{"id":2712,"date":"2023-12-16T16:54:44","date_gmt":"2023-12-16T21:54:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beekeepingfornewbies.com\/?p=2712"},"modified":"2023-12-16T16:56:52","modified_gmt":"2023-12-16T21:56:52","slug":"what-is-honeycomb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beekeepingfornewbies.com\/what-is-honeycomb\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Honeycomb? (Talking Beeswax)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Honeycomb is a wax (beeswax) mass of hexagonal (six-sided) cells built by honey bees with wax secreted from special abdominal glands. Honeycomb is a crucial part of the bees\u2019 nest used to store pollen, nectar, and honey and raise brood.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Honeycomb is also used to provide information within the beehive as it transmits the scent of the queen’s pheromones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A few words on terminology:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The whole of the bees’ wax structure may be called “honeycomb.” It is also referred to as “comb” or, when empty of stores or brood, “drawn comb.<\/strong>” <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes, honeycomb refers only to the part of the comb that contains honey. When extracted from the hive intact, you may also see it called “comb honey<\/strong>.” “Brood comb<\/strong>” are cells that contain, you guessed it, brood. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n In this\narticle, we’ll discuss:<\/p>\n\n\n\n In ancient\ntimes, people thought bees collected wax from plants and trees. Later, scientists\nhypothesized that bees created wax through some transformation of pollen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1792, John Hunter, a Scottish surgeon, determined through observation and experimentation that \u201cwax was not transmuted pollen but was secreted only by worker bees.\u201d (Honeybees and Wax: An Experimental Natural History<\/em><\/a> by H. Randall Hepburn)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Between the ages of 12 and 18 days, worker bees develop wax glands. These glands secrete a liquid that solidifies as wax flakes upon contact with the air. These flakes, or wax scales, are passed to the bee\u2019s mouth and mixed with other secretions making a pliable wax<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cells with developing brood or completed honey are closed with wax cappings. Hence, the terms capped brood or capped honey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Beeswax is not “bee poop” or “bee vomit.” A bee’s wax-secreting glands are not part of the bee’s digestive tract.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n In an empty space (such as a foundationless frame), wax-producing bees “festoon” in a chain, creating the cells from the top down. This honeycomb is two-sided with a rib down the middle and cells on each side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On foundation, the honey bee colony draws out wax comb using the embossed foundation as a guide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Without foundation, the comb is often attached to the sides and the bottom of the frame for stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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How Do Honey Bees Make Wax?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Building Comb<\/h2>\n\n\n\n