One, two, three, four, five, six…Why is the honeycomb hexagonal?

The explanation we hear most often is that bees are great architects with superb mathematical calculation abilities. Indeed, the regular hexagonal structure of the honeycomb is a design that even human architects admire. The corners of each cell seem to have been carefully measured and calculated to maximize storage space while saving materials. But do bees really have such a design blueprint? After closely observing the construction process of the honeycomb, scientists have discovered that the construction of these regular hexagons may not require precise calculations by bees.

The honeycomb of a bee is made up of a series of lattice-shaped cells connected together. Each cell is about the size of the bee. Researchers have found that these cells are actually cylindrical rather than hexagonal when they are first formed. The beeswax used to build the honeycomb is a viscoelastic material. When it is first built, it has not yet completely solidified, and the walls of each cell tend to fuse together, eventually presenting a hexagonal cross-section. Scientists have also observed that some bees use their body temperature to heat the inner walls of the cell to promote the fusion of the cells.

So why do the honeycomb walls form a hexagon after fusion? You can try to blow some bubbles of similar size on the table and let them be close to each other on the same plane. There will be 6 bubbles around one bubble. The pressure between the contact surfaces will squeeze the bubbles in the middle into a hexagon, reaching the most stable state. The formation of hexagonal honeycombs is also based on the same principle.

Although this discovery may take some of the luster off the bee's title as an architect, the creativity of nature's designer is still worth marveling at.