Today, I went out to a dead-out TBH and recovered a small starter comb. A natural comb built without a starter strip or foundation lets you observe the process. Bees building cells with a foundation start drawing out cells of similar size, but when allowed to proceed naturally, the cells start small and are drawn to their finished size as the comb grows from the edge. The microscopy photo shows about three different size cells, and you can see the beginning of a small cell wall on the edge cells.
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