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apiary

/ˌeɪpiˈɛri/
IPA guide

Other forms: apiaries

An apiary is a structure for keeping bees. If you love to eat fresh honey and don't have access to a farmer's market, you might consider building an apiary in your backyard.

Apiaries have nothing to do with apes! Rather, the word derives from apis, the Latin word for "bee." Humans have raised bees for their honey for thousands of years; the oldest known apiaries were built by ancient Egyptians. The word itself didn't appear until the 1650s, around the time that apiarists, or beekeepers, started constructing apiaries resembling the ones in current use. Today, there are apiaries of various sizes on every continent and in every U.S. state.

Definitions of apiary
  1. noun
    a shed containing a number of beehives
    synonyms: bee house
    see moresee less
    type of:
    shed
    an outbuilding with a single story; used for shelter or storage
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