beekeeper

American  

[bee-kee-per] / ˈbiˌki pər /

noun

1. a person who raises honeybees; apiculturist.

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beekeeper British  

/ ˈbiːˌkiːpə /

noun

1. a person who keeps bees for their honey; apiarist

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Other Word Forms

• beekeeping noun

Etymology

Origin of beekeeper

First recorded in 1810–20; bee ¹ + keeper

Explanation

A beekeeper is someone who manages bee hives and extracts honey. If you see a person wearing a white jumpsuit and a hat with a veil — and they're covered in buzzing insects — it's probably a beekeeper. If you want to get really fancy, you can call a beekeeper an apiarist. Beekeepers manage apiaries, or networks of honey bee hives. They care for the hives, making sure they are an ideal environment for the bees to live and make honey. It's also the beekeeper's job to carefully extract honeycomb without harming the bees. Many people keep bees as a hobby, yielding just a little bit of honey each year.

Example Sentences

These are cared for by a local beekeeper, with their honey available at the on-site honesty shop.

From BBC • Feb. 20, 2026

There are even bees and a beekeeper, who harvests honey for employees to take home.

From Barron's • Nov. 15, 2025

Teddy, a hobbyist beekeeper, opens the film alarmed that now the bees have disappeared, too.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 23, 2025

Police and firefighters fenced off the area and a beekeeper was called in to smoke out the bees - a safe way to calm the insects.

From BBC • Jul. 8, 2025

She still knows more about bees than anyone who isn’t an actual beekeeper because she got so into her sixth-grade science fair project.

From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison