C1 · 42 words

The beekeeping year

Colony, hive and season, from the first flight after winter to the harvest and the rules on the jar.

The fifth entry, verdeckeln, is where German grammar and the beekeeper’s calendar meet. When the bees seal a cell of ripe honey with wax, English says the combs are capped, and the same words can report what the bees do every summer or describe what the frame looks like now. German has to choose. Die Waben werden verdeckelt is the process, with the bees still busy on it; die Waben sind verdeckelt is the state once the work is done, and only that second sentence sends a beekeeper for the extractor. Grammars call the first the passive with werden and the second the passive with sein, or the stative passive. The participle is identical in both and has no ge-, because ver- never separates from its verb. The same pair runs through the autumn entries: a colony wird eingewintert in September and ist eingewintert by October.

The words

Verb (6)

stiftento lay eggs (of the queen; beekeepers’ word)VerbC2

Solange die Königin stiftet, braucht man sie bei der Durchsicht nicht zu suchen.As long as the queen is laying, there is no need to hunt for her during an inspection.

The eggs themselves are die Stifte. In everyday German stiften means to donate or to found.

verdeckelnto cap (a cell with wax)VerbC1

Erst wenn die Honigwaben zu zwei Dritteln verdeckelt sind, gilt der Honig als reif.Only when the honey combs are two-thirds capped is the honey considered ripe.

Inseparable, so the participle has no ge-: verdeckelt.

umweiselnto requeenVerbC2

Ein stechlustiges Volk kann man umweiseln, statt es aufzulösen.A defensive colony can be requeened instead of being broken up.

Separable: weiselt um, umgeweiselt.

abkehrento brush (bees) off a combVerbC2

Die Bienen lassen sich mit einer weichen Feder von der Wabe abkehren.The bees can be brushed off the comb with a soft feather.

Separable: kehrt ab. Sich von etwas abkehren means to turn away from it.

einwinternto prepare (a colony) for winterVerbC1

Anfang Oktober sollten alle Völker eingewintert sein.By the beginning of October every colony should be ready for winter.

Separable: wintert ein, eingewintert.

auskristallisierento crystallise, to setVerbC1

Rapshonig kristallisiert oft schon nach wenigen Tagen aus.Rapeseed honey often sets within a few days.

Separable: kristallisiert aus, auskristallisiert.

This list belongs to Nature, weather and living things — 45 lists and 1660 words that can also be practised as a whole.

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