Hives

Hives are built from a clear, gelatinous resin that Xenomorph Drones vomit from their mouths and eventually hardens to form a dark, strong, resinous substance, also referred to as "webbing". This resin is used to construct a warren-like maze of tunnels spreading outwards from a central Egg chamber, where the Queen will reside, and also to cocoon potential hosts to the walls, immobilizing and restraining them so that they can be impregnated with a Chestburster. It should be noted that while a Queen is typically found overseeing a Hive, one is not necessarily required for a Hive to form. Indeed, construction of a Hive may be a precursor to Queen development in many cases. In this respect, a Xenomorph Hive shares similarities in its architecture with both spider webs and wasp nests, while being directly comparable to neither.
The atmosphere within a Hive is typically very warm. A Queen will often locate her Hive in an area where these properties are already apparent, such as large industrial facilities where there is an abundance of ambient heat. It is also possible the Hive structure, or perhaps the resident Xenomorphs themselves, somehow raise atmospheric temperatures within the Hive to meet this requirement.

Size

Hives can vary in size from extensive nests with hundreds of members headed by an Egg-laying Queen to small chambers occupied by only a few Drones or Warriors. Occasionally, in larger infestations, smaller "satellite" Hives will be set up in the areas surrounding the main nest. While these subsidiary Hives are occasionally used for the cocooning and impregnating of hosts, more often they are simply an outlying base of operations for Xenomorph Warriors. Even individual Xenomorphs operating in isolation have been known to establish small nests, although this is thought to be rare as a solitary creature has little need for a Hive of its own. The largest known Hive ever discovered is that on Xenomorph Prime, which covers half a continent.