Beekeeping is an incredibly rewarding hobby that supports biodiversity, helps pollinate local plants, and provides honey and other products. It requires time, patience, and a commitment to learning, and is totally worth the effort!

Each honey bee colony requires its own hive and produces a surplus of honey each season; often in the region of 10-15kg / 22-33lbs.

The health and strength of the colony has an effect on how much honey can be harvested, however the weather and the amount of forage available locally will have the biggest influence.

Colonies are made up of a single queen bee, thousands of female
worker bees and, in the summer, hundreds of male drones. Colony populations peak at between
35,000 and 40,000 bees in summer and drop to around 5,000 bees in winter. There is some great information on this page of the BBKA website: What's in the hive

Abdomen - The third region of the body of a bee enclosing the honey stomach, true stomach, intestine, sting, and reproductive organs.

Absconding swarm - An entire colony of bees that abandons their hive because of disease, wax moths, excessive heat or water, lack of resources, or other reasons.

American foulbrood (AFB) - A brood disease of honeybees caused by the spore-forming bacterium, Paenibacillus larvae. The spore stage of the bacterium can remain viable for many years, making it difficult to eliminate the disease.

Apiary – Where you have your beehives.

Apiculture - The science and art of raising honeybees.

Apis mellifera - The scientific genus and species of the Western honeybee, originating in Europe and Africa and now located all around the world.

Bait hive - A hive or box, usually placed in an elevated location, used to attract and hopefully collect swarms.

Bee bread - A "preserved" fermented mixture of collected pollen mixed with nectar or honey, deposited in the cells of a comb. Pollen is the primary pollen source for bees and is used especially by the nurse bees to produce royal jelly to feed the young larvae.

Bee brush - A small brush used to gently remove bees from combs.

Bee escape - A device used to remove bees from honey supers or buildings by permitting bees to pass one way but preventing their return.

Bee hive or Beehive - An artificial cavity for a bee colony to live in, usually a box or boxes with movable frames.

Bee metamorphosis - The different stages through which a bee passes as she matures: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. During the pupal stage inside a capped cell, large nutrient reserves are used to transform both the internal and external anatomy of the bee.

Bee space – 10mm or 3/8-inch space between combs and hive parts in which bees build no comb or deposit only a small amount of propolis. Bee spaces are used as corridors to move within the hive. This is the space that the bees themselves build between and around their combs in nature, which eekeepers must respect when we design hives.

Beeswax - A complex mixture of organic compounds secreted by four pairs of special glands on the worker bee's abdomen and used for building comb. Its melting point is from 62 to 64 degrees C.

Bee venom - The poison secreted by special glands attached to the stinger of the female bee.

Bottling - Filling glass or plastic bottles or jars with honey, using either gravity to fill the jars, or a honey bottling
machine for more speed and consistency.

Bottom board - The floor of a hive that all the other hive components rest on top of. Can be a solid bottom board, or a
screened or meshed bottom board, that allows hive debris to fall through onto
the ground, or a waiting catch board.

Brace comb - A small bit of stabilizing wax built between two combs or frames to fasten them together. Brace comb is also built between comb and adjacent hive materials, or between two hive parts such as top bars. See also: Burr comb.

Brood - Immature bees that are still inside their cells. Brood can be in the form of eggs, larvae, or pupae of different ages.

Brood chamber or Brood nest - The part of the hive in which the brood is reared; may include one or more hive
bodies and the combs within.

Burr comb - A bit of wax built upon a comb or upon a wooden part in a hive but not connected to any other part. See also: Brace comb.

Capped brood or Sealed brood - Pupae whose cells have been sealed with a porous cover by adult workers, to isolate them during their nonfeeding pupal period.

Cappings - A thin layer of wax used to cover full cells of honey. This layer of wax is typically sliced from the surface of a honey-filled comb so that the honey can be extracted.

Cell - The hexagonal compartment of comb built by honey bees.

Chilled brood - Bee larvae and pupae that have died from exposure to cold. This typically occurs in spring when the colony is expanding rapidly and on cold nights there aren't enough bees to keep the brood warm.

Chunk honey - Honey comb cut from frames and placed in jars along with liquid honey.

Clarifying Tank or Clarifier -
Any tank or holding vessel that is used to temporarily store honey while the
wax and other material separate from the honey.

