Beekeeping Glossary
This list of terms comes from Cornell University’s Dyce Lab for Honey Bee Studies.
There are currently 7 terms in this directory beginning with the letter T.
testing apiary
A testing apiary is an apiary with colonies that will be evaluated for specific traits of interest to be considered for drone mother and queen mother colonies.
thermoregulation
Active and passive thermoregulation keeps the colony (and specifically the brood nest) at a constant temperature. This allows the brood to develop properly and the colony to survive weather extremes in a wide range of climates around the world.
Thorax
The thorax is the middle segment of an insect’s body, located between the head and the abdomen.
trachea (plural: tracheae)
Tracheae are a series of tubes through which honey bees breathe. They function much like lungs, carrying oxygen to muscles and organs and carrying carbon dioxide away from them. Tracheae exit the body through spiracles.
tremble dance
The tremble dance is a dance performed by foragers to recruit bees to unload nectar from incoming foragers. If a forager that has found an excellent nectar source cannot find a receiver bee to unload her when she returns to the hive, she will perform a tremble dance instead of a waggle dance.
trophallaxis
Trophallaxis is the transfer or exchange of fluids or food mouth-to-mouth (or, proboscis-to-proboscis). Trophallaxis allows bees to feed queens and larvae, unload nectar or water from foraging trips, share pheromones, and more.
