the greater honeyguide feeds primarily on the contents of bee colonies ("nests"): bee eggs, larvae and pupae; waxworms; and beeswax. (honeyguides are among the few birds that can digest wax.) it frequently associates with other honeyguides at bees' nests; immatures dominate adults, and immatures of this species dominate all others. like other honeyguides, the greater honeyguide enters bees' nests while the bees are torpid in the early morning, feeds at abandoned hives (african bees desert more often than those of the temperate zones), and scavenges at hives robbed by people or other large animals, notably the ratel or honey badger.