Book description
Honeybees make decisions collectively - and democratically. Every year, faced with the life-or-death problem of choosing and traveling to a new home, honeybees stake everything on a process that includes collective fact-finding, vigorous debate, and consensus building. In fact, as world-renowned animal behaviorist Thomas Seeley reveals, these incredible insects have…
Why read it?
2 authors picked Honeybee Democracy as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
This is another scientific book by an inspiring colleague. This time, Tom focuses more specifically on collective intelligence in honeybees. We learn in great detail how large groups of animals manage to agree based on partial knowledge and different opinions, often leading to optimal decisions.
The author makes bold but justified parallels with collective decisions in human societies. There is a lot to learn!
From Mathieu's list on bees from a bee expert.
Social insects live in close communities, often of several thousand individuals. We often imagine the animals as small robots that perform their tasks as if automated. But this is far from the case. Honeybees are models for the study of learning and can also make complex decisions based on previous experience. However, it becomes particularly difficult when all the animals of a hive have to agree. And bees of a swarm have this difficult task ahead of them when they are looking for real estate. They inspect the nesting opportunities in the surroundings and advertise them in the swarm.
But…
From Susanne's list on the evolution of insect and human societies.
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