How do bees build their home?

Answer 1

The honey bees that we have in the UK would, in the absence of the hives humans provide, make their nests in hollow trees or buildings. In fact anywhere that they might hang some comb from would suit the bees.

Other bees burrow down into the ground, under rocks, in piles of grass or leaves - all sorts of places.

Answer 2

Honey bees in the subgenus Apis use caves, rock cavities and hollow trees as natural nesting sites.

Members of other subgenera have exposed aerial combs. The nest are composed of multiple honeycombs, parallel to each other, with a relatively uniform bee space.

The nest usually has a single entrance. Western honey bees prefer nest cavities approximately 45 litres in volume and avoid those smaller than 10 or larger than 100 litres. Western honey bees show several preferences in nest site properties: the height above ground is usually between 1 metre (3.3 ft) and 5 metres (16 ft), entrance positions tend to face downward, south-facing entrances are favored (as described by a reference from the Northern Hemisphere), and nest sites over 300 metres (980 ft) from the parent colony are preferred.

Bees usually occupy the nests for several years.

The bees often smooth the bark surrounding the hive entrance, and the cavity walls are coated with a thin layer of hardened plant resin (propolis).

Honeycombs are attached to the walls along the cavity tops and sides, but small passageways are left along the comb edges. The basic nest architecture for all honey bees is similar: honey is stored in the upper part of the comb; beneath it are rows of pollen-storage cells, worker-brood cells, and drone-brood cells, in that order. The peanut-shaped queen cells are normally built at the lower edge of the comb.

Answer 3

Yes.

Answer 4

With wax.