Glossary

This glossary explains the words beekeepers use in Australia, in plain language. Where an Australian rule differs from overseas books and websites, the entry says so. For the rules that apply to you, see Registering your hives. For hive types and parts, see Choosing a hive.

A–B

Abscond. When a whole colony leaves its hive and does not come back, usually because of pests, disease or other stress. Unlike a swarm, nothing is left behind.

Alcohol wash. A test for varroa mites. A sample of bees is shaken in alcohol to separate the mites from the bees so they can be counted. The bees and mites in the sample are killed.

American foulbrood (AFB). A serious bacterial disease that kills bee larvae. It is notifiable in every Australian state and territory.

Apiary. A place where bee hives and equipment are kept. Also called a bee yard.

Asian honey bee. A different honey bee species (Apis cerana) from the European honey bee kept by beekeepers. It is a notifiable pest.

Asian hornet. A hornet (Vespa velutina) that preys on honey bees at the hive and robs brood to feed its own young. It is not in Australia. See Exotic threats.

Bald brood. Sealed brood where wax moth larvae have partly removed the cappings, exposing the pupae underneath, often in lines that follow the path of the larva. See Wax moth.

Barrier management. Keeping groups of hives separate and not swapping bees, comb or gear between the groups, so a disease in one group is less likely to spread to another. See Foulbrood.

Beeswax. The wax that worker bees make from glands on the underside of the abdomen and shape into comb.

Bottom board. The floor of the hive. The boxes sit on it.

Brood. All the young bees that have not yet emerged from their cells: eggs, larvae and pupae.

Brood box. The box, usually the lowest in the hive, where the queen lays eggs and the brood is raised.

Brood pattern. How the brood is laid out on a frame. A solid block of brood with few empty cells is what to look for. A patchy pattern is worth investigating. See Inspections and records.

C–D

Capping. The thin wax lid bees put over a cell. Brood cells are capped while the young bee develops. Honey cells are capped when the honey is ripe.

Cast swarm. A smaller, later swarm that leaves after the first swarm, usually led by a young unmated queen. Also called an afterswarm.

Catch box. An empty hive that attracts swarms. Swarms found in catch boxes are identified and checked for exotic pests. The Code of Practice requires records of hive movements, including swarm catch boxes. See Exotic threats.

Cell builder. A strong colony with plenty of young nurse bees that starts and then finishes queen cells during queen rearing. See Queen rearing.

Chalkbrood. A fungal disease of bee larvae. The dead larvae dry into hard, chalky white or grey lumps called mummies.

Cluster. A tight ball of bees. In cold weather the colony forms a winter cluster to keep warm.

Code of Practice (biosecurity). The Australian Honey Bee Industry Biosecurity Code of Practice. It is a set of expected practices developed by industry, covering registration, reporting diseases, inspections, records and hive labelling. Part B applies to all beekeepers where the Code has been legislated in the state or territory, and Part C adds extra requirements for those who manage 20 or more hives. Whether it is legally enforced depends on the state.

Colony. The bees living together as one unit: a queen, workers, drones (in season) and developing brood.

Comb. The wax structure of six-sided cells where bees raise brood and store honey and pollen.

Dearth. A period when little or no nectar or pollen is available. Robbing is more likely during a dearth.

Drawn comb. Comb the bees have already built out, as opposed to foundation. Offering drawn comb rather than foundation, where you can, helps avoid a honey-bound colony in a strong flow. See Swarm prevention and control.

Drifting. Bees going into a hive that is not their own, often because hives are close together or look alike.

Drone. A male honey bee. Drones do not collect food or sting. Their job is to mate with queens.

Drone brood. Brood that will become drones. Raised, domed drone cappings across the frame, or drone brood in worker-size cells, point to a drone-laying queen or laying workers. See Requeening.

Drone layer. A colony laying only drone eggs. The term is used for an unmated or infertile queen. A laying worker can cause the same problem. Either way, the colony has a problem that needs attention.

E–H

Egg. The first stage of a bee’s life, laid by the queen at the bottom of a cell. Finding eggs shows the queen has been laying recently.

European foulbrood (EFB). A bacterial disease that kills young larvae before their cells are capped. It is reportable in every state and territory except Queensland.

Extractor. A machine that spins honey out of uncapped frames, leaving the comb intact so it can be used again.

Feral bees. Honey bees that live wild and are not managed by a beekeeper. They are European honey bees that escaped from hives, often nesting in tree hollows.

Forager. An older worker bee, usually about three weeks old or more, that leaves the hive to collect nectar, pollen, water and propolis.

Foundation. A thin sheet of beeswax or plastic stamped with a cell pattern. It is fitted in a frame to guide the bees to build straight comb.

