Page 154 - The Miracle of the Honeybee

152 THE MIRACLE OF THE HONEYBEE

Angles in the Honeycomb

In constructing their cells, bees need to bear in mind three separate an-
gles:
- The internal angles of each comb cell.
- The upward angle of the cell from the horizontal.
- The angles of the equilateral rhombs in the cell’s base.
Bees construct their
cells by perfectly
maintaining the
o
necessary 120 in-
ternal angles in the
hexagons. During con-
struction, another point to
which bees pay careful at-
tention is the angle of tilt of

It is impossible for a human being
to draw regular hexagons with a
pencil and then to join them to-
gether without leaving any traces.
Yet bees have been doing exactly
this, in three dimensions, for mil-
lions of years.