A beehive is an intricate and organized structure designed to house a colony of honey bees. It serves as a central hub, providing a secure environment for raising young and storing essential food resources like honey and pollen. This multifaceted home supports the colony’s survival and prosperity.
Natural Beehive Materials
Honey bees construct their natural hives primarily from beeswax, a substance produced by the worker bees themselves. These bees possess specialized wax glands on their abdomens that secrete liquid wax, which hardens into small, translucent flakes upon exposure to air. Bees then collect these flakes and chew them, mixing them with saliva to create a pliable building material. Beeswax is initially white but can become darker over time due to the incorporation of pollen and propolis. Its unique properties, such as plasticity when warm and rigidity when cool, allow bees to mold it into precise structures.
Another significant material in natural beehives is propolis, often called “bee glue.” Bees collect propolis from sticky tree and plant resins, mixing them with salivary secretions and beeswax to create a brownish, sticky substance. Propolis serves multiple functions within the hive, including sealing cracks, smoothing walls, and reducing the hive entrance size to deter predators. Its antimicrobial and antifungal properties also contribute to maintaining a hygienic environment. Honey and pollen are stored as food sources, not primary structural components.
The Hexagonal Comb Structure
Bees meticulously organize beeswax into the hexagonal comb structure, which forms the core of the beehive. This six-sided shape is highly efficient, allowing bees to maximize storage capacity for honey and pollen while minimizing the amount of wax needed for construction. The hexagonal cells also provide exceptional structural integrity, enabling the comb to withstand the weight of stored resources and the activity of the colony.
Within the comb, bees construct different types of cells to serve specific purposes. Worker cells, the most common type, are smaller hexagonal cells used for raising worker bees and storing honey and pollen. Drone cells are slightly larger hexagonal cells designated for the development of male bees, known as drones. Additionally, bees create specialized, peanut-shaped queen cells, which are significantly larger than other cells and are exclusively used for rearing new queen bees. Bees build these uniform cells with remarkable precision, forming parallel sheets of comb with consistent spacing, allowing for efficient movement and organization within the hive.
Components of Man-Made Beehives
Human-made beehives, designed for beekeeping, utilize various materials and components to facilitate colony management and honey harvesting. Wood, often pine or cypress, is the most common material due to its insulating properties and durability, though plastic hives are also available. A standard Langstroth hive, widely adopted globally, consists of several distinct parts.
At the base is the bottom board, which includes an entrance for the bees. Above this, deep boxes, known as brood boxes, house the queen bee, her brood, and much of the colony’s honey and pollen stores. Shallower boxes, called honey supers, are placed above the brood boxes for surplus honey storage.
Each box contains frames, wooden or plastic rectangles designed to hold sheets of beeswax or plastic foundation. This foundation guides bees to build comb in a straight, organized manner, allowing beekeepers to easily inspect the hive and remove honey-filled frames without damage. An inner cover rests on top of the uppermost box, providing insulation and a bee-friendly space. A telescoping outer cover, typically with a metal top, protects the hive from weather.