Cluster - A large group of bees hanging
together, one upon another. See also: Winter cluster.

Colony - The queen, brood, drones, and all the worker bees living together in a single hive or other nest.

Comb - A sheet of six-sided wax cells made
by honeybees to hold brood, honey, nectar, and pollen.

Comb honey - Honey harvested and sold in the comb. It is produced either by cutting the comb from the frame (cut-comb
honey) or when the comb is built in special frames which allow for its easy
removal without cutting.

Creamed honey - Honey which has crystallised under carefully controlled conditions to produce tiny crystals and an
appealingly smooth texture. Often a starter or seed is used to help control the
crystallization.

Wired foundation - Foundation in which crimped wire is embedded vertically during the manufacturing process. The wire increases the strength of the foundation.

Cross-pollination - See Pollination.

Crystallisation - The formation of sugar
crystals in honey.

Cut-comb honey - See Comb honey.

Dearth - See Nectar dearth.

Deformed wing virus (DWV) - A viral disease of honeybees, transmitted between bees and by the feeding of varroa mites.

Dextrose - See Glucose.

Dividing - See Splitting.

Division board feeder - A wooden or plastic
compartment that is hung in a hive replacing one or more frames and contains
feed for bees.

Drawn combs - Cells that have been built out by honeybees
from foundation in a frame.

Drift - The failure of bees to return to their
own hive in an apiary containing many colonies, because they have entered neighbouring
colonies instead.

Drone - The male honeybee. Produced from
unfertilized eggs.

Drone comb - Comb that is slightly larger than
most comb and measuring about four cells per linear inch, that bees use for
drone rearing as well as honey storage.

Drone layer - A queen with no stored sperm,
who is therefore incapable of laying fertilized eggs. As a result, all young
she lays will be drones.

Dysentery - A condition of adult bees
characterized by severe diarrhoea that may be caused by starvation or
low-quality food, confinement due to poor weather conditions, or nosema
infection.

European foulbrood (EFB) - An
infectious disease that only affects the brood of honeybees and is caused by
the bacteria Streptococcus pluton. This is a notifiable disease
and needs to be reported if found.

Extracted honey - Liquid honey removed from the
comb.

Extraction - The process in which
honey is spun out of frames using centrifugal force with a honey
extractor.

Extractor - A machine that removes honey from
the cells of comb by centrifugal force.

Fermentation - The process of
yeast utilizing sugar as a food, and as a byproduct producing alcohol.
Bees remove moisture from nectar as it is ripened into honey until fermentation
cannot occur.

Fertile queen - A queen with sufficient stored
sperm from drones, able to lay fertilised eggs.

Follower board - A thin board the size of a
frame that can be inserted into a hive to reduce the space available to the
bees. Often done to help smaller colonies that may have trouble keeping the
brood nest warm.

Foragers or Field bees - Worker
bees, generally at least two to three weeks old, that work to collect nectar,
pollen, water, and propolis for the colony.

Foundation - A manmade thin sheet of beeswax or
plastic embossed on both sides with the shape of cell bases. Used to encourage
straight combs in frames, and to support the combs built on the foundation.

Frame - A rectangular wooden or plastic
framework, designed to hold comb and hang in a hive box.

Fructose - The predominant simple sugar found in
honey.

Glucose - One of the two
principal sugars found in honey: forms crystals during crystallisation/granulation.
Also called dextrose.

Grafting - Removing a young worker larva
from its cell and placing it in a queen cup to have it reared into a queen.

Grafting tool - A probe, needle, or scoop
designed for transferring larvae from worker cells to queen cells.

Granulation - See Crystallization.

Hive - A manmade structure
used by a colony of bees as a nest cavity.

Hive body - A box that encloses frames of
comb. Often used particularly for the brood chambers to
distinguish from supers, though the term can be applied to any hive
box.

Hive stand - A structure that supports the
hive and keeps it elevated off the ground.

Hive tool - A metal device used to open
hives, pry and manipulate frames, and scrape wax and propolis from equipment.

Honey - A sweet, viscous fluid produced by
bees from the nectar of flowers. Composed largely of a mixture of sugars
dissolved in about 17 percent water. It contains small amounts of mineral
matter, vitamins, proteins, and enzymes.

