beekeeper
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of beekeeper
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Someday she hopes to set up a free seed library, and she’s excited to see bluebird hatchlings in the bluebird house that Venice beekeeper Ian Kimbrey installed in her tree.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 10, 2026
Funkhouser, a veteran commercial beekeeper, should have around 1,200 hives under his care.
From Barron's • May 19, 2026
Teddy, a hobbyist beekeeper, opens the film alarmed that now the bees have disappeared, too.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 23, 2025
"There's not enough help," said Bartolo Quirino, a 42-year-old beekeeper.
From Barron's • Oct. 15, 2025
“You can’t be a true beekeeper without getting stung.”
From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
