Bee Hives
The Bee Hive is an enclosed, sealed cavity that honey bees make to help them survive the colder months of winter. This helps to keep them warm and healthy, and also provides room for storage of honey and food for the young.
During spring, the queen bee will lay a large number of eggs every day and workers will begin foraging to gather pollen and nectar. These resources will then be processed and stored in cells.
When a bee finds a flower that is full of pollen, she will grab the anther (the powdery part) and collect it on her body, using her three pairs of legs. This pollen is then carried back to the hive to be mixed with honey and used to feed the colony.
Once the bee has collected the pollen, she will then brush it down into special pouches on her back legs called pollen baskets. These bags are used to carry the pollen and a small amount of nectar back to the hive for storage.
Foraging
Foraging is a vital part of the honey bee’s life cycle, enabling them to access pollen and nectar as well as water from natural sources. When a worker spots a great source of nectar, she will do a “shake dance” to tell others to go out foraging right away and to collect it for the hive.