Introducing the honeybee The honeybee colony consists of a queen, who is mother to the rest, and worker honeybees numbering about 10,000 in the winter and rising to some 50,000 or more in summer. In the summer this will include some 200-1,000 drones, or males | Introducing the honeybee The honeybee colony consists of a queen who is mother to the rest and worker honeybees numbering about 10 000 in the winter and rising to some 50 000 or more in summer. In the summer this will include some 200-1 000 drones or males which are killed off at the end of summer by the workers so that in the normal colony drones will be absent in winter. In addition to these adult bees the colony will contain a variable number of the immature stages of the honeybee. These consist of eggs larvae pearly white legless maggots and pupae. The numbers of these young stages will vary with the time of year. All the immature bees are housed in the cells of the honeycomb each individual in a separate cell and are collectively spoken of as brood. Packed into other cells of the honeycomb will be pollen and honey the food of the bees forming a store which can be drawn upon or added to as the circumstances allow. This whole unit comprises a colony which is regarded as normal only when all the different stages are present. If any are missing the colony is at risk even though this may be the normal condition for the time of year. The reason for this will become more obvious as we delve further into the life of the colony. The honeycomb is made of beeswax. This is secreted by the worker bees from eight small wax glands on the underside of the abdomen see page 18 . When wax is required the workers fill themselves with honey and probably some pollen and then by hanging up in clusters retain the heat produced by the metabolism of the honey in their muscles. The increased temperature and the amount of honey in the bees cause the wax glands to secrete. The wax pours into eight pockets beneath the glands and here a chemical change occurs which solidifies it. The result is eight tiny translucent white cakes of wax. These are then removed from the wax pockets by the last pairs of legs and passed to the mouth where each is worked and manipulated in order to form it into .
