Why do chubby bees make their nests in the shape of a regular hexagon?

Produced by: Science Popularization China

Author: Chongyan Chongyu Team

Producer: China Science Expo

Insects also have many architects who build "houses" for themselves, especially bees and wasps of the order Hymenoptera, which are simply the most brilliant architects. Different types of bees build different houses. The beehives of bees are so peculiar in shape and ingenious in structure that they are truly ingenious and have long attracted the interest of scientists.

As early as the beginning of the 18th century, French scientist Maral carefully observed and studied the honeycomb. He compared each honeycomb and found that the holes and bottom of each honeycomb were hexagonal. If the bottom of each honeycomb was divided into three rhombus sections, the degree of each acute angle and each obtuse angle was equal (the acute angle was about 72° and the obtuse angle was about 109°). The mouths of the honeycomb were all facing downward or toward one side. Building the honeycomb in a hexagonal shape can save materials, make rational use of space and increase capacity.

(Photo source: veer photo gallery)

So how is a honeycomb built? The construction of a honeycomb is entirely undertaken by worker bees. They first suck up nectar, then two worker bees use their front legs to firmly grasp the object above, and extend their hind legs for the two worker bees below to grab, thus connecting to each other to form two chains. When the required length is reached, the last bee in each chain uses the swing of its middle legs and the vibration of its wings to merge the original two chains into a ring chain. After about a day of rest, the nectar in the worker bees' bodies is absorbed and decomposed into beeswax, which is then secreted through the wax plate secretion glands at the end of the abdomen to secrete a thin layer of wax flakes. Only then do they separate to carry out the next step of nest building. The worker bees first use the hair on their feet to brush off the secreted wax flakes, put them into their mouths to chew them into several small plates, and then pass these wax plates to the worker bees waiting to build a nest on the box board. They take the wax plates with their mouths and evenly spread them on the top plate as the foundation of the honeycomb. Other worker bees bring wax plates to gradually raise the nest base. A wax column hangs down from the top plate, and another worker bee makes a hexagonal hole in the middle of the wax column. After careful carving, the first hexagonal honeycomb is built. Maybe this worker bee is the chief architect? With the basic shape in place, the other worker bees all get to work. They work methodically, building hexagonal, interconnected single-room solitary honeycombs, and finally forming a beautiful and unique honeycomb.

(Photo source: veer photo gallery)

Wasp nests are often built on tree branches, under eaves, in tree holes or in houses. There are also species built underground. Wasps belong to the order Hymenoptera, family Vespidae, and are completely metamorphosed. This family includes both gregarious and solitary species. There are generally three levels of gregarious wasps, namely queens, worker bees and drones, and the number of colonies is generally small. The queen begins to take wood fibers in spring, chews them into pulp, and uses them to build nests. After it chooses a nesting site, it first builds a short cylindrical base on tree branches or wooden rafters of the eaves, and then gradually expands on the column base to build a bell-shaped nest that is approximately half-moon shaped. The nests vary in size, and the largest one is the nest of the giant bee, which can reach 66 cm in diameter. The nest of the bumblebee is oval (25 cm × 18 cm) and is built in the gap between the walls. After the queen completes the nesting, she lays a fertilized egg in each cell. After the legless larvae hatch, they are fed with captured insects and honey and other substances every day. After the larvae have grown and developed, the adult bees will seal the opening of the beehive with paper pulp and let them pupate inside. After the pupae emerge as adults, they bite through the sealing paper and come out. After the worker bees emerge in autumn, they will mate when the sexual insects appear. In the winter, only the young queen will stay in the nest to overwinter, and a new nest will be rebuilt in the spring of the following year. The queen will no longer lay eggs and raise her young in the old nest, but will build a new house on the old nest as a foundation. In a year, she can build a "building" with more than ten floors, hanging upside down on a cliff or a tree branch. If the building materials contain too much water and are not strong, they will flap their wings to dry the nest. The pendulum-shaped "buildings" of wasps and hornets do not occupy land area, but can be high above, avoiding human harassment and natural enemies, providing humans with new ideas in architecture.

(Photo source: veer photo gallery)

A small beehive has so many mysteries. In fact, there are more mysteries waiting for us to discover in the world of insects.