Festooning

The honey bees naturally work together to produce honey.  This teamwork often creates a festoon or a bridge made from bees within the open spaces in the hive.  Bees use their own bodies to create a living bridge for other bees to use to cross into a frame.  The six legs of the honey bee have pads and hooks so they can "hook" onto another bee's hooks.  They build their own scaffolding for a several reasons.  They use this festoon when swarmming and hang onto a tree limb or another object.  Bees also festoon to hang out of the hive entrance in warm weather.  A large number of bees create ventilation of the brood nest by festooning outside of the hive.