Cell repair processes in Apis mellifera honeycombs

Honeycomb serves a multitude of functions within a beehive, including material storage, brood rearing, and communication. While the construction process of honeycomb has been described in literature, many studies focus on the construction and characterization of nascent, unaltered honeycomb. How bees manage and repair damage to their honeycomb, and the resultant effect on comb structure, is not well understood. We investigated the process by which Apis mellifera bees repair honeycomb using time-resolved 3D x-ray microscopy, a non-destructive technique that enables us to study the microstructure of the material to a sub-micrometer voxel size. Tensile testing was used to create a crack through the center of foundationless comb. The bees fully repaired the damaged region, filling in the crack with wax, however the repaired structure shows an increase in porosity and elongation of cell walls compared to undamaged comb. The repaired sample was mechanically stronger than the initial structure. How the bees approach and complete the repair of damaged honeycomb is reported and unique insight applicable to the repair of engineered structures will be discussed.