Honeybees nimbly adapt combbuilding construction tactics
Bees are known for building honeycombs composed of perfectly uniform hexagons, but they deviate from their regular patterns when necessary. For example, when transitioning between small cells for rearing worker bees and those meant for larger reproductive drones, the bees build one or two rows of intermediate-sized cells ●1 . And because they start construction in multiple locations, bees must find ways to merge sections to form a single comb, an operation that often involves combinations of 4-, 5- and 7-sided cells ●2 . Source: “Imperfect Comb Construction Reveals the Architectural Abilities of Honeybees,” by Michael L. Smith, Nils Napp and Kirstin H. Peterson, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, Vol. 118; August 3, 2021. Illustration by Brown Bird Design
