NASA observes honeycomb construction by bees in space.

In a unique experiment in 1984, NASA sent thousands of honeybees aboard the space shuttle Discovery to study their behavior in microgravity. The focus was not on honey production but on how bees build honeycomb, a crucial task within a hive. Approximately 3,300 to 3,400 bees were housed in a specially designed enclosure to observe their construction methods without the usual gravitational cues. An earlier mission in 1982 had included 14 bees, which struggled to fly and tended to cling to surfaces, prompting further investigation.