Frame. A wooden or plastic rectangle that holds the comb in a hive. Frames can be lifted out one at a time for inspection.

Freeze-killed brood test. The test Extension Australia recommends for Australia to check hygienic behaviour, using liquid nitrogen to kill a patch of sealed brood. A colony must remove at least 95% of the dead brood to count as hygienic. See Breeding for resistance.

General biosecurity obligation (GBO). The Queensland term, under the Biosecurity Act 2014 (Qld), for a legal duty to take all reasonable and practical steps so that your beekeeping does not spread pests, diseases or contaminants. New South Wales has a similar “general biosecurity duty” in its Biosecurity Act 2015 (NSW).

Grafting. Moving very young larvae (day-old) from worker cells into artificial queen cups, so the bees raise them as queens. See Queen rearing.

Hive. The boxes a colony lives in, including the brood box and supers. The word is also used for the colony itself.

Hive brand (hive identification). A registration number marked on your hives so inspectors can identify the owner. Victoria and Western Australia call it a brand. Queensland issues a Hive Identification Number (HIN) instead. Rules differ by state.

Hive tool. A flat metal tool used to open hives, pry frames apart and scrape off wax and propolis.

Honey. The sweet food bees make by collecting nectar and drying it down until it is ripe, then sealing it in the comb.

Honey-bound. A brood nest where nectar is stored in cells the queen would otherwise use. It is one of the signs a colony may swarm. See Swarm prevention and control.

Honey flow. A period when a lot of nectar is available and bees can store surplus honey.

Honey super. See Super.

Hygienic behaviour. Worker bees detecting dead or diseased capped brood, uncapping the cell, and removing the brood from the cell and the hive. Hygienic traits can be bred into bees. See Breeding for resistance.

I–M

Inspection. Opening the hive and checking the brood, the queen, food stores and any pests or disease. Regular inspection of brood and honey combs is a basic part of keeping bees.

Irradiation (gamma). Sterilisation of honey, pollen or hive equipment. American foulbrood spores can be present in honey and pollen, so bees should not be fed honey or pollen unless it has been irradiated. Irradiating boxes and frames is also one way equipment from a destroyed foulbrood colony is dealt with. See Foulbrood.

Langstroth. A widely used hive design: a stack of rectangular boxes holding removable frames. Agriculture Victoria says almost all beekeepers in Victoria use the 8- or 10-frame full-depth size.

Larva. The grub-like second stage of a bee’s life. Larvae hatch from eggs and are fed by nurse bees.

Laying worker. A worker bee that lays unfertilised eggs in a colony that has lost its queen. Because she has never mated, her eggs become drones only.

Lot identification. A code on a honey jar that links it back to the batch it came from, so a problem can be traced. See Selling honey.

Matchstick test. A field test for foulbrood. A clean matchstick is pushed into a suspect cell and drawn out slowly. A long, dark-brown, ropey thread suggests American foulbrood. A short, light thread suggests European foulbrood. It only works on moist remains, and a negative result does not rule out disease. See Foulbrood.

Mating nuc. A small nucleus colony, one per queen cell, where a new queen emerges, mates and starts laying. See Queen rearing.

Migratory beekeeping. Moving hives from place to place during a season to follow honey flows or to pollinate crops.

N–Q

Nectar. The sugary liquid flowers make. Bees turn it into honey.

Nosema. A gut parasite of adult bees that weakens colonies. Its signs are vague and easy to confuse with other problems.

Notifiable. A pest or disease that you must report to the state agriculture department as soon as you find or suspect it. The list differs by state. American foulbrood and varroa mite are examples.

Nucleus (nuc). A small working colony on a few frames, with a laying queen, bees, brood and food. It is used to start a new hive or to replace a queen.

Nurse bee. A young worker that feeds the larvae and looks after the brood.

Package bees. A quantity of adult bees, with or without a queen, in a screened cage with a food supply.

Pepperbox brood. A patchy, irregular brood pattern, with scattered empty cells among the brood. It can be a sign of American foulbrood, among other problems. See the Diagnosis guide.

Plan Bee. The national honey bee genetic improvement programme, administered by AgriFutures Australia. It covers traits such as honey production, disease resistance, colony strength and temperament. See Breeding for resistance.

Pollen. The powder from flowers that bees collect as their protein food.

Pollination. Moving pollen between flowers so that they can make seed or fruit. Bees do this as they feed.

Propolis. A sticky resin bees collect from plants and use to seal cracks in the hive. Sometimes called bee glue.

Pupa. The third stage of a bee’s life, sealed under a wax capping, when the larva changes into an adult.

