Cambridge IELTS 1 · Academic · Test 2 · Passage 2
Migratory Beekeeping — IELTS Reading Answers
All 15 answers for Migratory Beekeeping, Cambridge IELTS 1 Academic Reading Test 2 Passage 2, with the passage evidence and an explanation for each.
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Migratory Beekeeping answer key at a glance
Questions 13–27. Tap an answer to see the evidence.
What this passage tests
This passage is tested with Flow Chart Completion (Q13–19), Diagram Labeling (Q20–23), Yes / No / Not Given (Q24–27). Each section below gives the strategy for that question type, the answers, and the sentence that proves them.
Questions 13–19: Flow Chart Completion
Strategy: Follow the arrows in order. Each stage usually maps to one sentence or one clause in the passage.
“By early March it is time to move the bees. It can take up to seven nights to pack the 4,000 or so hives that a beekeeper may own”
The flow chart step needs a verb meaning get the hives ready; the text says packing 4,000 hives can take up to seven nights.
“These are not moved in the middle of the day because too many of the bees would end up homeless”
The chart needs the state of the hives before the night move; the passage implies they are full, since moving by day would leave too many bees behind.
“Just in case some are still lively, bees can be pacified with a few puffs of smoke blown into each hive’s narrow entrance”
The gap needs what is blown into each hive's narrow entrance; the text says bees can be pacified with a few puffs of smoke.
“In their new location, the beekeeper will pay the farmer to allow his bees to feed in such places as orange groves”
The gap needs what the beekeeper pays the farmer for; the text says he will pay the farmer to allow his bees to feed in orange groves, a charge.
“In the extracting room, the frames are lifted out and lowered into an “uncapper” where rotating blades shave away the wax that covers each cell. The uncapped frames are put in a carousel that sits on the bottom of a large stainless steel drum. The carousel is filled to capacity with 72 frames.”
The chart asks what performs the uncapping and spinning; the passage describes an uncapper with rotating blades and a carousel whirling frames, i.e. machines.
“A switch is flipped and the frames begin to whirl at 300 revolutions per minute; centrifugal force throws the honey out of the combs”
The gap needs where the honey is thrown from; centrifugal force throws the honey out of the combs.
“To create new colonies, a healthy double hive, teeming with bees, can be separated into two boxes”
The gap needs what happens to a healthy double hive to create new colonies; it can be separated into two boxes, i.e. split.
Questions 20–23: Diagram Labeling
Strategy: Locate the labelled part on the diagram, then find the matching description in the passage. Answers are usually concrete nouns.
“These temporary hive extensions contain frames of empty comb for the bees to fill with honey”
The diagram label needs what the temporary hive extensions contain; the text says frames of empty comb for the bees to fill with honey.
“These temporary hive extensions contain frames of empty comb for the bees to fill with honey”
The label needs the objects holding the comb; the text says the extensions contain frames of empty comb.
“To prevent the queen from crawling up to the top and laying eggs, a screen can be inserted between the brood chamber and the supers”
The label needs what stops the queen crawling up to lay eggs; a screen is inserted between the brood chamber and the supers.
“In the brood chamber below, the bees will stash honey to eat later. To prevent the queen from crawling up to the top and laying eggs, a screen can be inserted between the brood chamber and the supers”
The label needs the lower chamber where bees store honey; the text says in the brood chamber below, the bees stash honey to eat later.
Questions 24–27: Yes / No / Not Given
Strategy: These test the writer's opinions, not facts. Look for evaluative language, and treat 'may' or 'could' as weaker than the question's claim.
The Egyptians keep bees on the banks of the Nile.
“The ancient Egyptians moved clay hives, probably on rafts, down the Nile to follow the bloom and nectar flow as it moved toward Cairo”
The text says ancient Egyptians moved clay hives, probably on rafts, down the Nile but never says they kept bees on the riverbanks.
First attempts at migratory beekeeping in America were unsuccessful.
“In the 1880s North American beekeepers experimented with the same idea, moving bees on barges along the Mississippi and on waterways in Florida, but their lighter, wooden hives kept falling into the water. Other keepers tried the railroad and horse-drawn wagons, but that didn’t prove practical”
Early American attempts failed: lighter wooden hives kept falling into the water, and railroad and horse-drawn wagon methods proved impractical.
Bees keep honey for themselves in the bottom of the hive.
“In the brood chamber below, the bees will stash honey to eat later”
The text says in the brood chamber below the bees stash honey to eat later, so they keep it for themselves at the bottom.
The honey is spun to make it liquid.
“A switch is flipped and the frames begin to whirl at 300 revolutions per minute; centrifugal force throws the honey out of the combs”
Whirling at 300 revolutions per minute uses centrifugal force to throw honey out of the combs, not to make it liquid.
Learn the question types in this passage
Frequently asked questions
Where does the Migratory Beekeeping passage come from?
It is Passage 2 of Cambridge IELTS 1 Academic Reading Test 2, and it covers Questions 13–27.
What question types appear in Migratory Beekeeping?
The passage is tested with Flow Chart Completion, Diagram Labeling, Yes / No / Not Given. Each type is explained on this page, alongside the answers.
Are these reading answers reliable?
Every answer is paired with the sentence that proves it, so you can check each one against the passage yourself. Use the page after a timed attempt, not instead of one.
Cambridge IELTS is published by Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Band9Prep is not affiliated with Cambridge. This page is an independent study aid: it gives the answer key, the passage evidence and an explanation so you can review an attempt you have already made.