A beehive is a complex structure built by honey bees. These habitats serve as the central hub for a colony, providing shelter and storage. Understanding its appearance, both inside and out, reveals the organized world within these communities.
The External View: Natural and Managed Hives
Wild beehives, found in natural cavities such as tree hollows, rock crevices, or hanging from branches, typically have an irregular, organic shape. These structures conform to their environment, appearing as a dark, elongated mass with a small entrance. Their exterior often blends with surrounding natural materials like wood or stone.
Managed beehives are man-made structures for beekeeping. The Langstroth hive, a prevalent type, consists of stacked, rectangular wooden boxes. These modular units are uniform in size and often painted in light colors to reflect sunlight and regulate internal temperature. A small, rectangular opening at the bottom of the lowest box serves as the primary entrance for bees.
The Internal Architecture: Honeycombs and Cells
Inside a beehive, the primary structural component is the honeycomb. Honeycombs are arrays of tightly packed, six-sided cells constructed from beeswax produced by the bees. These structures are built in parallel sheets, hanging vertically within the hive, creating multiple layers of storage. Newly built comb appears pristine white, gradually darkening to shades of yellow and brown with use due to propolis and cocoons.
The hexagonal cell shape allows for maximum storage capacity with minimal material. This architecture provides structural integrity, enabling the comb to hold significant weight. Bees also use propolis, a sticky resin collected from plants, to fill small cracks and reinforce the hive’s structure, contributing to its stability and sealing.
What Fills the Cells: Honey, Pollen, and Brood
The hexagonal cells of the honeycomb store various substances and house developing bees. Honey appears as a viscous liquid, ranging in color from nearly clear to dark amber, depending on the nectar source. Cells filled with ripened honey are typically capped with a thin layer of white beeswax. Uncapped honey appears glistening and exposed.
Bee pollen fills other cells and appears as colorful, granular pellets. Its hues vary widely, from bright yellow and orange to deep red and black, reflecting diverse floral sources. This pollen is often packed tightly within cells and might also be capped with wax.
Other cells are dedicated to the brood, which includes eggs, larvae, and pupae. Eggs are tiny, white, rice-grain-shaped objects laid individually at the bottom of empty cells. Larvae are small, C-shaped, white grubs that grow rapidly, consuming “bee milk” and then pollen and honey.
Pupae, the final developmental stage, are sealed within their cells with a wax cap, resembling a miniature adult bee. Brood cells are usually located centrally within the hive, benefiting from the colony’s warmth.