Why Do Bees Like Hexagons?

Hexagons are useful shapes. They can hold the queen bee's eggs and store the pollen and honey the worker bees bring to the hive. ... “The geometry of this shape uses the least amount of material to hold the most weight,” she said. It takes the bees quite a bit of work to make the honeycomb.

Why do bees use hexagons?

Honeycombs are made from beeswax, a substance created by worker bees. When the temperature is right, worker bees secrete wax scales from special glands in their body. ... The hexagonal cells serve as storage vessels for honey, as well as homes to raise young bees.

How do bees form perfect hexagons?

The heat formed by the activity of the bees softens the wax, which creeps along the network between the holes. The wax hardens in the most energetically favorable configuration, which happens to be the rounded hexagonal pattern that honeycomb is famous for.