nature
Honeybee, or Apis mellifera.

You will be surprised to know (at least I was when I watched a documentary about this) that honeybees incorporate math in their everyday life. This doesn't mean that older bees teach young bees calculus (like 2+2=4); there are natural behaviours and patterns to these amazing insects which seem to indicate that there is a certain logic, a mathematical logic according to some researchers, to everything they do. And, apparently, this mathematical training is passed on via the honeybees' genetic codes.

Everyone remembers the characteristic hexagonal shape of the cells in the hive. But did you know that the hexagon has the smallest perimeter for a given area? It is greater than the square or the triangle, and will hold more honey for the same expenditure of material. This means less wax and less work enclosing the space than if they chose a different shape. And more honey. The definition of efficiency.

Clever little workers, aren’t they?

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