Bees have a very strong sense of place. A hive moved only a few feet from
its original position causes them to become confused or disoriented.
Couldn't this sense of place also extend to the interior of the hive?
Feral comb, regardless of how it is arranged, is never moved. Wouldn't it
therefore stand to reason that bees might be happier in a managed hive
where the moveable frames are arranged in some sort of fixed pattern?
Isn't a beekeeper who opens a hive and rearranges the frames rather like
a stranger who enters your house and rearranges the furniture? (I am not
suggesting that a hive should not be opened. Just that when one is, it
might be less confusing to the bees if the comb was put back in the same
position.) Would the effect of a fixed asymmetrical arrangement be any
different from a symmetrical one? I don't know. But I would guess that
any pattern, if consistently maintained, would help create a sense of
stability within the hive. (It's possible that symmetrical ones may be
just that more pleasing.)

This may not apply to bees at all, but I know from personal experience
that human beings with certain neurological illnesses respond very
strongly to aural or visual patterns (e.g., the tick of a metronome or a
checkerboard pattern on a floor) in their immediate surroundings and use
these patterns to help them accomplish everyday tasks. When these
patterns are taken away from them or are disrupted in some way, they find
it more difficult or even impossible to complete the task at hand.
Healthy people use patterns too, but we aren't always aware of them. It
would not surprise me one bit if bees relied on the way the comb is
arranged in their hive to orient themselves within the hive.

Mark