From 3D Printing to Hand Wisdom – An Interdisciplinary Look at the Bee Life System, Through the Lens of Material Innovation

As someone who grew up working in an apiary (a bee farm), the golden hexagons of the honeycomb have fascinated me since childhood. Bees, as we know, build their homes from cells made of beeswax - a natural wax they produce in their bodies. This structure serves to store food, lay eggs, and raise the next generation.

The honeycomb structure is neat and inspiring. The vast majority of the cells are built with precision and a fixed size. However, upon closer inspection, one can see that the structure is not rigid but flexible and adaptive. The construction varies according to the conditions and needs of the hive. For example, cells intended for raising males are larger, while cells at the edges may be smaller or asymmetrical. Walls can be thickened or thinned. Everything depends on the time, place, and purpose.

The Hive: A System of Natural Design

Years ago, during semester breaks while studying for my bachelor's degree in industrial design, I worked in an apiary. Slowly, I began to see the wonderful world of bees through a design, systemic, and industrial lens. I realized that the hive is a system created by natural design, combining high repeatability, in-depth familiarity, and economical use of material with high functional flexibility. This system is based not on centralized planning but on distributed intelligence - the result of synchronous action among many individuals responding to the environment in real time.

Today, after completing a master's degree in environmental studies, my professional focus is on materials and material systems. My interpretation has deepened and expanded, incorporating a global-systemic and ecological perspective, familiarity with various human and biological systems, and knowledge grounded in scientific research from fields such as biology, environmental science, economics, policy, engineering, philosophy, psychology, and, of course, design thinking.

Plastic honeycombs in the apiary where I worked. The article also includes a brief explanation of these hives and who developed them. Credit: Efrat Barak

In retrospect, it seems that what the bees and the hive taught me is what we are striving to achieve today in the field of material innovation. This includes the development of multi-purpose applications and structures, compatibility between material and purpose, and the integration of local knowledge and needs with sustainable production capacity. In this sense, honeycomb does not only offer formal inspiration; it is the product of a dynamic biological system that provides new directions for both industrial and systemic developments. So, let's dive in!

Biological 3D Printing

One of the most fascinating aspects of the honeycomb structure is how it is built - a gradual process that occurs in layers, using a semi-liquid material that hardens and stabilizes. It's hard not to think of the similarity to 3D printing. Bees have demonstrated for millions of years what we can do today with advanced technology: planning based on methodology, adapting to local conditions, and responding in real time. The construction in the hive shows how it is possible to operate with high precision and repetition while maintaining flexibility. It is material-efficient, adaptable, can be disassembled and reassembled, and varies according to seasons, conditions, and space.

The hive exemplifies a design mechanism that relies on a deep understanding of the relationship between material, need, and time. It is not a "one-size-fits-all solution" but a biological, living, and dynamic design that minimizes waste, maximizes resources, and adapts to a changing reality without harming the surrounding nature. Material, economic, and environmental efficiency is something humanity is only beginning to approach.

A new study by Golnar Gharooni-Fard of the University of Colorado Boulder examined the strategies bees use to build honeycombs under different conditions. The researchers allowed bees to build on 3D-printed surfaces with hexagonal patterns of varying scales and identified three main strategies: tilting, merging, and layering. Israeli-American biophysicist and computer scientist Orit Peleg, one of the study's authors, explains that these strategies suggest an intuitive understanding of the physics involved in the collective construction process. Most importantly, the way bees build their hives is exceptionally adaptive. However, she notes that there is still much more to learn. Humans do not yet fully understand how bees construct their hives.

Images showing two of the three bee building strategies identified in new research from the University of Colorado Boulder. Credit: Golnar Gharooni-Fard

When I saw the printed surfaces used in this study, I was reminded of the plastic honeycomb developed by the late Yitzhak Ferman, a beloved teacher at Mikveh Israel and one of the founders of the honey industry in Israel. This unit is made of plastic, shaped like a reinforced frame that holds a surface with a three-dimensional hexagonal texture and a yellow color. This honeycomb is coated with wax so that it can be accepted by the bees, who will continue to build the cells with the wax they produce. Today, plastic combs have replaced the previous wooden combs, which were constructed from a wooden frame with metal wires stretched to hold a sheet of wax. Plastic combs offer durability and convenience in apiary work. Most interestingly, they can be reused for years, making them environmentally preferable in some cases.

