Editing Beekeeper (section)

{{Short description|Person who keeps honey bees}}
{{Other uses}}
{{more citations needed|date=May 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
[[Image:Beekeeper keeping bees.jpg|thumb|upright|A beekeeper holding a brood frame, in [[Lower Saxony]], Germany]]
[[Image:Beekeeper.jpg|thumb|right|A commercial beekeeper working in an [[apiary]]]]
A '''beekeeper''' is a person who keeps [[honey bee]]s, a profession known as [[beekeeping]]. The term beekeeper refers to a person who keeps [[honey bees]] in [[beehives]], boxes, or other receptacles. The beekeeper does not control the creatures. The beekeeper owns the hives or boxes and associated equipment. The bees are free to forage or leave ([[Swarming (honey bee)|swarm]]) as they desire. Bees usually return to the beekeeper's hive as the hive presents a clean, dark, sheltered home.

Beekeepers are also called '''honey farmers''', '''apiarists''', or less commonly, '''apiculturists'''<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/beekeeper |title=Definition of beekeeper {{!}} Dictionary.com |website=dictionary.com |language=en |access-date=2020-04-20}}</ref> (both from the [[Latin]] ''[[Wiktionary:apis|apis]]'', [[bee]]; cf. [[apiary]]).