Journal ArticleDOI
Imperfect comb construction reveals the architectural abilities of honeybees
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In this article, the authors used automated image analysis to extract the irregularities in natural comb building, and found that workers overcome these challenges using a combination of building techniques, such as: intermediate-sized cells, regular motifs of irregular shapes, and gradual modifications of cell tilt.Abstract:
Honeybees are renowned for their perfectly hexagonal honeycomb, hailed as the pinnacle of biological architecture for its ability to maximize storage area while minimizing building material. However, in natural nests, workers must regularly transition between different cell sizes, merge inconsistent combs, and optimize construction in constrained geometries. These spatial obstacles pose challenges to workers building perfect hexagons, but it is unknown to what extent workers act as architects versus simple automatons during these irregular building scenarios. Using automated image analysis to extract the irregularities in natural comb building, we show that some building configurations are more difficult for the bees than others, and that workers overcome these challenges using a combination of building techniques, such as: intermediate-sized cells, regular motifs of irregular shapes, and gradual modifications of cell tilt. Remarkably, by anticipating these building challenges, workers achieve high-quality merges using limited local sensing, on par with analytical models that require global optimization. Unlike automatons building perfectly replicated hexagons, these building irregularities showcase the active role that workers take in shaping their nest and the true architectural abilities of honeybees.read more
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The Comparative approach to bio-inspired design: integrating biodiversity and biologists into the design process.
Clint A. Penick,Grace Cope,Swapnil Morankar,Yash Mistry,Alex Grishin,Nikhilesh Chawla,Dhruv Bhate +6 more
TL;DR: In this paper , comparative methods have been used in bio-inspired design, and they have led to breakthroughs in studies on gecko-inspired adhesives and multifunctionality of butterfly wing scales.
Journal ArticleDOI
Social signal learning of the waggle dance in honey bees
TL;DR: Dong et al. as discussed by the authors showed that correct waggle dancing requires social learning and observed that the first dances of bees that could follow other dancers showed neither impairment. But they did not show that experience increased angle and direction accuracy, untutored bees were never able to recover accurate distance coding.
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Unraveling the Mechanisms of the Apis mellifera Honeycomb Construction by 4D X‐ray Microscopy
TL;DR: Using 4D X‐ray microscopy, this study shows how individual and groups of honeycomb cells are formed and contributes significantly to the comb's robust mechanical properties in all three dimensions.
Journal ArticleDOI
On the Role of Theory and Modeling in Neuroscience
TL;DR: The authors argue that a pragmatic perspective of science, in which descriptive, mechanistic, and normative models and theories each play a distinct role in defining and bridging levels of abstraction, will facilitate neuroscientific practice.
Journal ArticleDOI
Stigmergy versus behavioral flexibility and planning in honeybee comb construction
Vince Gallo,Lars Chittka +1 more
TL;DR: Chittka et al. as mentioned in this paper show that bees also build various types of irregularly shaped and sized cells, for example when merging separate comb constructions, which raises the question of whether the bees' innate behavioral repertoire contains multiple different routines for each shape, whether bees plan ahead to insert optimal shapes, or whether such diversity of structures could be explained by simple rules.
References
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Journal Article
Comb Construction by the African Honeybee, Apis mellifera adansonii
TL;DR: Cell size discrimination by A. m.
Journal ArticleDOI
Gravity-independent orientation of honeycomb cells.
TL;DR: Honey bees have long been assumed to build their comb with the cells in either of two preferred orientations with respect to gravity, but it is shown that these typical cell orientations in fact derive from substrate orientation and a simple building rule, rather than the influence of gravity itself.
Journal ArticleDOI
How bees and foams respond to curved confinement : Level set boundary representations in the Surface Evolver
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate the equilibrium properties of a single area-minimising bubble trapped between two narrowly-separated parallel curved plates and derive a simple model for a bubble between arbitrarily curved parallel plates.