100+ Words Related to Bees

October 4, 2023

Bees are valued pollinators. But how much do you really need about them? These words related to bees can give you a deeper understanding of why these insects are crucial to human survival.

Table of Contents

Pollen

Amongst the many words related to bees, you will come across the term “pollen.” So, what is it, and how is it related to bees?

In nature, plants and flowers produce pollen, a tiny powdery substance that is crucial in “pollination.” The bees collect and turn it into “bee pollen” by mixing it with small amounts of nectar or their saliva. They then store this mixture inside the hive and seal it.

Most people believe that bee pollen is the honey. However, that’s not the case. They consume the produced bee pollen. If they don’t have enough, a colony will eventually fail. That’s why bees regularly collect and overstock pollen in the hive.

Beeswax

Beeswax is another important word related to bees. It forms the comb within the hive, where bees store pollen and honey and raise their offspring. Worker honeybees produce wax through glands in the abdomen. Other workers gather the material and form the cells that make the comb.

Beehive

A beehive refers to the structure where bees live. Within the hive, they make honey, rest, and reproduce. They can set up a beehive in a hollow log, a tree, or a fabricated wooden box.

Remember, any enclosed location can become a beehive if it offers a food source nearby and is large enough. As a colony grows, they abandon their home and look for a larger accommodation.

Apiary

An apiary is where humans keep bees for honey production. Beekeeping requires people to provide the colony with adequate space and resources. Since the bees can make more than they need, an apiarist (beekeeper) can collect and remove honey without harming the bees. Most apiaries include multiple beehives.

Drone

A drone is a male bee that doesn’t have stingers and relies on worker bees for food. Drone bee eggs receive only chromosomes from the mother, so, interestingly, each drone bee technically has no father. The only job of the drone honeybee is to mate with a queen.

Honeycomb

A honeycomb is a structure created by bees from beeswax. The cells are hexagonal-shaped sections used for pollen and honey storage and nests for the brood. In apiaries, beekeepers sometimes pull out the honeycomb, remove the honey, and replace the comb for the bees to continue to use.

Colony

A group of bees living within a hive is a colony. The colony population varies depending on the type of bee. For instance, large bumblebee colonies include only a few hundred bees. On the other hand, honeybees may have a population of tens of thousands.

Queen

A queen honeybee is not the only female bee in a colony, but is it the only one with a developed reproductive organ. Queens usually live the longest and are the largest. They live alone in a cell designed for them.

Honeybees are an example of bees who have only one queen in a colony.

Honey

As you might already know, honey is a sweet liquid. But how do bees make this “liquid gold?” Bees gather nectar from plants and flowers and refine the sugar in their body using enzymes. They regurgitate the product in the honeycomb cells, where evaporation causes the fluid to become thickened and concentrated.

Cross-Pollination

When bees collect pollen, some will stick to their legs and bodies. As they move from one area to another, the pollen drops along the way or sticks to the next flower they visit. This natural process involving the transfer of pollen is called “cross-pollination.”

Fun Fact: Some plants do not release pollen and rely on the vibration of bee wings to loosen the pollen and help it spread.