NEST OF HONEY BEE (APIS-MELLIFERA L)

The natural honey bee nest was studied in detail to better understand the honey bee''s natural living conditions. To describe the nest site external observations were made on 39 nests in hollow trees. To describe the nest architecture 21 of these tree nests were collected and dissected. No one tree genus strongly predominated among bee trees. Nest cavities were vertically elongate and approximately cylindrical. Most were 30-60 l in volume and at the base of trees. Nest entrances tended to be small, 10-40 cm2, and at the nest bottom. Rough bark outside the entrance was often smoothed by the bees. Inside the nest, a thin layer of hardened plant resins (propolis) coated the cavity walls. Combs were fastened to the walls along their tops and sides, but bees left small passageways along the comb edges. The basic nest organization was honey storage above, brood nest below and pollen storage in between. Associated with this arrangement were differences in comb structure. Compared to combs used for honey storage, combs of the brood nest were generally darker and more uniform in width and in cell form. Drone comb was located on the brood nest''s periphery. Comparisons among Apis nests [A. florea and A. dorsata] indicated the advanced characters in Apis mellifera nests arose in response to its adoption of tree cavities for nest sites.