Honeybees are social insects, this means they live in colonies. A honeybee colony includes:

From 20,000 to 60,000 workers (sometimes more).
A single queen, a perfectly formed female and the colony's only egg-layer.
From 100 to 2000 male honeybees (during the spring and summer).

In their wild state, honeybees live in natural cavities such as hollow trees, old walls, etc..
Should they make the mistake of building their comb in the open, they would be unable to survive for long due to bad weather conditions and predators (other insects, birds, rodents).
Although still popular in some parts of Asia and Africa, honey gathering from combs built by wild bees is a difficult business.
Ever since antiquity, man has overcome this inconvenience by providing honeybees with shelters suited to the collection of honey and wax.

The earliest hives were :

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hollow trees trunks ; wickerwork baskets ;
terra-cotta jars, etc..
In many regions these receptacles were protected by a thatched roof.


 

It was not until the late 19th century that the frame hive was invented by Langstroth.


This revolutionary hive changed the face of beekeeping. A direct result of this invention, apiculture developed rapidly and even became a professional activity for many beekeepers.
Beekeepers group their hives together in beeyards or apiaries (on average 10 to 30 hives) in order to simplify their work (harvesting, inspections, treatment of disease, transport etc.)



Hive

Apart from honey and wax, which have been collected and appreciated for thousands of years, bees also produce other worthwhile foods, such as pollen and royal jelly.
Research is currently underway to determine the therapeutic value of royal jelly and propolis (bee-glue).
However, its role as a pollinator remains the most important economic contribution made by the bee, far outweighing the importance of all the other hive products together.

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