How do bees produce the hexagonal-shaped cells of a honeycomb?

Jeff is right, it is instinct. Each individual bee knows from birth how to make a hexagon comb... if that's what they use. Not all bees make the perfect, hexagonal combs like the honeybee, Apis mellifera, does. read more

Bees don’t — they produce circular tubes, which by heating coalesce into hexagon tubes. Not so much bee brain brawn, and not finely evolved instincts, just pure minimal surface physics. read more

Hales concluded that the more compact the shape of the honeycomb cell was, the less energy and wax a bee would use to build it, which meant that bees could expend their energy on other important activities—specifically, foraging and making honey. read more

No, a bee produces the most wax when it is 10-20 days old. read more