I know bees take nectar and pollen etc. But how do they make the actual comb part. You see people pressing spoons against them and the honey pours out. Is that a different part of the process? How do bees know to make the shape like that? Rather, why do they make the combs in that shape?
In: Engineering
There is a branch of mathematics known as the calculus of variations. It seeks to answer complex problems under particular constraints. There is a principle in physics known as least action, which essentially states that things choose the path which minimizes the total energy of the system the most efficiently. This is a constraint, and can be plugged into the calculus. It allows us to come up with wonderful calculations. From the paths interstellar probes should take out of our Solar System to the pathways chemical reactions will take. Shapes bubbles will make in various conditions can also be calculated this way, and that is how we understand honeycombs presently. The bees don’t know anything, they just produce the wax in bubbles, and it follows the path of least action to harden into hexagonal cells.
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