Nesting & The Beehives

The bee flies to either a hollowed-out tree or a man-made hive

structure. The hollow tree acts as natural nesting site. Occasionally,

the bees may build exposed hanging nest. Both the natural nesting site

and the man-made hive take the form of honeycombs. The honeycomb

structure is made of densely packed hexagonal cells consisting of

beeswax. This natural wax produced in the abdomen of the worker

honey bees is either discarded in or at hive.

Now let’s look a little closer at the busy as a bee organized social family

structure called a colony. The colony live in the beehive which is

designed to store pollen and honey for not only the young but also the

colony. The colony consist of a queen, workers and drones which we

will discuss in the upcoming blogs. The bees create a natural air

conditioner by storing collected water in the hive and using the motion

of their wings to keep the hive cool.

Pollen, as you recall, comes from the bees rubbing or touching the

anther of the stamen, the male reproductive part of the flower. This

yellow powdery substance is brought back to the hive or nest for

protein and hive growth. Honey is also stored in the hive.

The bees collect nectar from the blossom of the flowers to provide energy for

flight, colony maintenance and general daily activities. This sugary

substance is sucked out with the bee’s tongue. It is stored in the bee’s

honey stomach which is different from the food stomach. When the

stomach is full the bees fly back to the hive. Nectar is passed from one worker to the next until the water within the nectar diminishes. This is when the nectar becomes honey and the bees store it away for another

day.