Beekeeping Glossary
This list of terms comes from Cornell University’s Dyce Lab for Honey Bee Studies.
There are currently 9 terms in this directory beginning with the letter O.
ocelli (singular: ocellus)
The ocelli are three eyes arranged in a triangle pattern near the top of a bee’s head that can detect light intensity. Ocelli cannot form an image.
Olfaction
Olfaction is the sense of smell. The ability to smell the complex odors of flowers and pheromones is critical to honey bee communication, reproduction, behavior, and foraging.
open mating
Open mating refers to the natural mating process of honey bees, wherein queens mate with 10 to 20 adult drones in drone congregation areas. Most beekeepers rely on open mating for their breeding programs, but there is no guarantee that their queens will mate with drones of their desired stock.
order
Order is a rank in the classification of life, below class and above family. Honey bees are members of the order Hymenoptera.
orientation flight
Honey bees’ first journeys from the nest are brief orientation flights to learn their immediate surroundings and nest location. Such flights may also be necessary after a hive has been moved to a new location.
ovarioles
The ovarioles are the tube-like tissues where eggs are produced in the queen’s ovaries. Each of the queen’s two ovaries is comprised of 150 to180 ovarioles, while each of the worker’s ovaries have only two to 12 ovarioles.
ovary
Ovaries are a pair of reproductive glands in which eggs are produced. Queens’ ovaries are much larger and contain many more ovarioles than workers’.
