[shanth]

Bees: One of the best known architects in the world building perfect geodesic shelters with less materials and maximum efficiency

[reaperman]

Re: maximum efficiency: I believe bees construct honeycomb cells as circles, but due to surface tension they then form themselves into hexagons to achieve a “minimal surface” (lots of popular math/science YouTube’s have covered minimal surfaces, great videos all around).

I don’t think this invalidates your ping at all, but it’s good knowledge to have. The hexagon emerges from the constructed circles.

[throwawaaarrgh]

Or they just burrow straight into wood... Or just find an empty hole that looks cozy. I drilled a bunch of holes in a post by my door and now I have some little buzzy neighbors :)

[ct0]

honey bees will not burrow, you may be referring to mason bees/carpenter bees and they will destroy untreated wood.

[throwawaaarrgh]

Yep! Honey bees are the weird exception, most aren't great builders

[carrolldunham]

However, while it's mundane knowledge now that hives can do optimizations etc. collectively, the point of the article is, no, individual bees are intelligent.