Queen. The one fully developed female in a colony. She lays the eggs.

Queen cell. A large, peanut-shaped wax cell that hangs from the comb and is used to raise a new queen.

Queen excluder. A grid of slots that lets worker bees through but keeps the larger queen in the brood box below.

Queenless. A colony without a queen. A colony that stays queenless for a while can end up with laying workers. See Requeening.

Queenright. A colony that has its queen. See Queen rearing.

R–S

Registration. A legal requirement to register as a beekeeper with your state or territory. In Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia it applies to anyone who keeps even one hive. See Registering your hives.

Requeening. Replacing the queen in a hive with another, usually younger, queen.

Robbing. Bees stealing honey from another colony, most often when nectar is scarce.

Royal jelly. A rich food made by young nurse bees. All young larvae get it for the first few days, and queen larvae get it throughout their growth.

Sacbrood. A viral disease of larvae. Infected larvae die after their cell is capped and leave a fluid-filled sac. Colonies often clear it themselves.

Sentinel hives. Healthy European honey bee hives of known condition, kept at high-risk sites such as seaports and airports. They are inspected regularly for external mites, and samples of adult bees are dissected for internal pests such as tracheal mite. See Exotic threats.

Slimed out. A hive or comb wrecked by small hive beetle larvae. Slimed or infested comb should not go onto healthy colonies, and honey damaged by the beetle is not fit to sell or eat. See Small hive beetle.

Small hive beetle. A small dark beetle whose larvae tunnel through comb and spoil honey, which can leave a hive “slimed out”. It arrived in Australia in 2002. BeeAware says it is not found in the Northern Territory or Tasmania and has a very restricted distribution in northern Western Australia, and that it is reportable where it is absent or very restricted. Queensland does not list it as notifiable.

Smoker. A can with bellows that burns material to make cool smoke. A few puffs calm the bees before an inspection.

Split. Dividing one colony into two or more, either to make more hives, to prevent swarming, or to raise new queens.

Starter and finisher. The two jobs of a cell builder. A starter is queenless and gets the grafted larvae going. A finisher, queenright if possible, completes the cells, usually with a queen excluder keeping the queen below them. See Queen rearing.

Sticky mat. A mat (or a board coated with vegetable oil) that slides under a mesh bottom board to catch mites that fall from the colony. It shows whether mites are present, but for a count to compare with official advice, use an alcohol wash or sugar shake. See Varroa mite.

Sugar shake. A test for varroa mites. Bees from the brood frames are coated with icing sugar in a mesh-lidded jar, then the sugar is shaken out over water so the mites can be counted. The bees go back to the hive afterwards. See Varroa mite.

Super. A box placed above the brood box to hold surplus honey for harvest. In Australia it is often called a honey super.

Supersedure. A colony replacing its own queen with one it raises itself, without swarming.

Supplementary feeding. Feeding bees when stores or forage run short, such as in drought. Sugar syrup is the standard feed, and honey from supplementary feeding should be kept out of extraction. See Feeding, water and forage.

Swarm. A group of bees, usually the old queen and many workers, that leaves the hive to start a new colony. It is how colonies reproduce naturally.

Swarm cell. A queen cell built in preparation for swarming, often along the bottom edge of the comb.

T–Z

Top bar hive. A hive where bees build natural comb hanging from bars, not in frames. In Victoria, top bar hives are allowed only if each comb can be lifted out for inspection without cutting or tearing.

Tracheal mite. A mite (Acarapis woodi) that lives inside the breathing tubes of adult bees. It is not present in Australia. See Exotic threats.

Tropilaelaps mites. Exotic mites that, like varroa, feed on honey bee brood. They are not present in Australia.

Uncapping. Cutting the wax caps off honey comb so the honey can be extracted. It is done with a heated knife or similar tool.

Uniting. Joining two or more colonies into one, for example to combine a queenless hive with a healthy one.

Varroa mite. A parasite that feeds on bees, mostly on developing brood, and spreads viruses. It was first found near Newcastle, NSW, in June 2022. As at October 2026 it has also been detected in Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and the ACT, and Biosecurity Tasmania says Tasmania is still free. Varroa is notifiable in every state. The National Varroa Mite Management Program ended on 6 February 2026, and state governments now give local advice. See Pests, Diseases & Biosecurity.

Warré hive. A vertical top bar hive made of small stackable boxes. New boxes are usually added below the brood nest, at the bottom of the stack, not the top.

Wax moth. A moth whose larvae tunnel through comb and feed on wax, pollen and debris. They mostly attack weak colonies and stored equipment.

Worker bee. A female bee that does the colony’s work: nursing, building comb, guarding and foraging.