apiary

American  

[ey-pee-er-ee] / ˈeɪ piˌɛr i /

noun

plural

apiaries

1. a place in which a colony or colonies of bees are kept, as a stand or shed for beehives or a bee house containing a number of beehives.

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apiary British  

/ ˈeɪpɪərɪ /

noun

1. a place where bees are kept, usually in beehives

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Etymology

Origin of apiary

1645–55; < Latin apiārium beehive, equivalent to api ( s ) bee + -ārium -ary

Explanation

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.

Example Sentences

Black Barn Apiary Luxe Gold Honey This isn’t your average jar of honey—it’s glittering, golden magic.

From Salon • Apr. 18, 2025

The phrase “there is no away” has become a tenet guiding Apiary Studio, a Philadelphia landscape firm founded in 2015 by Keen’s partner, Hans Hesselein, a landscape architect.

From Seattle Times • May 15, 2024

But contributing to the waste stream doesn’t sit well with the Apiary team.

From Seattle Times • May 15, 2024

Pantin, a donkey living at a farm outside Toulouse, France, known as the Donkey’s Apiary.

From New York Times • Mar. 14, 2023

“You know what an Apiary is, Isaac?” said I. “A what, sir?”

From We and the World, Part I A Book for Boys by Ewing, Juliana Horatia Gatty