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Peter Marting @aztecacecropia.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Hives Alive INFO (4/4): At night, the globes glow with colors that represent what was in the wax cells. The animation is a 7-month timelapse of nest growth and organization compressed into 2 minutes. Watch the nest grow. What patterns do you see?

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Peter Marting @aztecacecropia.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Hives Alive INFO (3/4): This structure represents a honeybee nest based on data from an actual colony in the experiment. Each globe represents a wax cell, each curtain represents a comb, and the shape of the structure follows how the bees built it.

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Peter Marting @aztecacecropia.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Hives Alive INFO (2/4): To discover how bees organize wax cells across the nest over time, the @smithbeelab.bsky.social tracked the contents of nests through the seasons. Each week, we photographed combs and used image processing to make maps of what was stored in every wax cell in the nest.

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Peter Marting @aztecacecropia.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Hives Alive INFO (1/4): Honeybees build their homes out of wax. Wax cells join to make combs, and combs hang in parallel to make the nest. Bees use these multipurpose wax cells to raise their young with eggs, larvae, and pupae and store food like pollen and nectar that they can turn into honey.

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Peter Marting @aztecacecropia.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

The Hives Alive installation is free and open to the public at Davis Arboretum on Auburn University campus, with the data-encoded lights coming every night from 6-8:30pm through the end of the year.

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Peter Marting @aztecacecropia.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

I'm feeling very fortunate for the support of so many that hoisted this vision into reality, including the @smithbeelab.bsky.social , the Davis Arboretum at Auburn University, Frank Shellace of Traveling Hive, and NSF for giving a weird broader impacts event a chance.

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Peter Marting @aztecacecropia.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

The HIVES ALIVE exhibit is up! Opening night was a dream, thanks to all that came out. This is definitely the biggest installation I've put together and a real highlight of my career. #sciart #dataviz #scicomm #honeybees #hivesalive

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Peter Marting @aztecacecropia.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

New paper out! What can student groups learn from ants? We propose 3 social-insect-inspired suggestions aimed at improving performance of student groups: make tasks group-worthy, embrace division of labor, and develop shared rules of engagement. lnkd.in/eJvGKM2h #socialinsects #DBER #education

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Peter Marting @aztecacecropia.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

I humbly invite you to “Hives Alive” - an illuminating display of the dynamic honeybee nest. This sci-art exhibit translates complex biological data on nest morphogenesis and pattern formation into larger-than-life artistic representations of hives. #sciart #honeybee #datavisualization

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Peter Marting @aztecacecropia.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Are anteaters an overlooked cost shaping ant-plant evolution? Check out my newly published perspective about how vertebrate predators might influence ant-plant traits, ecosystem dynamics, and mutualism evolution: authors.elsevier.com/a/1ngbQ7tYJF...

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Peter Marting @aztecacecropia.bsky.social · 05/01/2025

Come learn how honey bees organize their nests in 3 dimension across time today at 11:30 in salon 10 #SICB2025

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Peter Marting @aztecacecropia.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

Just arrived in Atlanta for #SICB2025, excited to check out the cutting edge research and talk behavior/ecology/sociality! Come find me!

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Peter Marting @aztecacecropia.bsky.social · 17/12/2024

Our architectural symmetry paper made the cover of Current Biology! Congrats to @smithbeelab.bsky.social and the team. Check out the form, function, and evolutionary origins of honeybee nest symmetry here: www.cell.com/current-biol...

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Reposted by Peter Marting

Smith Bee Lab @smithbeelab.bsky.social · 17/12/2024

So excited to see BEES (and their beautiful nest) on the cover of Current Biology! @currentbiology.bsky.social This work wouldn't have been possible without a super team of researchers, and the cover wouldn't have been possible without the phenomenal Peter Marting! @aztecacecropia.bsky.social

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Peter Marting @aztecacecropia.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

Wow this is so cool! The whole colony is living in the tree there? Amazingly resilient for such a physically fragile ant. Thanks for the shout out!

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Peter Marting @aztecacecropia.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

Check out this wild resin forager in her natural tree nest. She has tree resin packed on her back legs where pollen is typically stored. It will be made into propolis to coat the cavity for antimicrobial protection and water sealing. Shot with the Laowa 24mm macro probe.

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Peter Marting @aztecacecropia.bsky.social · 13/11/2024

Hot new pub! Honeybee nests are super symmetrical, the pattern of cell contents is mirrored on either side of the comb. This symmetry: 1 is unique to each comb in the nest 2 evolves over time while maintaining symmetry 3 aids in thermoregulation and rearing 4 conserved across Apis shorturl.at/vqKhV

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Peter Marting @aztecacecropia.bsky.social · 12/11/2024

A possibly undescribed species of Ophiocordyceps infecting a Carolina Leafroller Cricket in north Alabama. What a treasure.

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