Why do Bees Build Hexagons?

23rd September 2021

Mathematician Thomas Hales explains the Honeycomb Conjecture in the context of bees. Hales proved that the hexagon tiling (hexagonal honeycomb) is the most efficient way to maximise area whilst minimising perimeter. Hexagons are structurally stable and their near circularity allows perfect load distribution.

It seemed perfectly logical therefore to design the Van Walt low-flow peristaltic sampling pump as a hexagon.

Designing a product from scratch is a rewarding experience.  I’ve done this a few times now and on each occasion the enthusiasm and pride increases as the project progresses.

The visualisation starts in the head and develops by way of a scribble on the back of an envelope to detailed CAD drawings. Each component is analysed for its fitness towards the purpose and the hexagon grew then shrank to achieve the minimum size to house all the necessary constituents to form a whole.

Our peristaltic pump is a no compromise top of the line product. We made it strong and we made it good and as the first commercial pump rolls out of production it makes us really happy to have achieved our objectives.

Lewis and Jess Irvine and I worked on this together from the very first moment. Lewis brings the engineering, electric and electronic skills to the project, Jess the organisational, procedural and logistics  and I prod and push to achieve the ergonomics and usability. This team has worked well together and we’re really satisfied with the finished product and thank you Lewis and Jess for putting up with my demands and foibles. Together we’ve achieved our objectives:

• Strength by way of the powder coated aluminium hexagon and 3mm marine grade stainless steel front plate
• Efficacy of the world leading Masterflex peristaltic pump-head requiring just one size of silicone tubing for effortless pumping from surface to just over 9 metres.
• High torque stepper brushless motor running at 24V DC for smooth efficiency and low power consumption
• Marine grade battery protection module
• Simplicity of controls
• Modular system for easy maintenance
• High capacity premium gel type lead-acid batteries for safe and easy world-wide transportation

The vanwaltHEX-Pump is a premium low-flow sampling pump. It oozes quality, robustness, ease of use and longevity. It is totally Van Walt and made for you.

Vincent van Walt, Haslemere, September 2021

Video:              https://www.vanwalt.com/videos/introducing-the-vanwalthex-pump/

Web Pages:    https://www.vanwalt.com/equipment/vanwalthexpump/