the orientation of cell rows with one pair of parallel horizontal or vertical walls has been called “horizontal” or “vertical” cell orientation (Wedmore 1929). In the combs from skeps, these two orientations were equally frequent, with intermediate orientations seldom occurring (Thompson 1930). Beeswax sheets with cell bases of only vertical orientation have been used for over a century as a foundation for comb building in movable frame hives and this orientation was even called "right way" in contrast to "wrong way" horizontal orientation. Although the orientation of comb cells is evidently not of vital importance for honeybees, the question still remains as to why they choose one or another orientation Are there any factors determining the orientation of hexagons during the building of the comb? In the wild nests of honey bees, both types of comb orientation can be found in a single nest (Taber and Owens 1970). Combs built from two or several independent starting sites on the same top bar were also observed. Parts of the resulting comb had a different cell orientation. the orientation of cells in the combs depends on the orientation of the first cell built by bees. SOURCE: Shumakova, I., & Komissar, A. IS THE ORIENTATION OF CELLS IN THE NATURAL HONEY BEE COMB, CHOSEN BY BEES, RANDOM? Journal of Apicultural Science Vol. 50 No. 2 2006 *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html