Lesson 9: Inside the Nest
Comb, cells, and how bees arrange their home
Open a hive and you'll find the bees' honeycomb, their inner house. It's where young bees are raised and where the colony's food is stored. Bees arrange it the same way in every healthy colony, so once you know the pattern you can tell at a glance when something is out of place.
Comb is made of beeswax
Beeswax is made only by young worker bees. Glands on the underside of a worker's abdomen give off tiny flakes of wax. Workers chew the flakes and shape them into comb.
Making wax is expensive for the bees: it takes about 7 to 8 pounds of honey to make 1 pound of wax (sources give slightly different figures). That's one reason beekeepers reuse drawn comb whenever they can.
New comb is white, or pale yellow when the bees are working certain flowers. It darkens with age: each bee raised in a cell leaves its shed skin behind, and bees also add propolis. Old brood comb can look dark brown or almost black. (Lesson 53 explains why old, dark comb should be replaced over time.)
Why six-sided cells?
Comb is made of thousands of six-sided (hexagonal) cells built side by side. The hexagon is one of the strongest shapes used in building, gives more storage space than most other shapes, and uses the least wax.
Each cell slopes gently downward from the opening toward the middle of the comb. That slight tilt keeps honey and other contents from running out.
Three kinds of cells
| Cell | Size and shape | What it's for |
|---|---|---|
| Worker cell | The smaller six-sided cell | Raising workers; storing pollen and honey |
| Drone cell | Larger six-sided cell (drones are bigger) | Raising drones; also used for honey |
| Queen cell | A distinct, large, elongated cell that hangs vertically | Raising a queen (lesson 37) |
Queen cells only appear when the colony is raising a new queen (lessons 12, 13 and 37).
The brood nest layout
Healthy colonies arrange each comb in the same three zones:
- Brood in the middle. Cells full of eggs, larvae and capped pupae fill the central part of the comb. This is the brood area.
- A band of pollen around the brood. A narrow strip of cells next to the brood holds pollen, the protein food for the larvae. It's stored close by so nurse bees can reach it easily. Bees pack pollen cells only about three-quarters full, sometimes topping them with a little honey to preserve it, which makes the pollen look wet.
- Honey on the outside. The outer edges of the comb, beyond the pollen band, are used to ripen and store honey.
The whole nest follows the same idea on a bigger scale: brood toward the center frames, food toward the outside frames and above. In late summer a colony builds up a core of brood underneath insulating layers of honey, pollen and a honey-pollen mix, ready for winter (lesson 14).
Why it matters to you: when you put frames back after an inspection, put them back in the same order, brood in the center and food on the outside. Mixing them up breaks the brood nest apart.
How it looks:
A slice of the brood nest: capped brood across the middle, honey stored above it.
The pollen band: cells packed with pollen of different colors beside the brood.
Bee space between combs
Between neighboring combs, bees leave a gap of about 3/8 inch, called bee space (lesson 18). It's just wide enough for bees to walk on both combs back to back. If a space is much wider or narrower than that, the bees close it up with wax and bee glue. Modern hives are built around this measurement, which is why their frames can be lifted out.
Propolis: bee glue
Bees also collect propolis, a sticky brown resin gathered from tree buds and sap. They use it to seal cracks, glue down the lid, varnish the inside walls, strengthen comb and narrow the entrance. If something too big to carry out dies in the hive, such as a mouse, the bees may seal it over with propolis. It's the reason frames and boxes stick together, and why you need a hive tool (lesson 21).
What to remember
- Comb is beeswax made by young workers; about 7–8 lb of honey makes 1 lb of wax; comb darkens with age.
- Cells are six-sided, and each one slopes so its contents don't spill out.
- Worker cells (small), drone cells (larger), queen cells (large, elongated, hanging).
- Layout: brood in the middle, a band of pollen around it, honey on the outside; brood frames central, food frames outside.
- Put frames back in the same order.
Quick check
- Why do bees store pollen right next to the brood?
- Where on a comb is honey usually stored?
- Why does old brood comb look dark?
Show answers
1. Pollen is protein food for the larvae, so nurse bees keep it close. 2. On the outer edges of the comb, beyond the pollen band (and on outer frames and above). 3. Each bee raised in a cell leaves its shed skin behind, and bees add propolis over time.
Adapted from: Purdue Extension, 4-H Beekeeping Division I: Understanding the Honey Bee (4-H-571-W) and Learning About Beekeeping (4-H-1057-W); UF/IFAS Extension, Welcome to the Apiary! (4H446); UGA Bee Program, Getting Started: Honey Bee Biology; Delaplane, K. S., Honey Bees and Beekeeping (UGA Extension Bulletin 1045, rev. 2017).
Photos: brood nest, Einebillion, CC BY 4.0 · pollen in comb, Waugsberg, CC BY-SA 3.0 (both via Wikimedia Commons).
Adapted from university Extension sources. Experienced Georgia beekeepers are reviewing these lessons. See something that doesn't match your experience? Tell us.