Wosk pszczeli jest na plastrze miodu.

They usually do, but wosk pszczeli is a very common fixed expression meaning beeswax.

In Polish, some adjectives that classify the noun rather than describe it often come after the noun, especially in established terms. Compare:

• język polski = Polish language
• olej silnikowy = motor oil
• wosk pszczeli = beeswax

So this is not just any random word order choice; it is a standard lexical pattern.

You may sometimes see pszczeli wosk, but wosk pszczeli sounds more like the usual set term.

Pszczeli is an adjective built from pszczoła, which means bee.

So pszczeli means something like:

• bee
• of bees
• related to bees

That is why wosk pszczeli means beeswax: literally bee wax or wax of bees.

The form pszczeli matches wosk, which is a masculine singular noun in the nominative case. Polish adjectives change form to agree with the noun they describe.

Because na can require different cases depending on the meaning.

Here it means location:
on the honeycomb

With location, na takes the locative case.
The noun plaster therefore changes to its locative singular form:

• plaster = nominative
• na plastrze = locative after na

So:

• Wosk jest na plastrze miodu = The wax is on the honeycomb.

But if you were talking about movement onto something, you would use the accusative:

• Kładę wosk na plaster miodu = I put the wax onto the honeycomb.

This is a normal stem change in Polish declension.

The base form is:

• plaster

But in the locative singular, it becomes:

• plastrze

So the ending is not just added mechanically; the stem also changes a little. This kind of alternation is common in Polish and is something learners gradually get used to.

The important thing to remember here is simply:

• na plastrze = on the honeycomb / on the comb

Because miodu is the genitive form of miód.

The dictionary form is:

• miód = honey

But in the phrase plaster miodu, the second noun is in the genitive, because Polish often expresses X of Y with this pattern:

• szklanka wody = a glass of water
• kawałek chleba = a piece of bread
• plaster miodu = a honeycomb / a comb of honey

So:

• plaster miodu = literally a comb of honey
• na plastrze miodu = on the honeycomb

Even when plaster changes case, miodu stays genitive because it still depends on plaster.

No, it is not the same as English plaster in the sense of wall material or a bandage.

In Polish, plaster can mean a slice, section, or in this context a comb.
So plaster miodu refers to a honeycomb or a section of honeycomb.

That is why:

• na plastrze miodu = on the honeycomb

So this is a vocabulary issue, not just grammar.

In a full neutral sentence, jest is natural and normally kept:

• Wosk pszczeli jest na plastrze miodu.

If you remove it, the result sounds more like a caption, label, headline, or note:

• Wosk pszczeli na plastrze miodu
  = Beeswax on honeycomb

So yes, Polish sometimes leaves out jest, but in ordinary standard prose or speech, keeping jest is the safest and most natural choice here.

Yes. Polish word order is more flexible than English word order.

The sentence given is a neutral way to say it:

• Wosk pszczeli jest na plastrze miodu.

But you could also say:

• Na plastrze miodu jest wosk pszczeli.

That version puts more focus on the location, something like:

• On the honeycomb, there is beeswax.

Both are grammatical. The difference is mainly emphasis and information structure, not basic meaning.

Polish has no articles, so there is no separate word for a or the.

Because of that, na plastrze miodu can mean either:

• on the honeycomb
• on a honeycomb

The correct English translation depends on context.

So the Polish sentence itself does not mark that distinction directly; English does, but Polish usually leaves it to the situation or surrounding text.