Honeydew - A sweet liquid excreted by
aphids, leafhoppers, and some scale insects that is collected by bees,
especially in the absence of a good source of nectar. Can be used to produce
"forest honey" or "honeydew honey."

Honey house - A building used for
extracting honey and storing equipment.

Honey stomach or Honey crop - An
expandable storage organ at the front of the honeybee’s digestive system. Used
for carrying nectar, honey, or water.

Hopelessly queenless - Used to describe a colony
that has lost its queen and has no queen cells or young brood that can be used
to raise emergency queens.

Increase - To add to the
number of colonies, usually by splitting those on hand. The phrase "making
increase" is commonly used to describe growing one’s colony numbers.

Inner cover - A lightweight cover used
under a standard telescoping outer cover on a beehive.

Instrumental insemination - The
introduction of drone spermatozoa into the genital organs of a virgin queen by
means of special instruments, allowing beekeeper control over the genetics of
the queen's offspring.

Invertase - An enzyme produced by the honeybee
which helps to transform sucrose to glucose (dextrose) and fructose (levulose).

Larva (plural, larvae) - The
second stage of the bee life cycle. A white, legless, grub-like insect.

Laying worker - A worker that lays
unfertilized eggs, producing only drones, usually in colonies that are
hopelessly queenless.

Levulose - See Fructose.

Mating flight or Nuptial
flight - The flight (or flights) taken by a virgin queen while
she mates in the air with multiple drones.

Mead - Honey wine.

Migratory beekeeping - The moving of
colonies of bees from one locality to another during a single season to take
advantage of multiple honey flows, and/or to fulfil agricultural pollination
contracts.

Nectar - A sweet and often
fragrant liquid secreted by the nectaries of flowering plants as an attractive
reward for pollinating animals. Nectar is the raw resource used to make.

Nectar dearth - A period with little to no
nectar available for foraging bees to collect.

Nectar flow or Honey flow - A
time when nectar is plentiful, and bees produce and store surplus honey. Often
linked to a single particular flower, e.g. "the oil seed rape flow."

Nectar guide - Markings or patterns on
flowers believed to direct insects to nectar sources.

Nosema disease or Nosemosis - Intestinal
disease of honeybees caused by either the protozoa Nosema apis or Nosema
ceranae. The microbes destroy the gut of the bee and severe infections
result in malnutrition and dysentery. Symptoms of the two infections differ
somewhat.

Nucleus or Nuc - A small
colony of bees consisting of fewer frames than a typical hive, usually housed
in a smaller hive box. A nuc usually consists of three to six frames of comb
and is used primarily for starting new colonies or rearing or storing queens.

Nurse bees - Young bees, usually three to
ten days old, that feed and take care of developing brood.

Observation hive - A hive
made largely of glass or clear plastic to allow for the observation of bees at
work.

Package bees - A quantity of
adult bees (1-3kg), usually with a queen, contained in a screened shipping cage
with a food source. A package is essentially a simulated swarm.

Pheromones - Chemical substances secreted
from glands and used as a means of communication. Honeybees secrete many
different pheromones.

Play flights or Orientation flights - Short
flights taken in front of or near the hive to acquaint young bees with their
immediate surroundings.

Pollen - The male reproductive cells produced by
anthers of flowers. Collected and used by honeybees as their source of protein.

Pollen basket - A flattened depression
surrounded by curved hairs, located on the outer surface of a worker bee's hind
legs and adapted for carrying pollen to the hive.

Pollen substitute - Any material such as
soybean flour, powdered skim milk, brewer's yeast, or a mixture of these used
in place of pollen as a source of protein to stimulate brood rearing. Typically
fed to a hive in early spring to encourage colony expansion.

Pollen supplement - Pollen, or a mixture of
pollen and pollen substitutes, used to stimulate brood rearing as with pollen
substitute.

Pollen trap - A device designed to remove
pollen loads from the pollen baskets of incoming bees.

Pollination - The transfer of pollen from
the anthers to the stigma of a flower or flowers. Honeybees are excellent
pollinators.

Primary swarm - The first swarm to leave the
parent colony, usually with the old queen (see secondary swarm).

Propolis - Plant saps and resins collected
by bees and used to strengthen the comb and to seal cracks. Possesses
antimicrobial and waterproofing properties.

Pupa (plural Pupae) - The third
stage in the honeybee life cycle, during which it changes (pupates) from a
larva to an adult bee.

