How many wax glands does a honey bee hive have?

The correct number of wax glands in a honey bee hive is eight. Worker bees possess specialized glands located on the underside of their abdomen, which produce beeswax. These glands are crucial for the construction of the honeycomb, as they secrete the wax in scales that the bees chew and mold into the cells of the comb.

The anatomical structure of the worker bee includes four pairs of wax-secreting glands that are involved in this intricate process, leading to the total of eight individual glands. Understanding the role and function of these glands highlights the bees' complex behavior in building and maintaining their hives. This knowledge is essential for beekeepers, as it underscores the importance of healthy worker populations to ensure adequate wax production for hive construction and maintenance.

In contrast, other numbers—such as six, ten, or twelve—do not correspond to the actual anatomical count of wax glands in honey bees, thus they cannot be considered accurate in this context.