A 1-square-meter panel would be able to produce 140 watts of electricity, giving it a 14 percent efficiency, Sasi said. The idea is to install these honeycomb panels as the sides of a building.

Honeybees are nature’s tiny workers. Their fuzzy yellow and black striped bodies buzz between flowers, picking up pollen for their hives. They’re renowned for making honeycomb, a mass of hexagonal ...