In 1984, NASA sent about 3,300 honeybees into space to test comb-building without gravity; the colony built about 31 square inches of honeycomb

Space shuttles usually carry satellites, telescopes, or other scientific instruments. In April 1984, one shuttle was carrying a far smaller, more buzzy cargo: a colony of honeybees. According to NASA's official mission report for STS-41-C, the Space Shuttle Challenger launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 6, 1984, with a student-sponsored experiment to see if bees could still build honeycomb with no gravity pulling them down. It landed on April 13, 1984, and the results were notable.

A student experiment tucked inside a shuttle