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Stingless bees create intricate-shaped hives


Still Waters

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Humans have turned the building of spaces into an art form, but we're not the only species with such dazzling achievements. A particular genus of Southeast Asian and Australian stingless bee really takes that idea to another level, creating spiral beehives that rival New York's Guggenheim.

We know bees are smart, but it's been a bit of a mystery as to just how Tetragonula bees manage to create their intricate spiral, bullseye, and other irregularly-shaped beehives.

Now, an international team of researchers has stepped up to find out; surprisingly, when the scientists used mathematical models to investigate the patterns found in the beehives, they discovered that hive creation had striking similarities to the formation of crystals.

https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-discover-these-incredible-beehives-have-a-lot-in-common-with-crystals

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"The same mathematical model that explains how crystals grow can also explain how tropical stingless bees build honeycombs in spiraling, multi-terraced shapes, according to a study published on Wednesday in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.

"Bees from the genus Tetragonula specialize in sophisticated feats of architecture built from hexagonal beeswax cells. Each individual cell is both the landing spot for an egg and a building block for structures that can grow up to 20 levels high, Brandon Specktor reports for Live Science.

"Stingless bees’ hives can come in several shapes, including stacks of circles in a bulls-eye, a spiral, a double spiral, and a group of disorderly terraces."

Full monty at the Smithsonian Mag: Link

Research at the Royal Society: Link

Edited by Eldorado
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