Honeybee Nests

Hepburn, H.R.; Pirk, Christian Walter Werner; Duangphakdee, Orawan

doi:10.1007/978-3-642-54328-9

Cited by 50 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 163 publications

(280 reference statements)

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“…Beeswax is secreted in the form of wax scales which honey bees transfer with the forelegs to their mandibles, where wax scales are chewed (salivary secretions added), and then added to the comb being constructed. The main effect of this mandibulation process is a transformation of the texturally anisotropic scale wax into isotropic comb wax (Hepburn, Pirk, & Duangphakdee, 2014). Chemically, beeswax represents a complex organic mixture of more than 300 compounds, of which the fatty acid esters ($67%), hydrocarbons ($14%), and free fatty acids ($13%) predominate (Tulloch, 1980).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Standard methods forApis melliferabeeswax research

Svečnjak

Chesson

Gallina

et al. 2019

Journal of Apicultural Research

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Due to its multifunctional and complex role in the honey bee colony functioning and health (construction material allowing food storage, brood rearing, thermoregulation, mediation in chemical and mechanical communication, substrate for pathogens, toxins and waste), Apis mellifera beeswax has been widely studied over the last five decades. This is supported by a comprehensive set of scientific reports covering different aspects of beeswax research. In this article, we present an overview of the methods for studying chemical, biological, constructional, and quality aspects of beeswax. We provide a detailed description of the methods for investigating wax scales, comb construction and growth pattern, cell properties, chemical composition of beeswax using different analytical tools, as well as the analytical procedures for provenancing beeswax and beeswax-derived compounds based on the hydrogen isotope ratio (IRMS). Along with classical physico-chemical and sensory analysis, we describe more precise and accurate methods for detection of adulterants in beeswax (GC-MS and FTIR-ATR). Moreover, we present methods for studying the influence of beeswax (comb foundation) adulteration on comb construction. Analytical protocols for determining the pesticide residues using different chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques are also described. As beeswax is an agent of high risk for the transmission of bee diseases, we present methods for detection of pathogens in beeswax. To ensure the reproducibility of experiments and results, we present best practice approaches and detailed protocols for all methods described, as well as their advantages and disadvantages.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Standard methods forApis melliferabeeswax research

Svečnjak

Chesson

Gallina

et al. 2019

Journal of Apicultural Research

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“…[536] Bees are strongly driven to align their combs with one another; in an early experiment, a researcher placed a beeswax foundation in a perpendicular alignment to two adjacent combs and found that the resulting comb twisted a full 90° on its way down in order to align the lower cells with the neighboring combs. [537,538] Finally, some bees follow different stigmergic assembly "rules" altogether, leading to different architectures-one species of dwarf honeybee produces "spiral combs" that climb upward in space ( Figure 24E), while another produces disordered "semi-combs." [510,539,540] The wax that bees use for their comb originates in glands under the "wax mirrors," or smooth areas of cuticle on the abdomen.…”

Section: Complex Structural Designs Built By Insectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These glands secrete anisotropic wax crystals that the bees masticate, turning them into stiff, isotropic comb wax that is easier to manipulate at elevated temperatures using a combination of lipolytic saliva and mechanical forces. [538,541,542] Although this conversion process allows the bees to sculpt the wax into combs, it is at first glance curious that bees actually make their wax less strong, more easily fracturable, and more susceptible to deformation at high temperatures before using it to construct their homes. Nests made entirely of new comb wax should completely collapse at 45 °C, but are able to avoid this fate due to the actions of the developing brood they were built to house.…”

Section: Complex Structural Designs Built By Insectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

It's Not a Bug, It's a Feature: Functional Materials in Insects

2018

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Over the course of their wildly successful proliferation across the earth, the insects as a taxon have evolved enviable adaptations to their diverse habitats, which include adhesives, locomotor systems, hydrophobic surfaces, and sensors and actuators that transduce mechanical, acoustic, optical, thermal, and chemical signals. Insect‐inspired designs currently appear in a range of contexts, including antireflective coatings, optical displays, and computing algorithms. However, as over one million distinct and highly specialized species of insects have colonized nearly all habitable regions on the planet, they still provide a largely untapped pool of unique problem‐solving strategies. With the intent of providing materials scientists and engineers with a muse for the next generation of bioinspired materials, here, a selection of some of the most spectacular adaptations that insects have evolved is assembled and organized by function. The insects presented display dazzling optical properties as a result of natural photonic crystals, precise hierarchical patterns that span length scales from nanometers to millimeters, and formidable defense mechanisms that deploy an arsenal of chemical weaponry. Successful mimicry of these adaptations may facilitate technological solutions to as wide a range of problems as they solve in the insects that originated them.

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“…In-plane gravity loads, seasonal variation in weight [54,61] Toughness under compressive and impact loading [7] Flexural rigidity [62], fracture toughness [63] Biological Storage of brood, pollen and nectar; minimization of material (effort) [61] Storage for bone marrow, nerves and blood vessels [64] Circulation of hemolymph through wing [ [56] Maintain shape, adapt in response to environment [7] Flexural rigidity [66] Biological Protective case, light-weight to occupy surface waters [56] Storage of sugars, photosynthesis [7] Carry nutrients and waste products…”

Section: Mechanicalmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, the hexagon is the best way of sub-dividing two-dimensional space into regions of equal area, something that has been mathematically proven [55]. However, the need for equal area (in reality, honeybee nests do not strictly have cells of equal area [61], but one may make this assumption for the present discussion) may not be relevant-in the bee's honeycomb, these cells serve a storage function that may not be of interest in the engineering application. For the same reason, honeybee nests need walls instead of just lattice-like struts.…”

Section: Natural Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Classification and Selection of Cellular Materials in Mechanical Design: Engineering and Biomimetic Approaches

Bhate

Penick

Ferry

et al. 2019

Designs

130

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Recent developments in design and manufacturing have greatly expanded the design space for functional part production by enabling control of structural details at small scales to inform behavior at the whole-structure level. This can be achieved with cellular materials, such as honeycombs, foams and lattices. Designing structures with cellular materials involves answering an important question: What is the optimum unit cell for the application of interest? There is currently no classification framework that describes the spectrum of cellular materials, and no methodology to guide the designer in selecting among the infinite list of possibilities. In this paper, we first review traditional engineering methods currently in use for selecting cellular materials in design. We then develop a classification scheme for the different types of cellular materials, dividing them into three levels of design decisions: tessellation, element type and connectivity. We demonstrate how a biomimetic approach helps a designer make decisions at all three levels. The scope of this paper is limited to the structural domain, but the methodology developed here can be extended to the design of components in thermal, fluid, optical and other areas. A deeper purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how traditional methods in design can be combined with a biomimetic approach.

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Honeybee Nests

Cited by 50 publications

References 163 publications

Standard methods forApis melliferabeeswax research

Standard methods forApis melliferabeeswax research

It's Not a Bug, It's a Feature: Functional Materials in Insects

Classification and Selection of Cellular Materials in Mechanical Design: Engineering and Biomimetic Approaches

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