Queen - A female bee with a fully
developed reproductive system. Larger and longer than a worker bee.

Queen cage - A small cage in which a queen
and three to five worker bee attendants are confined, for shipping and
introduction into a new colony.

Queen cell - A special elongated cell in
which a queen is reared. It is an inch or longer and hangs down from the comb
in a vertical orientation.

Queen clipping - Removing a portion of one
or both front wings of a queen to prevent her from flying.

Queen cup - A shallow wax cup built by bees
to allow the production of new queens. Once the queen has laid an egg in, it
becomes a queen cell.

Queen excluder - A flat sheet of metal or
plastic with spaces that permit the passage of workers but restrict the
movement of drones and queens, limiting their access to a certain parts of the
hive.

Robbing - Stealing of nectar
or honey by bees from other colonies. More common during a nectar
dearth.

Robbing screen or Robber screen -
A device that fits over the entrance of a hive, baffling arriving robber bees
while allowing the resident bees to come and go.

Royal jelly - A highly nutritious glandular
secretion of young bees, used to feed the queen and young brood.

Sacbrood - A viral disease
which affects the larvae of honeybees.

Scout bees - Worker bees searching for a
new source of pollen, nectar, propolis, water, or a new home for the swarm they
are a part of.

Screened bottom board - See Bottom board.

Secondary swarm - A smaller swarm
containing a new virgin queen which may occur after the primary swarm has
departed.

Skep - A traditional bell-shaped straw
beehive without movable frames.

Smoker - A device in which materials are
kept smouldering to produce cool smoke (not flames) to subdue bees.

Solar wax melter - A box with a transparent
lid, used to melt wax from combs and cappings by the heat of the sun.

Splitting - Dividing a bee colony into two (or
more) colonies to produce new colonies.

Spur embedder - A handheld device used for
embedding wires into wax foundation with the purpose of reinforcing the
foundation.

Stinger or Sting - The
specialized modified ovipositor of a female honeybee, used as a weapon. Worker honeybees
have a barbed stinger which embeds in the elastic skin of most vertebrate
victims. Queens have non-barbed stingers that are largely used to kill rival
queens early in life.

Streptococcus pluton - Bacterium
that causes European foulbrood.

Sucrose - The principal sugar found in most
nectar.

Super - Any hive body, usually a smaller
box, used for the storage of honey which the beekeeper intends to harvest.
Normally it is placed above the brood chamber(s). Supers are typically medium
or shallow sized boxes.

Supersedure - The natural replacement of an
established mother queen by a newly reared daughter queen in the same hive.

Swarm - A large number of worker bees,
drones, and usually the old queen that leaves the parent colony to find a new
home and establish a new colony.

Swarming - The natural process through
which a swarm emerges from a hive, clusters on a tree branch or other surface,
and then finds and moves to a new home.

Swarm cell - Queen cells usually found on
the bottom of the combs before swarming, produced to provide a new queen for
the colony from which the swarm depart.

Uncapping - The
process by which the thin layer of beeswax over capped honey is removed,
allowing for honey harvesting.

Uncapping knife - A knife used to shave or
remove the cappings from combs of sealed honey prior to extraction. Some are
heated by steam or electricity.

Uniting - Combining two or more colonies to
form one larger colony. Weak colonies are often combined in the fall to prepare
for winter.

Vairimorpha apis and Vairimorpha
ceranae - See Nosema disease.

Varroa mite or Varroa destructor -
A devastating parasitic mite of honeybees, responsible for the deaths of many
colonies due to weakening the bees and transmitting multiple bee viruses.

Veil - A hat, helmet, or headpiece including a
screen of wire or fabric netting, used to protect the beekeeper's head and neck
from stings.

Virgin queen - A queen that is not yet
mated.

Waggle Dance - The system honeybees
use to communicate the locations of food sources or potential nest sites to
each other.

Wax glands - Glands that secrete beeswax. Found
in pairs on the underside of the last four abdominal segments of worker bees.

Wax moth - Usually, larvae of the greater
wax moth Galleria mellonella, which can seriously damage brood and
empty combs.

Winter cluster - A ball-like arrangement of
adult bees within the hive during winter. Bees in winter consume honey and
produce heat with their flight muscles.

