Today’s letter W is for Wax Glands. We’ve talked about wings in the past, so the wax-producing glands of worker bees seems like a good W word. Yes, I am back, at least for now. After moving both ourselves and the bees it seems like time to put up a new post.

Our picture here comes from a nice article on wax glands at the Scientific Beekeeping UK site. Honey bee workers have six wax glands on the underside of their abdomens. Generally after acting as a nurse bee and before foraging outside the hive, a worker will generate wax from these glands. The bee can grab each flake of wax and manipulate it with her rear legs. This is then passed on to other bees to fashion into honeycomb, cappings, or wherever else wax is required.

One magical aspect of a top bar hive is being able to watch the bees build out comb into empty space, as shown in the below picture. They generally make one or more ovals that merge together over time into a single comb. This does take more resources than a Langstroth hive with a foundation frame, but it is fun to see.

I haven’t really seen the wax glands on a bee, though I have seen the young ladies building out their hive. Even the drones get into the mix to form a festoon of bees building out the comb. The small hooks on a bee’s legs are perfect for joining with a neighbor to make a chain of wax building.

May you prosper and find honey.