Honey-bees are one of the hard working, social and disciplined animal on earth. Like butterflies, honey-bees have two pairs of wings and three pairs of jointed legs too. So they are also treated as insects.
The body of a honey-bee is divisible into three parts — head, thorax and abdomen. These three parts are put together one after another by two very narrow joints.
Honey-bees are beneficial to mankind because they give us honey and wax. They also help in pollination, as a result of which flowers transform into fruits.
Several thousands of honey-bees live together in a hive. So they are known as social insects.
Honey-bees build large nests called hives or honeycomb. You may notice beehives hanging from branches of large trees, ceilings and sunshades of large buildings especially near flower gardens. Beehives appear like large U shaped bags. Worker bees build the nests by a material, which is secreted from their body. It is called bee wax. Wax is produced in the wax glands of the worker bees. There are four pairs of wax glands under their abdomen. The secretion, which comes out, dries up in the form of thin scales. The worker bees join these wax scales one after another with their feet and jaws to build beautiful hives, which contain several combs or six-sided cells.
The queen bee lives in the largest cell, which is situated at the bottom of the hive. Drones live in medium cells and the smaller chambers are occupied by the larvae of worker bees. Adult workers do not have any cell because they have no time to take a rest. Honey-bees store honey in the upper cells and seal the openings with wax. There are some open cells below the honey cells in which bees store pollen grains. A hive has some special brood chambers. Each brood-chamber is provided with an egg for hatching.