Meaning & use
beekeeper
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Meaning
nouncountable
A person who looks after bees in hives, usually to collect honey or to help plants grow by pollination.
Grammar: Countable: a beekeeper, several beekeepers.
Patterns
- a beekeeper in somewhere
- a beekeeper for something
The beekeeper put on a white suit and a veil before opening the hive.
My neighbor is a beekeeper and gives us a jar of honey every autumn.
Local beekeepers reported a poor harvest after the cold spring.
Word forms
| plural | beekeepers |
|---|
Common combinations
- a local beekeeper
- We bought honey from a local beekeeper at the market.
- a hobby beekeeper
- As a hobby beekeeper, he keeps three hives behind his house.
- an experienced beekeeper
- An experienced beekeeper can tell when the hive is unhappy.
- a beekeeper's suit
- A beekeeper's suit protects the whole body from stings.
- become a beekeeper
- She decided to become a beekeeper after taking a short course.
Synonyms and how they differ
- apiarist
- This is a formal or technical word for the same person and is rare in everyday talk.
- apiculturist
- This is even more technical and tends to be used for people who study or manage bees professionally.
- bee farmer
- This suggests a larger commercial operation rather than a small hobby.
Word family
Commonly confused: beekeeper or beekeeper's?
beekeeper vs beekeeper's
This possessive form is used before a noun, as in 'a beekeeper's veil', while 'beekeepers' is only the plural.
Practice
The ____ wore a veil so the bees could not sting her face.
Choose one answer.
A beekeeper handles bees and wears protective clothing. A gardener or shepherd does not usually work with hives.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “beekeeper”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.