HoneybeesTHOMAS SEELEY
For honeybees, there’s no place like home. And every year, they must find a new one. Now, a study publishing today (December 8) in Science suggests that the honeybee swarms use inhibitory signals when house-hunting, paralleling the human brain’s decision-making process.
“It’s just another lovely example of the amazing sophistication in the honeybee population,” said University of Sussex apiculturist Francis Ratnieks, who was not involved in the study. It also shows a “commonality in the decision making processes between a brain and a swarm,” he added.
Every spring, about two-thirds of the honeybee colony split off from the group to form a new swarm, but until they find a roomy, hollow tree to call home, the thousands of bees wait in a tree branch as ...
