by Tammy Horn
Brood: This term refers to bees in their stages of infancy—eggs, larvae, and pupae.
Carniolan bees, or Apis mellifera carnica: These bees were imported in 1877 by Charles Dadant. They never achieved the popularity of the Italian bees, although early importers thought these were the gentlest of the bees to work with.
Chalkbrood: This disease is caused by a fungus and is characterized by the chalky white appearance of dead larvae.
Drone: This male bee mates with the queen. The drones only last the summer season. Virgil called them “a pack of shirkers.”
European foulbrood (EHB): This bacterial disease is characterized by dead unsealed brood, a sour odor, and watery consistency of dead brood.
Extractor: Major Francesco von Hruschka, who served in the Imperial Austrian army, invented this machine, which uses centrifugal force to pull the honey from the comb in a quick, easy fashion.
Honey: Bees make honey by gathering nectar from flowers and converting it into honey; used as food by bees; offers bees carbohydrates.
Honey Bee Act of 1922: This political act banned imports of different types of honey bees.
Italian or (“golden”) bees, or Apis mellifera ligustica: This type of honey bee hails from the warmer climes of Italy. After the Civil War, many beekeepers began to import this type of bee because it was more resistant to American foulbrood and much gentler to work with than the German black bees.
Langstroth hive: This revolutionary hive was built according to bee space, which is the 3/8 inch of space between frames that bees need to build honeycomb. These frames can be removed when they are full of honey and wax without having to destroy the beehive.
Luting: This mixture of beeswax and tallow (bear or cattle fat) was used before the twentieth century (before paraffin became readily available) to waterproof or lubricate materials.
Nectar: This floral source provides a honey bee’s carbohydrates.
Pollen: This floral substance provides the honey bee’s protein needs.
Propolis: This substance is a mix of resins gathered from trees and beeswax. It is used by bees to fill in cracks in the hives and between extra spaces. As part of the bees’ defense and insulation systems, propolis is extremely durable and difficult to crack.
Queen: This bee lays eggs and determines the sex of the eggs by the needs of the hive.
Round dance: This dance tells bees that the food sources are closer than ninety kilometers to the hive.
Royal jelly: This high-protein substance is fed to the young queen (which she will eat her entire life) and the larvae that are destined to become queens.
Skep: These rounded beehives were often made of rye straw; a few colonial towns hired a skeppist, to ensure a sufficient supply of honey and beeswax. Skeps were beneficial because they were moveable, easy, and cheap to fix, and they kept bees warm in the winter. But they were impractical for modern beekeeping because beekeepers had to destroy the hive in order to process the honey.
Small hive beetle: This pest arrived in the 1990s; bees are now developing resistance to its damage.
Smoker: Moses Quinby’s smoker is the third major invention in beekeeping; smoke deadens the guard bees’ sensory receptors and they will not attack; worker bees will eat more honey and therefore be more docile.
Squash bee, or Peponapis pruinosa: This solitary bee almost exclusively pollinates pumpkins and squash and is native to the New World. It is the subject of current research.
Suppressed mite reproduction (SMR): This is a genetic trait of honey bees. Researchers are trying to develop this trait among more honey bees.
Swarm: This natural response by the hive occurs when too many bees are inside. It is a healthy way of reproduction. The queen lays new queen eggs, and when the new queen emerges, the old queen will take a group of bees and leave for a new location. The young are left behind. Swarming is difficult for beekeepers, who will lose their investments if their bees fly away.
Tanging: This term refers to the taming of a bee swarm (usually in flight) by beating on pots and pans. It’s an Old World custom that was perhaps started when a king demanded that people catching swarms should ring a bell, claiming the swarm as their own. Gradually, through the years, people forgot the king’s decree and preferred to think that the noise is what convinced the swarms to alight on trees and be caught. The folk practice of tanging transferred to America.
Tracheal mite: This type of mite affects an adult honey bee’s tracheal passages, making it difficult for it to breathe. The female mite feeds in the blood in the tracheal tube. It lays one male and several female eggs, and then dies. The male and females will mate inside the tracheal tube. These mites, then, cause damage to adult bees by impairing performance and piercing tracheal tubes.
Varroa mite: This pest first appeared in the United States from Asia in 1987 and did considerable damage to young bees. The varroa mite rides into the hive on an adult bee. Once in the hive, the varroa mite will bury itself in royal jelly. When the cell is capped, the mite will feed on the larvae. It lays one male egg and several female eggs. These will mate. When the young bee emerges, the varroa mite is ready to begin the cycle again. However, the bee has been damaged because it has been used as a host for the mite.
Waggle dance: This dance, performed by forager bees, describes to their sisters floral sources that are farther than ninety meters from the hive.
Wax moth: Although there are two kinds of wax moth—greater and lesser— this book generally refers to greater wax moth, which is older. To paraphrase Roger Morse, wax moth destroys hives by laying larvae that destroy honeycombs by boring through the wax in search of food. Strong colonies can withstand wax moth by evicting the larvae, but especially in the South, bees are almost always dealing with this pest.
Worker bee: This type of bee specializes in a number of tasks: foraging, cleaning the hive, taking care of the queen, guarding the hive, and converting pollen and nectar into honey.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Atchley, Mrs. Jennie: Nineteenth-century Texas beekeeper who edited The Southland Queen.
Bacon, Francis: This English philosopher wrote during the 1620s, comparing the unemployed masses to “swarms.”
