noun, plural a·pi·ar·ies.
- a place in which a colony or colonies of bees are kept, as a stand or shed for beehives or a bee house containing a number of beehives.
noun plural -aries
- a place where bees are kept, usually in beehives
1650s, from Latin apiarium “beehouse, beehive,” neuter of apiarius “of bees,” from apis “bee,” a mystery word unrelated to any similar words in other Indo-European languages. A borrowing from Semitic has been proposed.