Bee Festooning and Honeycomb Building
Today we ponder some of the more curious bee pastimes, like bee festooning, hexagonal cells, and how they build hives.
If you ever have had the pleasure of observing a beehive, and see bees hanging together in single-bee chain formation, this is called festooning. This is part of their building process, where they connect to each other by their little legs between frames, as they build or repair their honeycomb.
Why they do this is still a mystery, but scientists think it may have something to do with stimulating the production of beeswax, or it could be a way to measure the size of the comb cells.
Here is a fascinating 4:04-minute time lapse video by hansiraber that spans two months of honeycomb building:
Next, we have a 7:52-minute video by Purrfect Honey non-profit that address such questions as: why do honey bees build hexagonal honeycombs, and how do bees make their hives...
Enjoy these secrets revealed and bee-utiful insights into the building and construction aspects of the honeybee hive.
There is no question that, in addition to all their other talents, these cherished insects are also master builders.
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Katy - Bee Missionary
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