How do worker bees make the wax used for honeycomb?

Worker bees produce the wax used for honeycomb through specialized glands located on the underside of their abdomens. These glands exude the wax in the form of thin, clear, scale-like flakes.12

To transform these flakes into the material used for hive construction, the worker bees chew the scales and mix them with their saliva. This process creates the pliable, whitish substance known as beeswax, which the bees then use to build the cell walls of the honeycomb.12

The production of this wax is an energy-intensive task; it is estimated that a bee must consume approximately 6 to 10 pounds (3 to 4.5 kg) of honey to secrete a single pound of wax. Once the wax is formed, the bees use their mandibles to manipulate and shape it into the precise structures required for the colony.21