during their first few days of life. It is the continuous, unrestricted diet of royal jelly that triggers the development of a larva into a queen rather than a worker.