Yitzhak Ferman with the plastic honeycomb he developed. The plastic honeycomb with sealed honey cells and pollen cells underneath. Credit: Eitan Ferman

A wooden honeycomb with honey cells and offspring cells underneath. Credit: The Volcani Center 

Recyclable Mono-material Construction

If we try to learn from the material ecosystem of the hive, we will discover a system that exists almost entirely based on one material: wax. This multi-purpose structure - housing, raising offspring, storing food, etc. - is made from a material that is not industrial, not a product of mining, and not purchased or imported. Instead, it is produced locally, in the bodies of the bees themselves. They collect the raw materials, secrete the wax, process it, and build with it.

Moreover, wax is not used just once, like most building materials we use. On the contrary, bees know how to disassemble, recycle, and rebuild with it repeatedly, depending on needs and conditions. If a hole needs to be plugged, wax will be applied. If expansion is required, a new layer will be added. If there are fewer bees, parts of the hive will be closed, and the material will be repurposed for other uses based on current requirements.

In human contexts, this type of knowledge is referred to as "manual intelligence" or "material intelligence." These concepts have unique characteristics and potential that are crucial to recognize even today in our industrial-digital age. Examples of such wisdom in materials can be found in the article "First Lesson on Material Innovation" that I previously published here on the site. We can also learn about it from ongoing action research on the workshops of the Tel Aviv Kiryat Hamelacha, with results currently displayed at Beit Benyamini in the group exhibition "Material Intelligence" (curators: Yair Barak and Shira Shoval).

However, it seems that in bees, this wisdom takes a step further. Wax is a substance that contains knowledge, a home, and the ability to respond to reality (adaptability) at the deepest level. This is not serial production of material as we know it in the modern world but rather emergent design that operates as part of an intelligent, living, and dynamic system. The Synthetic Apiary II project by Israeli-American researcher and designer Neri Oxman, along with the Mediated Matter group from MIT, sought to answer these and other questions. As part of the project, the group built a closed experimental environment that mimics natural climate conditions for bee habitation. This comprehensive project aimed to enable computerized monitoring and analysis of bee architecture to understand what structures they build and how they do so. One interesting observation from this project regarding beeswax was that bees would also use processed or additive-containing beeswax when available. Researchers speculate that bees do this because wax production requires a lot of energy, making it a more economical and efficient alternative. You can read more about the project and the fascinating worldviews behind it here, and here is an interesting interview with Oxman from that time, explaining the project at minute 14:25.

Honeycomb structures created through collaboration between humans and bees, histograms of the honeycomb's structure, And cells built from wax with additives. From Synthetic Apiary II Credit: Neri Oxman and The Mediated Matter Group

A New Material Language

In a world where supply chains are lengthening, raw materials are running out, and systems only function with contractors or external sources, the hive model offers a different idea. It suggests developing systems that allow for locally tailored implementation based on a limited variety of materials to enable flexibility, sustainability, and systemic well-being over time.

The hive also teaches us about a different relationship with matter - one based on familiarity and closeness. This relationship allows us to view matter not merely as a means of production but as a partner in the process. Bees know their matter intimately; they grow within it, live with it, and work with it throughout their lives. Their knowledge is material, sensory, and contemporary, allowing them to build and dismantle, adapt and change, without needing remote planning or operating instructions. This is true material-biological intelligence: wisdom arising from the encounter between body, matter, context, and environment.

Such an understanding of matter can enable deeper, more precise innovation processes - ones based on mutual listening, gradual development, connection to local conditions, and the exercise of human, ecological, and ethical judgment. Instead of seeking solutions from outside, we can start from what already exists - in the system, in the environment, and in people. This applies to the development and application of materials, creative processes, and projects that seek to connect sustainability, technology, and culture.

P.S. Speaking of bees, I'm always interested in seeing designers find new ways to look at the hive itself and use different configurations and materials. Take, for example, the final project of Yehuda Bar from the Department of Industrial Design at HIT. He found an original way to use mycelium, a very interesting and sustainable material, to build hives designed for urban agriculture. I met Yehuda even before he submitted the project when I came to advise the students in the department. I was very impressed by his knowledge and seriousness. No wonder that just after submission, the project called BEE2C is already on its next stage.

Photo gallery from Yehuda Bar's BEE2C project