Why the hexagon?

When you think of honeycomb I’m sure your mind pulls up a image of rows and rows of hexagons, but have you ever wondered why bees use this shape to build and not something else?
Bees could build rectangles or even just odd shapes and sizes, but they don’t. They will always build honeycomb that is made up of perfectly even hexagons.
Building in a uniform shape allows all worker bees to work at the same time, which is much more efficient than needing to wait and see what should be filled in next. But, why the hexagon?
If they chose to make circles there would be spaces left to fill in with wax, and wax is a precious commodity that the bee makes herself. Using a hexagon, all sides are equal and they fit perfectly in with the others. It’s also been proven that the hexagon is more compact and requires less wax than other similar shapes like triangles or squares.

Bees are little engineers!!