The Western honey bee, Apis mellifera, relies on finding a specific type of shelter to survive and propagate. Unlike the man-made wooden boxes used in beekeeping (called hives), a wild colony establishes its home in a natural or artificial cavity known as a nest. This selection process, carried out by specialized scout bees, is critical, as the chosen location must provide protection from predators and the elements. The colony’s survival depends on finding a dark, sheltered enclosure that allows the bees to effectively manage their internal environment.
Preferred Natural Nesting Locations
The ancestral home of the feral honey bee colony is almost always a cavity within a hollow tree trunk. These tree hollows are often formed by fungal decay in the inner wood of species like maple, oak, or ash, providing a ready-made, protected cylinder for the colony. The entrance to this space is typically a small knothole or crack, which is easily defended against intruders.
Honey bees are highly adaptable, utilizing any enclosed space that mimics their natural preference. They frequently establish nests in rock crevices, caves, and sheltered cliff faces that offer a similar dark, insulated environment. As human structures have become common, colonies have also colonized artificial cavities, including abandoned chimneys, wall voids, and empty spaces within outbuildings.
Critical Environmental Requirements for Hive Placement
The selection of a new nesting site is a precise process where scout bees measure several physical properties of the cavity. The internal volume is a primary factor, with temperate honey bees preferring 40 to 45 liters, though they occupy cavities ranging from 20 to 100 liters. This volume is necessary to accommodate the winter cluster, the extensive comb structure, and sufficient food stores.
The entrance is another critical element, ideally small and highly defensible, typically measuring only 10 to 15 square centimeters in area. Scout bees prefer the entrance to be positioned high off the ground, often three meters or more, to deter ground-based predators.
The orientation of the entrance is also considered, with a preference for a southward or southeast-facing opening in the Northern Hemisphere to capture the morning sun for warming. A cavity with thick, insulating walls is selected to maintain a stable internal temperature of approximately 95°F (35°C), which is necessary for brood rearing.
Internal Architecture of the Honey Bee Nest
Once a suitable cavity is secured, the colony begins constructing its nest, which is composed of multiple vertical sheets of honeycomb. The bees suspend this comb from the ceiling, building it out of beeswax secreted from glands on the worker bees’ abdomens. This beeswax is molded into the iconic hexagonal cells, a shape that maximizes storage capacity and structural strength while minimizing the amount of wax required.
The structure follows a precise organization that separates the colony’s functions. The bees maintain a consistent, narrow gap between the parallel sheets of comb, known as “bee space,” which is approximately 9 to 10 millimeters. This measurement allows two bees to pass back-to-back, facilitating movement throughout the nest.
The brood nest, where the queen lays eggs and the young develop, is concentrated in a compact, spherical shape in the lower-central portion of the comb. Pollen, which serves as the colony’s protein source, is stored in a ring surrounding the brood, while honey stores are concentrated in the upper sections, closest to the cavity ceiling.