Thomas D. Seeley

I enjoyed this on two levels. First, it's a great description of the activity of "doing science". it seems that sometimes in our society that science is viewed as a sacred body of True Facts facts rather than as a human activity by which we, little by little, discover more about the universe we inhabit. the author uses an easy, conversational style to describe his questions, what he did to investigate, and what he discovered as a result.
The book is also a fascinating exploration of how a show more swarm of honey bees find a new home. "Hives" get a bad rap in our society. It suggests a bunch of mindless slaves dominated by a cruel despot. Seeley demonstrates here that the hive is actually a democracy. The queen does not rule or control the hive, but merely lays eggs and is subject to the colony. The honey bee colony chooses its new home from several options discovered by scout bees, who return to the swarm, advertise their find, then let the swarm choose.
There is a lot of food for thought here regarding human communities and how they function (or fail to function). show less

Really loved this book. Nicely written, lots of wonderful information about bees but also about how a scientist designs and conducts experiments. The last chapter (about applying honeybee behavior to human social behavior) was a little silly, but that's ok.

A really enjoyable read - great science and fascinating insights. Parallels between swarm and individual cognition are drawn out at the end, together with lessons for human decision making based on how the honeybee swarm aggregates info and chooses the best new home site.

A good read for those that are into honeybee research. The study of how a swarm chooses a permanent home was detailed and well done. Research of this topic began around 1930. The latest development of outfitting bees with GPS devices is an awesome breakthrough and I will be looking forward to a book revealing the latest research. Seeley's contention that honeybees choose their new home by a process similar to a New England Town Meeting is a stretch. Approximately 100 scout bees make the show more decision on behalf of 4,000 hive members. That's a far cry from my idea of democracy. I would say that the bees operate more in the realm of a socialist/ communal society, where there is a complete sharing of food and each member functions totally for the survival of the group. show less