Would it ever be proper to say a bee's NEST,as opposed to hive?

Answer 1

It actually both mean the same. Just different words.

Answer 2

You can certainly say it, and people would know what you mean. It's like saying "a herd of birds"; the generally accepted term is something else, but the listener probably knows what you mean. That sort of thing, by the way, is why scientific names were invented - everybody had different terms for the same thing, which could get awfully confusing if you travelled around a lot before names were standardized. Incidentally, I don't know about you, but where I live, when people say "a bee's nest" they're actually usually talking about the home of Yellowjackets, which are actually wasps - so they're more or less right about the "nest" bit, but wrong about the "bee" bit.

Answer 3

Probably not, because of the different relationship of the bee to the hive, vs a bird or rat to a nest. There is much more structure to a hive and cooperative behavior that does not exist with nests.
But we have abandoned hundreds of words that specifically applied to certain breds of animals and we might abandon hive. Once people used special words for groups of crows, foxes, geese, etc. as we do still for herds and flocks and different words for different ages, as we do for kittens and cats. Here is a partial list http://www.rateitall.com/t-20083-collective-nouns-or-group-names.aspx

Answer 4

They are both house bee's live in hives and birds in nest

Answer 5

Yes..when they nest under the eaves of a house etc.
A hive is more often used by bee-keepers for the name of the equipment used in an Apiary for producing honey..

Answer 6

in common speak we use it the same, in common speak 'hive' conotates collective intelligence, like the borg on star trek, 'the hive.' and a nest is any type of home but this is loose speak.

Answer 7

That's fine. I think their the same thing, but different words.