Difficulty: Challenger (Level 2)
Honeybees help plants reproduce by carrying pollen between flowers. They are also excellent builders. They craft honeycombs, which are the building blocks for a hive. Each honeycomb consists of thousands of six-sided hexagonal cells made from beeswax.
Honeycombs are very strong structures and have different uses (see graphic).
Honeycomb construction is an amazing process. Worker bees eat honey and produce sticky, yellow beeswax from special glands in their abdomens.
Because producing beeswax is hard work, honeybees do not want to waste any of their resources. This means they need to use the least amount of wax to construct honeycomb cells that can hold as much honey as possible.
Hexagons are perfect for honeycombs because they fit together without gaps. Compared to other shapes, the hexagon uses the least wax to create a wall around each honeycomb cell.
If you are interested in learning more about these insects, the Hong Kong Science Museum is running a biodiversity workshop called “Getting to Know the Bees and Wasps”. You can find out more about the workshop on the museum’s website.
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