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Bee at bottom of circle
is performing a waggle
dance for the other
bees gathered around
to watch it
Click to go to previous pagewaggle dance  See it
the complex movements made by a scout bee after returning from finding a nectar source; the waggle dance communicates all the information needed by other field bees to find the nectar source, including quality of the nectar, direction and distance.  The scout bee moves across an open area of comb while other field bees around observe its movements.  The "dancing" bee waggles its abdomen in a "figure 8" pattern as it moves across the comb, with other bees following it, antennae to abdomen, and the dancer makes sounds thought to incite other bees to pay attention and want to forage.  The angle of the dance from straight-up vertical on the comb shows the angle of the nectar source in relation to the sun's position in the sky.  If the dancer moves 45° to the right of vertical during the middle portion of its figure 8 pattern, this indicates that the direction of the nectar source is 45° to the right of the sun.  So, relatively upward dances tell the field bees to fly more toward the sun, and downward dances indicate the nectar is more away from the sun.  The total duration of the dance, along with the number of "waggles", indicates the distance to the food source from the hive.  The intensity, or frequency, of the waggles indicates the quality of the nectar, and the "coup de grace" is the exact type of nectar, which the bee communicates by sharing a small sample with the other field bees.
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Small wasp nest
Go to the top of the pagewasp  See it
Like the honeybee, the wasp is a member of the order Hymenoptera, which are social insects.  However, the wasp differs significantly from the honeybee in both behavior and appearance.

See also: apis mellifera, honeybee, wasps, Protective Clothing, How a Bee Suit and Gloves Work

Don't click here!wax glands
the glands on the underside of the honeybee's abdomen that secrete beeswax; the glands are located in pairs on the last four visible abdominal segments
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Adult wax moth
wax moth  See it
golleria mellonclia - a common moth that infests honeybee colonies, the larvae of which can seriously damage brood and empty combs in a weaker hive
Don't click here!winter cluster
the arrangement of adult bees within the hive during winter

See also: Year-Round Hive-top Feeder

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Worker bees on a
brood frame
Go to the top of the pageworker bee  See it
a honeybee that primarily works inside the colony to store honey and pollen, build comb, and attend the queen.  A worker bee has different roles than that of a nurse bee, field bee, scout bee, guard bee, drone, or queen.
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Queen and her brood
worker comb    See it
sections of wax comb in the beehive built for raising worker bees and for storing honey and pollen; worker comb is by far the most common type of brood comb in a honeybee colony.  Worker comb measures about five cells to the inch, which is more dense than drone comb, since the worker cells are smaller.  The illustration here shows normal worker cells capped with a light yellow wax covering, from which the mature worker bee will emerge at the completion of its pupal development stage.

See also: bee metamorphosis, drone comb, Queen and her brood

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