Worker bee - A female bee whose
reproductive organs are undeveloped. The majority of the honeybees in a colony
are worker bees, and they do all the work in the colony except for laying
fertile eggs.

Worker comb - Comb measuring about five
cells to the inch, in which workers are reared, and honey and pollen are
stored.

There are various bodies involved in regulating beekeeping in the UK. These are:

• Beebase (Animal and Plant Health Agency)
  Beebase have an excellent section on the website
• DEFRA
• The British Beekeeping Association
• The Welsh Beekeeping Association
• The Scottish Beekeeping Association

Honeybees are social insects that live in colonies with a clear division of labor among the queen, workers, and drones. Understanding their behavior, lifecycle, and needs will help you manage your hive effectively and reduce stress on the bees.

There is a lot of information available to new beekeepers. It can be overwhelming and hard to know where to start. The following books, websites and blogs are great places to start building your beekeeping knowledge and understanding. Let us know if you come across other sources and we can add them for other new beekeepers to benefit from:

• The Apiarist
  A fascinating blog that is about "the science, art and practice of sustainable beekeeping... so much more than honey."

Beekeepers in the UK must follow regulations on hive placement, swarm control, and disease management, as outlined by the National Bee Unit. You should also check local council guidelines, especially if keeping bees in residential or shared spaces.

Your hive should be placed in a sunny, sheltered spot with access to forage and water, away from heavy foot traffic. Consider the impact on neighbors and avoid placing hives too close to paths or boundaries.

You can start your beekeeping journey by purchasing a nucleus colony or "nuc" from a trusted supplier, catching a swarm, or setting up a bait hive.

You can start beekeeping any time from late March through to early September, however starting in late spring or early summer ensures the colony has time to build up before winter.

Bees have been doing their thing for millennia and don't really need our "help". There is a full spectrum of approaches to keeping bees ranging from almost completely hands-off and leaving them to do their thing naturally to full hive management with weekly inspections and manipulations throughout the season, and the odd check in the winter.

Once you have a good understanding of how a colony of honeybees works and how it changes throughout the year, you can find an approach that works for you.

Either way, it's good practice to inspect your hive regularly to check for healthy brood, sufficient food stores, and signs of pests or diseases. There are some diseases that must be reported if found.

Always be gentle and deliberate when handling bees to avoid damaging or upsetting the colony.

Stay vigilant for common issues like Varroa mites and foulbrood, and treat problems promptly to maintain a healthy hive. Always wear protective gear and have a first aid plan in place in case of stings or allergic reactions.

Beekeepers who know or suspect the presence of a notifiable pest or disease in a colony must notify the Animal and Plant Health Agency in England, Wales or Scotland or the Department of
Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in Northern Ireland.

Examples of notifiable pests diseases include Asian hornets, small hive beetles and American foulbrood.

Go to
www.gov.uk/guidance/bee-health for more information about bee health

Honey can be harvested in late summer, but ensure the bees have enough stores for winter before taking any. Beeswax, propolis, and pollen are other valuable by-products that can be collected with care.

In spring, focus on preparing your hive and supporting colony growth with inspections and feeding if necessary. During winter, insulate your hive, check for pests, and avoid disturbing the bees unnecessarily to conserve their energy.

Planting bee-friendly flowers and avoiding pesticides in your garden can improve forage availability for your bees and other pollinators. Be mindful of the number of hives in your area to avoid depleting local resources.

Beekeeping is one of those hobbies that can generate an income along side the simply pleasure of doing it. A single hive can produce 27kg / 60lbs of honey in a season. Unless you are the actual Honey Monster, you'll have more honey than you know what to do with. No doubt you'll give it away - great Christmas presents! - but you can also sell it locally.

This post on The Apiarist blog talks about making a profit from beekeeping.

This article posted on the Honey & Greens website breaks down the costs and potential earnings.

Connecting with other beekeepers allows you to share advice, swap stories, and seek help when needed. Networking through local clubs, social media groups, and events can also help you source bees and equipment more affordably.

Beginners often over-intervene by opening hives too frequently or neglect issues like swarming. Take time to observe your bees, learn from mistakes, and consult experienced keepers when faced with challenges.

Starting small, such as with one or two hives, allows you to build skills and confidence without becoming overwhelmed. Keep learning through books, courses, and hands-on experience to ensure your beekeeping journey is successful and enjoyable.