Beekeeping Language :-)

Rusty Burlew is having a quiet rant about inappropriate language use in beekeeping. No, I am not talking about swearing when you drop a hive tool on your foot, or cursing at various hive pests! :smile: @JeffH will tell you that I get a bit grumpy about sloppy terminology, and I gripe about grammar too. :blush:

However, Rusty wins hands-down on the bee terminology front. Learn from the Master (Beekeeper):

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Hi Dawn, that’s a good read. For me it will always be a “honey flow”, however I understand why we should use the term “nectar flow”.

It was good to read why a super is called a “super”.

Dawn, you have my support when you gripe about grammar. English was not my favorite subject at school & I only reached intermediate level at high school. Two more years were required to reach university entrance level. However I try to keep my posts as easy to read & understand as possible. “Spell check” helps a lot with the spelling side of things.

The first thing & possibly the easiest thing for posters to get right is the difference between to, too & two.

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Dawn:

Bee grammar … I’m diffinately in trouble here ! Like Jeff … in English I had problems Dog Paddling … I got a job teaching English at a Vietnamese language school … had to go back n learn English… speaking n teaching are two different issues.

Hey Jeff … I’ll always be Honey :honey_pot: Flow to me as well. I’ve got a lot of historic hang-ups. It was but a couple years ago I found I had a Apiary n I
an Apiarian … What happened to beeyards n beekeepers ?!

Buzz Buzz !

Gerald

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I do not see honey flow is an incorrect term to use. Nectar does not flow (I am sure there are exceptions) it is replenished usually nightly. If somebody like I me goes to a Eucalyptus blossom and licks out the nectar there is no flow to replenish it. The nectar is replenished usually on a schedule. On the other hand when flowering is prolific the bees create a honey flow, from the nectar and this lovely stuff is stashed away in frames.

Well that’s my take and I’m sticking by honey flow.:stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes::stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes::stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

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In my view the most common incorrect beekeeping term is ‘dysentry’, for example in nosema. Dysentry means blood in the faeces in both human and veterinary medicine. Beekeepers use it when they mean ordinary diarrhoea.

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Well-said! I also dislike people talking about Varroa “infection”. Infection relates to bacteria, fungi and viruses. Varroa is a parasite and is therefore an infestation! :blush:

Minutiae, I know. But getting it right shows that you really care. :nerd_face:

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Since we’re on the subject, you’re missing an ‘e’ in there @JimM :smile:

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Recently a bloke on the phone told Wilma that I put the trays that should be in the bottom box into the top box while his flow frames were being cleaned. As it turned out, he meant “frames”. I’ve heard frames being called all different things, so I knew what he meant after Wilma passed me the phone.

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