Eco Explorers

Explores how bees build honeycomb cells from wax and how wasps construct their papery nests from chewed wood pulp.

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Home Sweet Hive! How Bees and Wasps Build! Wax Castles. Honeybees are master wax builders! They have special glands on their bellies that make tiny flakes of beeswax. They chew these flakes to soften them and mold them into perfect, six-sided honeycomb cells. These cells hold baby bees and store yummy, golden honey for the winter! Paper Palaces. Wasps are the original paper makers! They do not make wax. Instead, they scrape tiny bits of wood from old logs, fences, or dead branches. They mix the wood with their own spit to create soft, gray paper pulp! They use this pulp to build beautiful, papery nests that look like gray balloons or open umbrellas. Who Lives Inside? A bee hive can survive for many years, with thousands of bees working together through the winter. Most wasp nests only last for one summer, and the wasps must start all over again the next spring! Nature's Architects. Can you spot a nest high in a tree or under an eave? If it looks like a gray paper lantern, it is a wasp home! If you see bees flying into a hollow tree, there might be a wax castle hidden inside!

Related Creatures in the Directory:

🐞 Bee 🐞 Buff-tailed Bumblebee 🐞 Gall wasp