The hexagonal shape of the honeycomb cells depends on the construction behavior of bees.

Francesco Nazzi

doi:10.1038/srep28341

Abstract

The hexagonal shape of the honey bee cells has attracted the attention of humans for centuries. It is now accepted that bees build cylindrical cells that later transform into hexagonal prisms through a process that it is still debated. The early explanations involving the geometers’ skills of bees have been abandoned in favor of new hypotheses involving the action of physical forces, but recent data suggest that mechanical shaping by bees plays a role. However, the observed geometry can arise only if isodiametric cells are previously arranged in a way that each one is surrounded by six other similar cells; here I suggest that this is a consequence of the building program adopted by bees and propose a possible behavioral rule ultimately accounting for the hexagonal shape of bee cells.

Highlights

Despite the considerable attention it recently attracted, the mechanism through which hexagons are formed appears to be of secondary importance; instead, the central point appears to be the formation of the hexagonal pattern of isodiametric cylinders
How do bees arrange the cylinders in a hexagonal pattern?
Many bees are involved in this behavior normally occurring, under natural conditions, within a dark cavity. This makes the observation somehow more difficult than in the case of other hymenopterans that build nests made of hexagonal cells as well

Summary

Francesco Nazzi

The hexagonal shape of the honey bee cells has attracted the attention of humans for centuries. Pirk and collaborators provided support to this latter hypothesis by studying the wax condensing around an array of rubber bungs[5], while Karihaloo and coworkers reached a similar conclusion by modelling the effect of surface tension at the triple junction between adjacent cells[6] This latter evidence, supporting the interpretation of the honeycomb architecture as the result of blind physical forces rather than biological engineering, lead Ball to state that there does not seem to be much room left for the honey bees’ engineering prowess[9]. Many bees are involved in this behavior normally occurring, under natural conditions, within a dark cavity This makes the observation somehow more difficult than in the case of other hymenopterans that build nests made of hexagonal cells as well (see, for example, the studies carried out by West-Eberhard on paper wasps[12]).

Results and Discussion

Methods

Additional Information