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

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

From Barron's • Nov. 15, 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

A beekeeper has come to the aid of a row of shops that were closed because of a swarm of bees and was rewarded with a free coffee from Greggs.

From BBC • Jun. 16, 2025

Today, we employ two full-time farmers, five gardeners and a beekeeper.

From Salon • Nov. 29, 2024

A writer, an English teacher, and a beekeeper.

From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd