Inside the Hive: The Symmetrical Architecture of Honey Bee Nests

Honeycombs are made up of hexagonal structures built by bees. They are double-sided, and the internal contents on one side of the comb mirror the opposite side. This architecture appears consistent across all species of honey bees, uncovering a deeper understanding of their nest architecture.

An international team of researchers led by Smith Bee Lab at Auburn University observed 148 nest maps from six colonies and discovered that the contents of the comb, including honey, pollen, or brood (eggs, larvae, and pupae) were perfectly uniform on either side. It is shocking that bees imitate each other’s uniform organizing patterns even after separating into independent colonies.

Based on these findings, researchers hypothesized that temperature plays a crucial role in guiding this symmetry. They used large observation hives so that bees could build full-sized nests for more convenient and detailed observation. The most difficult part of this research was to map the nest contents, as researchers had to wait for the bees to move away to peep inside each cell. Scientists used heat pads set to the highest temperature on one side of the hive to test their hypothesis about temperature. They ultimately got astonishing results. Claire Bailey, co-author of the study, said, “When we mapped these colonies, we were blind to the position of the heat pad because we didn’t want to accidentally bias ourselves. But the brood pattern was striking – you were practically tracing out a rectangle of brood on one side, which matched the heat pad on the opposite side.”