A place where bees are kept for their honey.

Beekeeping, or *apiculture*, is the care of honeybees that ensures that they produce more honey than they can use. An apiary usually consists of many separate beehives. The social life of a hive is strange and marvelous. The queen bee, who will become the mother of an entire colony, is actually created by being fed “royal jelly” while she is still only a larva. The tens of thousands of worker bees are underdeveloped females; only a handful of the bees are male, and they do no work at all. The workers defend the hive by kamikaze means, stinging any intruder and dying as they do so. There's more drama in a quiet-looking apiary than the casual observer might notice.

(1) A playful leap. (2) A prank or mischievous adventure.

*Caper* in Latin means “a male goat.” Anyone who has watched a young goat frolic in a field or clamber onto the roof of a car knows the kind of crazy fun the English word *caper* —which is also a verb—is referring to. A *capriole* is a backward kick done in midair by a trained horse. *Capricorn,* meaning “horned goat,” is a constellation and one of the signs of the zodiac. And a *capricious* act is one that's done with as little thought as a frisky goat might give it.

Of or relating to horseback riding.

*Equestrian* comes from *equus,* Latin for “horse.” Old statues of military heroes, like the famous one of General Sherman on New York's Fifth Avenue, are frequently equestrian. In these sculptures the man always sits nobly upright on a horse, but the horse's stance varies; depending on whether the rider was killed in battle or survived, was victorious or defeated, the horse traditionally stands with four, three, or two hooves on the ground. Equestrian statues have been popular through the centuries, because until the 20th century almost every officer in Europe and America was trained in equestrian skills and combat.

Like a wolf; wolfish.

*Lupine* comes from *lupus,* Latin for “wolf,” and its related adjective *lupinus,* “wolfish.” Lupine groups have a highly organized social structure, with leaders and followers clearly distinguished; dogs, since they're descended from wolves, often show these lupine patterns when living in groups. Stories of children raised by wolves (the most famous being Romulus, the legendary founder of Rome) have generally been hard to prove, partly because “wild” children lack human language abilities and can't describe their experiences. *Lupine* is also a noun, the name of a well-known garden flower, which was once thought to drain, or “wolf,” the soil of its nutrients.

Of, relating to, or resembling sheep.

Sheep belong to the same family of mammals as goats, antelope, bison, buffalo, and cows. The genus *Ovis* includes at least five species, including the domestic sheep. Some 12,000 years ago, in the area now known as Iraq, sheep became one of the first animals to be domesticated; only the dog is known to have been tamed earlier. At first, they were valued for their milk, skin, and meat (mutton and lamb); not until about 1500 B.C. did the weaving of wool begin. Today a billion sheep are being farmed worldwide. The term *ovine* (which is a noun as well as an adjective) is mostly used in scientific and medical writing—which means you could impress your friends by dropping it into a casual conversation.

A person who studies birds.

The Greek root *ornith-* means “bird,” so *ornithology* is the study of birds. Amateur ornithology, usually called *birding* or *birdwatching,* is an extraordinarily popular pastime in America, where over 40 million people pursue it. Roger Tory Peterson's many field guides have long been some of the amateur ornithologist's most useful tools. Amateurs often make essential contributions to serious ornithology, as in the annual Christmas Bird Count, when tens of thousands of birders fan out across North and South America to produce a kind of census of all the species in the New World.

Like a snake or serpent in shape or movement; winding.

A snake moves by curving and winding along the ground. Roads through the Pyrenees, the mountains that separate Spain from France, tend to be serpentine, curving back and forth on themselves up and down the steep slopes. *Serpentine* has other meanings as well. As a noun, it's the name for a soft green mineral, and also for the party streamers you might throw at midnight on New Year's Eve. The *serpentine belt* under the hood in your car is the long, looping belt that most of the car's accessories—the AC, the power steering, the alternator, and so on—depend on to get their power.

Having to do with monkeys or apes; monkeylike.

The Latin word for “ape” is *simia,* which itself comes from *simus,* “snub- nosed.” *Simian* is usually a scientific word; thus, for instance, biologists study simian viruses in the search for cures to AIDS and other diseases. But *simian* can be used by the rest of us to describe human behavior. Human babies often cling to their mothers in a simian way, and kids playing on a jungle gym may look like *simians*. But if you notice that a friend has a simian style of walking or eating bananas, it might be best not to tell him. ```