Putting Nectar in Cells

The Nectar Relay Race

Forager bees fly home from the flowers. Their honey stomachs are full of sweet nectar. The honey stomach is a special backpack. It sits inside the bee's body. The forager cannot put the nectar away herself. She must pass it to a house bee. This house bee is a receiver bee. Think of a fun relay race. Runners pass a stick to the next person. Bees pass nectar to the next bee. They touch their antennas together to say hello. Then the forager opens her mouth. She passes the sweet drop to the receiver. This food sharing is called trophallaxis. The receiver bee drinks the sweet liquid. Now she has a very important job. She must find a safe place for it.

Finding the Perfect Cell

The receiver bee walks over the wax floor. Her little feet feel the edges of the cells. She looks for a clean, empty room. Every cell is made of beeswax. The bees make this wax from their own bodies. They chew it until it is soft. Then they build the walls. These cells have six sides. A six-sided shape is a hexagon. How do bees make this shape?

In plain words: bees build round wax tubes first. Then they push the wax into six-sided shapes 1. This shape fits together perfectly. It leaves no empty spaces between cells. Scientists even tried giving bees square wax bases. The bees noticed the strange square shapes. They changed their building plans right away 2. Bees are very smart builders!

A Clever Upward Tilt

The receiver bee finds a perfect cell. The cell sits on its side. Why does the runny nectar stay inside? The cells are not perfectly flat. They point up just a little bit.

In plain words: honeybees tilt the cell up towards the roof. People used to think this stopped spills. But scientists found a different reason. The tilt makes the whole honeycomb much stronger. It pushes the heavy weight to the middle wall 3. Think of holding a heavy backpack. You lean forward to carry the weight. The tilted cells help the wax wall carry the heavy honey. The comb can hold more food this way.

Painting the Wax Walls

The bee crawls inside the tilted cell. She brings up nectar from her honey stomach. She uses her long tongue. She paints the nectar onto the wax walls. Think of painting a room in your house. The bee uses her tongue like a tiny paintbrush. She does not just spit it into a puddle. She carefully spreads it out. A thin layer of nectar dries much faster. The sticky liquid grabs onto the wax. This sticking power is called adhesion. It stays right there without dripping 3. Here are the exact steps she takes:

Waiting for the Next Step

The receiver bee finishes her job. She leaves the cell wide open. She walks away to find more nectar. The fresh nectar is still very wet. It is full of water from the flower. Watery nectar can spoil and go bad. It needs to lose water to become thick honey. The bees must dry it out. We will learn about this drying step next! Soon, the house bees will fan their wings. They will make the extra water float away into the air.

Key Terms

• Receiver bee — A house bee that takes fresh nectar from the flying forager bees.
• Hexagon — A shape with exactly six straight sides.
• Adhesion 3 — When a sticky liquid grabs onto a solid surface and stays put without falling.