Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Honeycomb crystallography: Experiment–theory approach for bee comb formation under geometric frustrations

View ORCID ProfileGolnar Gharooni Fard, Daisy Zhang, Francisco López Jiménez, View ORCID ProfileOrit Peleg
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.03.13.484106
Golnar Gharooni Fard
1Department of Computer Science, University of Colorado Boulder, CO, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Golnar Gharooni Fard
Daisy Zhang
2Western Canada High School, Calgary, Canada
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Francisco López Jiménez
3Ann and H.J. Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, CO, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Orit Peleg
4BioFrontiers Institute, University of Colorado Boulder, CO, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Orit Peleg
  • For correspondence: orit.peleg@colorado.edu
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Supplementary material
  • Preview PDF
Loading

1 Abstract

As honeybees build their nests in pre-existing tree cavities, they grow accustomed to dealing with the presence of geometric constraints, resulting in non-regular hexagons and topological defects. In this work, we study how bees collectively adapt to their environment in order to regulate the comb structure. Specifically, we identify the irregularities in honeycomb structure in the presence of various geometric frustrations. We 3D-print experimental frames with a variety of constraints imposed on the imprinted foundations. The combs constructed by the bees show clear evidence of reoccurring patterns built by bees in response to specific geometric frustrations on starter frames. Furthermore, we demonstrate that these patterns can be successfully modeled and replicated through a simulated annealing process, in which the minimized potential is a variation of the Lennard-Jones potential that only considers first-neighbor interactions according to a Delaunay triangulation. Our simulation results not only confirm the connection between honeycomb structures and other crystal systems such as graphene, but also show that irregularities in the honeycomb structure can be explained as the result of local interactions between honeybees and their immediate surroundings, leading to emergent global order. Additionally, our computational model can be used to describe specific strategies that bees use to effectively solve each geometric mismatch problem while optimizing cost of comb building.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted March 15, 2022.
Download PDF

Supplementary Material

Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Honeycomb crystallography: Experiment–theory approach for bee comb formation under geometric frustrations
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Honeycomb crystallography: Experiment–theory approach for bee comb formation under geometric frustrations
Golnar Gharooni Fard, Daisy Zhang, Francisco López Jiménez, Orit Peleg
bioRxiv 2022.03.13.484106; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.03.13.484106
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Honeycomb crystallography: Experiment–theory approach for bee comb formation under geometric frustrations
Golnar Gharooni Fard, Daisy Zhang, Francisco López Jiménez, Orit Peleg
bioRxiv 2022.03.13.484106; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.03.13.484106

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Ecology
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (3513)
  • Biochemistry (7358)
  • Bioengineering (5337)
  • Bioinformatics (20303)
  • Biophysics (10033)
  • Cancer Biology (7761)
  • Cell Biology (11329)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (6443)
  • Ecology (9968)
  • Epidemiology (2065)
  • Evolutionary Biology (13344)
  • Genetics (9364)
  • Genomics (12597)
  • Immunology (7718)
  • Microbiology (19057)
  • Molecular Biology (7452)
  • Neuroscience (41100)
  • Paleontology (300)
  • Pathology (1233)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (2141)
  • Physiology (3171)
  • Plant Biology (6867)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1275)
  • Synthetic Biology (1899)
  • Systems Biology (5320)
  • Zoology (1090)