>The point is that's how the bases of the cell shapes fit together.
>
>See the attached image "paper_cell_cut_out.jpg"  print a few out, cut, tape,
>and assemble... the upward slant becomes immediately apparent from the shape
>itself.
>Each cell looks like "bee_cell.png"

Ah, developing a shape takes me back to the days I was teaching 
Technical Drawing.  The air conditioning duct makers who have to fold 
intricate shapes allowing those ducts to fit between the concrete slabs 
and the suspended ceilings and turn corners etc..

Amazing that the hexagonal shape emerges under different situations.

Bees are of course not making cells from sheet metal or sheets of paper. 
  Rather placing bits of wax into position, much the same way that a 
welder can fill in a hole.  Or a child can build something with play 
dough or plasticine.   But working with a number of neighbours.  I 
wonder how they decide to build worker or drone cells?

A bit like a 3d printer.

Beeswax of course is annealed by working.

Geoff Manning
>

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