A species of bees make hexagonal, 6 sided, honeycombs.The bees begin with on hexagonal cell then make successive rings of hexagonal cells around the initial cell.

Make a table of values for the number of cells in each of the first 8 rings (1st ring, 2nd ring, etc..) after the single cell.
What exactly is this asking and how do I solve it?

Read up on hexagonal numbers.

You can get started here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexagonal_number

Good

This question is asking you to create a table showing the number of cells in each of the first 8 rings of hexagonal cells constructed by the bees. The first ring refers to the cells directly surrounding the central cell, the second ring refers to the cells surrounding the first ring, and so on.

To solve this problem, you need to understand the pattern followed by the bees when creating the honeycombs. The hexagonal honeycomb structure is formed in a sequential manner, where each new ring consists of cells added around the previous ring.

You can use the following steps to solve the problem:

1. Start by identifying the number of cells in the first ring. In this case, the initial question states that there is only one cell in the first ring.

2. To find the number of cells in the subsequent rings, you need to observe the pattern. Each new ring added will have six cells compared to the previous ring. So, for example, if the first ring has 1 cell, the second ring will have 6 cells (6 times the number of cells in the previous ring), the third ring will have 12 cells (6 times the number of cells in the second ring), and so on.

3. Continue this pattern until you have calculated the number of cells in the first 8 rings.

Here is a table showcasing the number of cells in each of the first 8 rings:

| Ring Number | Number of Cells |
|-------------|----------------|
| 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 6 |
| 3 | 12 |
| 4 | 18 |
| 5 | 24 |
| 6 | 30 |
| 7 | 36 |
| 8 | 42 |

By following these steps and calculating the number of cells in each ring based on the provided pattern, you can create the requested table.