Bromenshank, Jerry: Twentieth-century researcher who does research with pollen detection of chemical weapons and electronic hive tracking devices.
Bruckish, Wilhelm: Nineteenth-century disciple of Johann Dzierzon, immigrates to New Braunfels, Texas, in the 1830s and begins beekeeping in the Texas cattle cradle.
Butler, Charles: Queen Elizabeth I’s beekeeper and author of The Feminine Monarchie (1609) argued that there were three types of bees—the queen, her female workers, and the male drones. His book broke the traditional alliance with ancient Greek and Roman writers and focused on an English audience.
Cabet, Etienne: Nineteenth-century writer who wanted to create a utopia based on his novel, A Voyage to Icaria.
Cobey, Sue: Contemporary researcher who focuses on genetic breeding of New World Carniolans, a line of bees that shows mite resistance, winters well, and builds honey stores.
Cooper, James Fenimore: Eighteenth-century writer who popularized the bee hunter archetype.
Crèvecoeur, Jean Michael: Eighteenth-century French writer who compared the Nantucket society to a hive of bees. A bee hunter, he idealized the American society, often using bees as his social metaphor.
Dadant, Charles: Nineteenth-century French socialist immigrant to Illinois in 1865 who opened a bee supply company and edited the American Bee Journal, both of which are still active.
Dzierzon, Johann (last name pronounced tziertzon): Nineteenth-century German (Silesian) reverend and bee master; he was on the verge of discovering bee space and publishing his findings in German magazines. Samuel Wagner translates his work, only to meet Langstroth later and promote Langstroth’s concept of bee space. Dzierzon and Langstroth became friends.
Eburne, Richard: Seventeenth-century English clergyman who encouraged his parishioners to go to th
e New World by using bee terms in his sermons.
Fonda, Peter: Son of a beekeeper (Henry), Peter starred in Ulee’s Gold and accepted Florida Beekeeper of the Year on behalf of his character, Ulee Jackson.
Harbo, John: Contemporary researcher who studies suppressed mite resistance, a genetic trait that prevents varroa mites from reproducing.
Hartlib, Samuel: Seventeenth-century writer who wanted the English to use only honey as a sweetener and thus break England’s reliance on sugar and slaves. He published a book about English beekeeping that was the first source about English conditions.
Hinkley, Gordon: President of the Church of Latter-day Saints during the 1970s; the use of the bee skep symbol tended to decline during his leadership.
Hruschka Major Francesco de: Member of Italian army who invented the honey extractor in 1865.
Hubbell, Sue: Twentieth-century beekeeper and writer.
Huber, Francois: Blind Swiss beekeeper who was in the process of discovering bee space. His writings help Langstroth think of the right distance and the moveable comb.
Irving, Washington: Nineteenth-century writer who wrote about honey bees on the Oklahoma frontier and chronicled the social uses of the word bee in New York society.
Kelley, Walter: Twentieth-century beekeeper who began his supply business in Louisiana, using bald cypress as his primary wood for hives. He moved his business to Kentucky in the 1930s and published Modern Beekeeping.
Keokuk: Nineteenth-century chief of the Sac and Fox Indians. He signed a treaty that allowed settlers into Wisconsin to the Mississippi River.
Laidlaw, Harry, Jr.: Twentieth-century researcher who pioneered artificial insemination and developed insemination instruments. His research furthered genetic testing with honey bees.
Langstroth, Lorenzo: Nineteenth-century descendant of French Huguenot grandparents. Langstroth invented the moveable frame hive, making commercialized beekeeping possible. He also imported Italian queens.
Mehring, Johannes: Nineteenth-century beekeeper who invented the honey extractor.
Owen, Robert: Nineteenth-century industrialist who wanted to create the perfect society, so he immigrated to American, founded New Harmony, and sold honey and beeswax as frontier commodities.
Pellett, Frank: Twentieth-century editor of the American Bee Journal and writer of History of American Beekeeping (1938).
Phillips, E. F.: Twentieth-century beekeeper who conducted workshops for World War I veterans.
Pratz, Antone le Page du: Eighteenth-century French overseer of a Louisiana sugar plantation.
Quinby, Moses: Nineteenth-century New York Quaker who invented the smoker in 1875.
Robinson, Gene: This researcher completed the Honey Bee Genome Sequence at Baylor University in 2003.
Root, A. I.: Nineteenth-century beekeeper who founded a bee supply company and the journal Bee Culture.
Root, Huber: Twentieth-century beekeeper who changed the Root Company’s direction from bee supply to candle production.
Smith, Joseph: He selected the honey bee as the official icon of the Mormon (or Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) religion.
Spivak, Marla: Contemporary researcher who studies hygienic behavior, a genetic trait that permits bees to detect diseases before they become infectious and to remove the affected area before the entire hive is infected.
von Frisch, Karl: Twentieth-century scientist who explained the round and waggle dances of bees. He won a Nobel Prize for his research.
Wagner, Samuel: Nineteenth-century beekeeper who translated Dzierzon’s research into English, recognized the importance of Langstroth’s discovery of bee space, and founded the American Bee Journal in 1861.
Young, Brigham: Joseph Smith’s successor. When he successfully organized the Mormon Migration of 1847, he encouraged the use of bee skeps in daily life.
Zeisberger, David: Eighteenth-century Moravian missionary who traveled from Savannah, Georgia, to the Ohio frontier recording honey transactions and bee trees in his journals.
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