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Re: maximum efficiency: I believe bees construct honeycomb cells as circles, but due to surface tension they then form themselves into hexagons to achieve a “minimal surface” (lots of popular math/science YouTube’s have covered minimal surfaces, great videos all around).

I don’t think this invalidates your ping at all, but it’s good knowledge to have. The hexagon emerges from the constructed circles.

Or they just burrow straight into wood... Or just find an empty hole that looks cozy. I drilled a bunch of holes in a post by my door and now I have some little buzzy neighbors :)

honey bees will not burrow, you may be referring to mason bees/carpenter bees and they will destroy untreated wood.

Yep! Honey bees are the weird exception, most aren't great builders

However, while it's mundane knowledge now that hives can do optimizations etc. collectively, the point of the article is, no, individual bees are intelligent.